Illy's 6 grams Story

I first met an Illy representative 14 years ago, while I was starting up my first espresso bar.

They guy was so full of himself it was disgusting.
What struck me the most was their bluff about the beans they used and that you only needed 6 grams per serving.
And when I asked him what the beans were, he told me it was a secret. Yeah sure it were the best beans!

This week I passed by a client of mine. They worked with Illy before and changed to Caffenation because of our freshness and price.
Now Illy passed by to convince them again of going back to them.
And what was their argument? That you only need 6 grams of Illy (and 7 grams of ours) to pull a coffee. That would close the price gap a bit. .....?????!!!!!

I couldn't believe my ears that in 2010 the Illy boys/girls in Belgium are still telling the same story as 14 years ago.
First of all I thought it was about taste.
And secondly we all know that the fastest way to good taste is the training of the men/women behind the machine.

Back on the 6 grams philosophy with a couple of questions :
1) who is measuring these 6 grams?
2) who ever tasted a top 6 grams espresso? I didn't.
3) why would you need less Illy coffee for a 'good' taste than from another brand/bean?
4) how you accurately make sure of having 6 grams exactly time after time?
5) to my knowledge there's a co relationship between filter baskets and content. how is Illy dealing with this? they have their own universal baskets?
6) why is Illy's best Dutch speaking Barista, Yakup, not agreeing with this 'theory'?

Hoping for answers in the comments area. Or just mail me.

Meanwhile we stick at Caffenation with our deep (16gr) double filterbaskets and the good old technique of high dosing (20 grams). Of course we're talking about espresso's, not those long 'Belgian' coffees. For the later one we use 14 grams of freshly medium roasted and freshly ground, for a double, yes.
Our House blend for the moment is one with 50% Brazil Daterra, 30% Ethiopia Yirgacheffe, 15% new crop Peru and 5% organic Sumatra. And yours?