Sorry, was I supposed to eat them while they are alive?

That seems beyond excessive.

I hate everything about this. Good lord what have you done.

Or just drop $10-15k or an under the counter espresso machine.

https://modbar.com/system/espresso-av/

I used to be allergic to apples as well. Couldn't have apples, peaches, cherries, pistachios, macadamia nuts, and a handful of other foods that I can't remember. Went nearly a decade with allergic reactions. Then just a few years ago, it all went away. I can't even begin to express how satisfying a perfectly ripe peach is, now that my mouth and throat doesn't start to swell.

Plastic tends to be the best, imo. I don't even really worry to heavily about preheating when using my plastic v60. But if j. Brewing with my Stagg XF, I absolutely place the Stagg XF on top of my Stagg kettle as well while it gets up to temp. Though the Stagg XF does have the benefit of being double walled stainless steel, so it does a great job of keeping temp.

I mean I could be mistaken, but it looks like they just did?

Usually adding a paper filter like that will reduce the fines that make their way through the metal filters, so you get a cleaner cup. Moka is already a stronger and heartier brew, so removing some fines would likely make for a smoother cup. Also could potentially increase the pressure, even just slightly, so can grind just a hair coarser.

There's a toggle in the settings in Connect for that now.