title_body: Can I brew espresso with 14g portafilter basket?
upvoted_answer: Turned out that the problem was in my grinder which failed to grind fine enough. After reading the online grinder manual (which unfortunately wasn't included with the grinder itself) I discovered the following section:
  
  After the first few pounds of coffee, the grind produced at the lowest setting may not be fine enough for espresso. To shift the grind range finer, a small washer (included) can be installed below the cone burr.
  
  After installing the extra washer, all my problems went away.