How’s your grind size? You want to be a bit courser than espresso but finer than pour over.

On my manual grinder, I use between 2.5 and 4.0 out of 10.0 for V60, and I found 2.0 works best for the moka.

And are you doing any kind of puck prep?

I just tap the basket with my finger to distribute the ground, I don't do anything else. I don't have a WDT, I will try to find a needle or toothpicks and try that.

Have you played with paper filters at all?

No, I don't have this type of filter at hand.

I will try to play with temperature, and maybe get myself a smaller moka pot, as this one is indeed a bit too big. It forces be to make a big batch every time.