Sure you can't get your grind finer? What are you using?
Are you tamping hard enough?
Are you distributing the coffee in the portafilter evenly before tamping?
I'm using a KyM hand grinder, the grind looks fine but i'll call into a coffee shop at some point and ask them to grind some for me to see if it makes a difference. I think it's mainly/completely the tamper as it's too small so it's difficult to get an even pressure so I think the water may be finding a relatively easy way through the coffee.
I'm using a KyM hand grinder, the grind looks fine but i'll call into a coffee shop at some point and ask them to grind some for me to see if it makes a difference. I think it's mainly/completely the tamper as it's too small so it's difficult to get an even pressure so I think the water may be finding a relatively easy way through the coffee.