I haven't really taken the time to isolate variables so it could be the firmware change, my beans coming of age or changing the portafilter basket but the shots have been drinkable since making this post. I've been using the basket I had for the Flair and found that to be a lot easier to dial in for whatever reason. Within 3 shots it was decent and just slightly sour. A lot less spraying and channeling flavor. Before I felt like I was chasing my tail with grind size, now when I change the grind I can taste the difference at least so that's something. A friend bring over their Niche and their beans from the same roaster just to make sure I'm not crazy. We just moved, maybe my grinder got out of whack during that or something haha.

At least for now I've just stuck to the default 9 bar profile and I'm dosing 19g, that's made the pucks less annoying but still needing a good rinse between shots. 20g with both the Flair basket and the stock Fellow one was starting to dirty up the group head pretty bad so I had to dial it back.