PS: Chris offers an interesting suggestion in Uneven pour mystery:

Psyd wrote:Rotate the basket 180 degrees right before you lock in. If the primary spout is now the right one, there is a flaw in your technique. You find it, your problem is solved. If, on the other hand, the left one is still the predominant spout, your spouts or PF are the problem.

That is, remove the basket retainer clip so the basket spins freely in the portafilter. Prepare the puck as usual. Just before locking in, rotate the basket 180 degrees. If the predominant spout changes, the problem is on the handle side of the portafilter.

Wasting espresso, because less liquid is coming out because it is only coming out of one spout, rather than two spouts

If it was a portafilter issue, then when testing with just letting water go through--water would only come out one spout, right? Water comes out freely out of both spouts.

chanty 77 wrote:Wasting espresso, because less liquid is coming out because it is only coming out of one spout, rather than two spouts

Erm, am I missing something?I don't quite get this one either. The same amount of espresso is supposed to come out eventually, regardless of one or two spout. It's just that either they all came out from one spout instead of being split into two streams coming out from 2 spouts.

One solution if that uneven flow really bothers you- you could take off the double spout. Try it and see how you like that.

Even if it's portafilter issue(slanted or something), water could still come out evenly from both spout just because the flow volume is much higher. With espresso, you getting a smaller flow(30ml/30sec) in contrast to unrestricted water flow(~100ml/30 sec or somewhere there) .

For those who cannot get enough of uneven pour spout mysteries, please note that Linda has posted the same question on CoffeeGeek here. Linda, for future reference, please refrain from cross-posting for the reasons provided here. Thanks.

chanty 77 wrote:If it was a portafilter issue, then when testing with just letting water go through--water would only come out one spout, right? Water comes out freely out of both spouts.

Could be. Or it could even be a clogged dispersion screen "drilling" the puck. But I'm betting on operator error. Get a bottomless portafilter (or make one yourself with a hole saw and drill), otherwise we can only guess.

chanty 77 wrote:Wasting espresso, because less liquid is coming out because it is only coming out of one spout, rather than two spouts

I wouldn't worry about it too much. The espresso that doesn't come out of the not-working spout isn't wasted. I mean obviously it can't just vanish. It is probably accumulating somewhere inside the portafilter and one day when there is no more room inside, it will come out in one big river of espresso...
I have even heard of people buying single spout portafilters for the sole reason of the excitement of never knowing when the other half of the espresso comes out... (sorry, just had to make a joke...)

A more serious reply would be to ask you just how much espresso comes out of that one spout in 28 seconds and how many grams of coffee you are using. Sometimes when there is just too little espresso coming out, the drops can all come from only one of the spouts. With more flow (by using less coffee or coarser grind for example) the chances of it only coming out of one spout decrease.

For most portafilter designs, there's a hole in the bottom of the interior portafilter, which channels the coffee by passing through a nipple on the bottom of the pf's exterior. The spout is attached to the nipple.

With a few other designs, the spout itself has a threaded nipple which screws directly into the pf.

Either way, the coffee flows through a single, centered hole before hitting the spout.

Double spouts have a symmetrical, saddle shaped curve. If the coffee hits the curve at its apex, it should flow (more or less) equally to each spout. The slight exceptions to equality are usually the result of swirl or inequalities in pressure caused by channeling or the native tendency of some machines to create a vacuum at the end of the pour.

However, those reasons don't seem to be in play. Also, you've demonstrated that the pf and spout aren't blocked or clogged.

Setting aside supernatural explanations for the nonce, despite your protestations, either the pf doesn't sit square in the group or the spout itself is canted.

More likely it's bewitched.

BDL

HB wrote:For those who cannot get enough of uneven pour spout mysteries, please note that Linda has posted the same question on CoffeeGeek here. Linda, for future reference, please refrain from cross-posting for the reasons provided here. Thanks.

Dan, Am I confused? Why is it considered "cross posting" if I am posting the same questions/problems on a completely different site? Someone at another site (coffee geek vs. home barista) may have different information to supply. I find in life, the more people you talk to about the same issue--you will get a lot more answers. I'm not trying to be difficult...just trying very hard to solve my problem.

chanty 77 wrote:Someone at another site (coffee geek vs. home barista) may have different information to supply.

There is considerable overlap in membership, hence why intersite cross-posting is strongly discouraged. Click here for the longer explanation and ensuing discussion.