fines in espresso shot: an update!

about two months ago I wrote a little blog about the issue that I was getting with my shots off of the Nuova Simonelli Musica; the shot taste mightly fine but at the end, there was a lot of grit and I have to conciously try to avoid at that last sip. It can of remind me of french press coffee a little bit. I was alluding to some possibilities regarding this anomaly. 

*something wrong with the grinder

*something wrong with the pressure of the espresso machine: may be the brewing pressure need to be reduced?

*There was someone suggesting that there is something wrong with the basket that I'm using?

 Since then, I have solve the issue and thought that I might update a little bit so that if other are having the same issue, they can do as I did.  I was pretty sure that the issue was not because of my grinder. Although I use the Vario most of the time (the Vario probably seen less than 20 pound of beans through it), I also use a Mazzer super Jolly to grind and it also produced the same amount of fine. The I test the next possible variable; I changed the basket that I was using. The one I was using is of unknown age, it came with the Nuova Simonelli when I purchase it from a guy who was using the Musica in his bake shop. May be he used it a lot and worn it out? I happen to have a new La Marzocco style basket around and tried to fit it to the portafilter, it fit perfectly and seal perfectly with the group head. And the espresso that it produced?.... without the abundance amount of fine that I experience before! Voila! Problem solved!

Here are a couple of pictures I snapped of the end of shots brewed with the new basket. Do you guys have the same amount of fines in your shots as well? 

 



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