I have a technique of packing a “mountain” of grounds…

The mountain of grounds before tamping, Breville Cafe Roma

…into the portafilter so that it’s flat, and 1/8in. (.32cm) or less from the top. Pretty firm pack.

Tamping down the grounds, Breville Cafe Roma

How deep the grounds pack with firm pressure, Breville Cafe Roma

I pack it with the lid of an empty Trader Joe’s sea salt jar which is a perfect fit (I filled mine with coffee beans so it stays near the espresso maker).

My espresso packer for a Breville Cafe Roma

Then I mount the portafilter.

The next step is awesome for extracting: wet the grounds before the pull.

Manually pulse the pumper by alternately turning it on/off in the following pattern:

On for 1 second
Off for 1 second
On for 1 second
Off for 1 second
On for 1 second
Off… for 3 seconds
Then On for a complete pull.

Nice, beginningdark pull after wetting grounds, Breville Cafe Roma

Regular pull after wetting grounds, Breville Cafe Roma

Blondish crema, Breville Cafe Roma

Nice crema, though this one is a bit “blond…”

I got the pulsing idea from watching my friends’ automated Breville machine (below), and it does pretty much that on/off thing by program. But it’s $600
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