Am I doing something wrong? What is the right technique? I am not sure there is a ‘gold-standard’ technique. What works for me is a 15 second shake- in effect, you are trying to get the coffee grinds to adhere to each other, which LH refers to as densification. Tap the shaker on the counter to get the grinds off the walls and the lid. I then place the dosing ring on top of the portafilter and place the shaker on top. The coffee can land in a heap, but as recommended in the Weber videos, a single swirling motion effectively flattens the puck. The dosing ring creates a ridge- tapping the portafilter gets rid of it. Alternatively, you can use the WDT needles to even the bed. Not sure if tapping is required tbh.
My preferred technique is a constant flow. With the current coffee, this means a pressure of about 7 bar after preinfusion but rapidly falling to 3 bar. Not tried decaf so cannot comment.
I do not use RDT as I think it introduces another variable to the mix. The grinds do get clumpy after shaking but I have not noticed any detrimental effect on flavours.
