I agree with Marshall about the spouts.. Its a very nice thing to simply make espresso and drink it, without kneeling down.

Thats actually the reason why I DIDN'T use the single spout for a while.. because I couldn't make sure the pour was perfect. Then, I started noticing I was sinking shots that probably tasted great, but the cone didn't center right away. Grabbed the single spout right then and there, and stopped watching the espresso, and started enjoying the espresso.

Now, I go back and forth. My La Spaz PFs have a sort of flat bottom inside, like the VBMs, so, as you go to the knockbox, if you weren't careful, drip drip splotch drip all over your work area. I for one, do like the espresso better from the spouts.

I think its worth mentioning.. two days ago, I got what I would call a the metallic taste, big time, in a shot. I had been pulling shots with the bottomless, and then grabbed the single spout. Locked in and walked away for 10min. Pulled a shot like normal, and it was hardcore like sucking on coins. The next shot though, was fine. I couldn't figure out why. Later, I realized, I had cleaned that PF, and then not used it for about 2weeks. Maybe it was simply "not seasoned"?

JmanEspresso wrote: Its a very nice thing to simply make espresso and drink it, without kneeling down.

I agree, which is why I set up my current coffee bar right next to my roasting table. Now I can sit comfortably on the bench & watch those beautiful pours out of the bottomless p/f with no kneeling or bending. Every time one of these threads pops up I pry the blind basket out of the spouted p/f & pull a couple shots. Maybe the shot is a little creamier or maybe I just think it is because I read it should be. Doesn't matter as the blind basket quickly gets replaced in the spouted p/f as I really enjoy watching the entire process especially when I'm playing with extended p/i times.

Question: Spout, or "spoutless"?

Answer: Yes.

JmanEspresso wrote:I agree with Marshall about the spouts.. Its a very nice thing to simply make espresso and drink it, without kneeling down.

You can always bent forward

JmanEspresso wrote:I started noticing I was sinking shots that probably tasted great,

I remember very good advice I read on HB in my first days of espresso (even before I got my La Spaziale), and it was: taste your sink shots. I don't remember which the thread it was, but yet here is another I recommend to read. With relevance to your sinking shots:

another_jim wrote:there are crap pours that taste perfect

I would say, instead 'perfect', good, for perfect would mean the best as the coffee can give. Yet sinking a shot based on the appearance of pour is bad.

JmanEspresso wrote:I for one, do like the espresso better from the spouts.

Yes the taste from naked pf is airy. If you tap the cup against the counter delicately, then the taste is same as from spouts. At least for me.

another_jim wrote:I got what I would call a the metallic taste, big time, in a shot. (...) Later, I realized, I had cleaned that PF, and then not used it for about 2weeks. Maybe it was simply "not seasoned"?

+1 on the seasoning of pf.
I never had a metallic taste from spouts.

CoffeeOwl wrote:+1 on the seasoning of pf.
I never had a metallic taste from spouts.

Neither have I, Pawel . . .