The only other suggestion I have heard for reducing heat is to wrap the grouphead in a towel soaked in cold water.4) Timing a shot: The water is in contact with the coffee from the time that you have the lever in the up position, so I usually count that toward the shot time. i find that if I wait too long to press down the lever i.e. over 10 seconds, the shot is too bitter.5) I can get a small but