Hi, I'm an Italian new to the world of "manual" coffee machines. I immediately apologize but I am writing to you via google translate! I came from a nespresso capsule machine, but finally I am the owner of a Lelit Kate. I write because I need help even if I also read here in the forum that it will be very difficult.
Is making coffee with a single dose in a cup filter so impossible? With the double it's no problem, but with the single it's not very consistent, it always seems overextracted even if I manage to get those 25 grams in 30 seconds on average. How to fix? I don't want to throw away a coffee every time making the one for two, it would be a waste. I had always read here somewhere, about these accessories: https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B076TQZN2K/
and
https://www.amazon.it/gp/product/B07GZW2HC1/
Has anyone tried it and can tell me if it works?

Edit
What temperature do you foam the milk at? Is the 135 degree base okay? Because I see that many increase it to 140 degrees.

Are you using preground coffee? [Stai usando il caffè premacinato?]

How much are you putting in the filter? [Quanto caffè stai mettendo nel filtro?]

What tamper? [Quale manomissione?]

What is the brew temperature [Qual è la temperatura di infusione?]
Lower could be better for single doses. [Più basso potrebbe essere meglio per dosi singole]

135°C è buono

First of all thank you very much for the reply.
1 no I'm using coffee beans, (maybe it's not the best quality eh, but with double it's good)
2 in the single filter I tried from 7 to 9 grams, pressing in all ways: normal, then trying pressing in the center etc...
3 do you mean the coffee press? With the basic accessory found with the lelit kate, which is made of plastic, of very poor workmanship. I have to buy a better one, I have to decide if normal or with the spring \ calibrated.
4 I tried the standard 95 degrees, double is good. I'll try at lower temperatures, even if it seems more like a low pressure problem. It doesn't press well with that basket that goes to squeeze, the tamper stops earlier.

Ok for the milk!

What grinder do you use? After the coffee, the grinder is most important. The machine is just a fancy kettle.
[Quale smerigliatrice usi? Dopo il caffè, il macinino è più importante. La macchina è solo un bollitore di fantasia.]

For singles, I use this tamper's small end.
[Per i single, uso la piccola estremità di questo tamper.]



Spring calibrated is a waste of money. Straight and level with the same pressure.
[La molla calibrata è uno spreco di denaro. Dritto e livellato con la stessa pressione.]



* Translations via Edge Tools

I use the coffee grinder which is integrated in the machine...
https://www.amazon.it/PL82T-M-CAFFE-ESP ... 112&sr=8-1
oh yes, I have to buy a better coffee tamper but I had already budgeted for this.
So the solution is to use a smaller coffee tamper? So you're saying I'll take those two things I posted in the first comment? To make sure you hit everything better and press more precisely? That I had also seen it posted on another thread also on this forum...

It could be the grinder. With more coffee in a double, any variation in the grind may be less noticeable.
[Potrebbe essere il macinino. Con più caffè in un doppio, qualsiasi variazione nella macinatura può essere meno evidente.]

Do you purge a little from the grinder before making a shot?
[Elimini un po 'dalla smerigliatrice prima di fare un colpo?]

If not, leftover grinds are a larger proportion of a single shot than a double.
[In caso contrario, le grind rimanenti sono una proporzione maggiore di un singolo colpo rispetto a un doppio.]

Have you tried stirring the grounds with a needle or thin paper clip?
[Hai provato a mescolare i terreni con un ago o una graffetta sottile?]

See How to Banish Uneven Extractions

no, I usually don't delete anything. But I can say that I am always weighing the single doses that come out of the grinder and it is always roughly accurate.
Yes, I tried with a needle to mix the coffee well.

Tried again now, same grams, pressing very hard comes out under-extracted. If in a less extreme way instead it comes out in acceptable times, however, the cream is not "colored" and thick as in the double.
Tomorrow I get a new coffee beans, which should be just better.

https://www.amazon.it/Pellini-Grani-Caf ... 129&sr=8-6

roughly accurate is < 0.2g. Anything more than that maybe a problem

Pulling classic, 7g-ish singles on a pump machine is very challenging. Not having a high-quality grind is going to make things even more challenging. The puck is very thin with most 58 mm baskets. It is much easier on a classic domestic lever like an Arrarex VAM/Caravel with its small basket. A basket that is 41 mm has about twice the puck depth for the same dose as one that is 58 mm.

I'd either stick with 12-14 g or more, or consider a single basket. One good thread on this is 7 gram single shot?? Mission impossible! With the LM1 and a Tidaka funnel and tamper, I can reliably pull 6-8 g shots on my pump machines.

ok they are exactly the accessories that I linked in the main post. However, it seems absurd to me that on this type of machine with this cost they have this problem. Spending extra money on something it should normally do makes me angry.