Well, the VST basket showed up yesterday and I've been pulling several shots with it ever since. It took me a little while to get my grind/tamp dialed in (I had to use a touch coarser grind & a touch harder tamp than I normally do), but about the fourth shot I pulled came out just about perfect. I used ~17.5 grams of El Salvador "Molino de Santa Rita"[/url] roasted to Full City & rested ~5 days, which yielded a 2 oz. double shot in ~28 seconds. Comparing my "regular" Gaggia filter basket to this VST basket, I can definitely tell the VST basket has a few more holes and they are more precisely placed (especially near the edges). How did the shots taste? Very, very good. So far, after about a day and a half of testing, I'll be the first to admit that all things being equal and all other variables being strictly controlled, I'd be hard pressed to identify which shot was made using the VST basket versus a "regular" Gaggia filter basket in a blind taste test. If anything, the shots pulled with the VST basket are a tad more "refined" and a tad "cleaner" due to a slight reduction in sediment (that could also be attributed to the "placebo effect" though too). I'm going to continue using the VST basket through the remainder of the weekend and I'll report back if anything mind blowing happens, then it will be off to Chad early next week....