Lately, I am using Pullman baskets and I really like them.

sluflyer06 wrote:I should try something other than vst basket

One basket or one basket type is akin to serving a particular Cabernet Sauvignon with every red wine paired dish. There are thousands of CS variants and hundreds of times that with red grape varietals and thousands of times with producers and every year is different.

We should adjust grind, dose and basket as the coffee & weather changes.

sluflyer06 wrote:Interesting, is that the only size? I may even have one I haven't used, along with a bunch of IMS filters I used with an e61.

NOTE - I ACCIDENTALLY LINKED TO THE RIDGED VERSION. YOU WANT THE RIDGELESS VERSION.

I had a ENPW 14g HQ sitting in cabinet I had never used so I tried it out yesterday and today with Passenger Coffees Stowaway blend, big failure compared to the VST for me on this bean, lost most of the notes, just a generic coffee taste and thinner body than the VST had, expectedly the grind size had to go massively coarser, I aimed for the same extraction time, I think what i'm tasting is just lower EY, maybe I needed to up the temperature?

Imo the HQ21 is much better than the 14 ridgeless. I also just ordered a ridged 21 to compare for the heck of it and been using the HQ21 ridgeless for like 10 years at least and with wdt that entire time wondering if the holes have gotten worse and worn. The ridged 21 is straighter and holds a lil less volume.

The 14 I have no clue why, but no matter grinder or dose or beans it blonds fast for me and starts going thinner almost sorta channeling, even profiling. I don't have that issue on the 21.

how big is the 21? the 14 seems to have no problem with the 18g dose I was using in a 18g vst, is the 21 massive?

Ridgeless 21 is very big, but forgiving. I've dosed 18g or gone up to 22 for really light roast. I measured with calipers and it's a very wide basket, my 58.5 tamper is actually lose in it, that tamper damn near jams in the VST 20.

Curious to try the ridged 21 as it has straight walls and holds a little less volume, espresso parts calls it the middle ground of the HQ line for dosing. It's being delivered today so I'll play with it tomorrow. I'm curious if the HQ21 is worn as I've had it for about 10 years and wdt'ing with needles back than and tools now wonder if the holes have just been worn or damaged.

I like the 20g e&b superfine baskets, 19gs in, 19gs out

Just FYI, some of the larger baskets only fit a bottomless portafilter. At least on my machine,YMMV.

Splunge wrote:I generally dose on the low side, starting at 17 or so, moving up from there as required.

Sorry if this is a newbie question, but could you explain "as required"? I understand over-dosing for a given basket size, and leaving insufficient head space. But other than a soggy puck, what penalty is suffered by slightly under-dosing in a basket, if all other variables are adjusted according to the dose?