With the Aeropress filter, using the BDB.








I ordered some 51mm paper filters, just to see the difference.

Second shot.

Eager to hear your impressions on the 800. I resisted the urge to use puck filters for awhile, but now I'm hooked. Makes clean up so much easier. I use a Normcore puck screen on top and generic 54mm amazon papers on the bottom. So far so good. WDT has to be more mindfully done when using a bottom filter but that is about it.

I'm a bit embarrassed to say I've never used the single basket. How did the shot taste?

Milligan wrote:... How did the shot taste?

The advantage of the La Marzocco 7gr basket (first picture below), coupled with the Tidaka funnel and a proper 41mm tamper (either Tidaka or other brand like in the picture above) is that it allows to be extremely consistent with he preparation of the puck. From there it's just a matter of proper setting of the grinder and of the espresso machine.
I have used the IMS baskets, the ones that need a regular 58mm tamper (second picture ) and I have never been able to replicate the same taste and quality. At the office we have a Breville Bambino Plus and because of the limited choices of baskets for that portafilter, we have to use the one in the third picture, and with that one as well we have to use a tamper of the same diameter of the portafilter. The result in the cup can vary from shot to shot. Good but not consistent.
So, to answer your question, single shots are great, very tasty, I actually prefer them to the double shots. But you (at least I) need that style of basket and possibly the Tidaka funnel is definitely a further improvement. We normally use 8-8.5 grams. This morning the two shots I had with the paper filters were no different even if I noticed that they were a little smoother, less bitter. But it may have been me. I was using Buongiorno Inverno. I have some Banco Gotiti that I have just opened, I will try it this evening.

By the way, when I was a teenager my first job was at a bar in Italy, and we used to pull single shots all day long. We used the same style of basket. We did not have the funnel so the trick was to shake the portafilter in order bring most of the coffee to the center before using the tamper. Same concept, a little less efficient and repeatable.

Question: Why the stainless steel screen instead of just paper? Doesn't it require more work between shots?

La Marzocco 58mm


IMS 58 mm


I don't remember the brand of this one ....54mm

Huh. I'll be interested to hear about impressions with a puck screen. The pucks from my 800 need only a suggestion of a tap to come out solid and cleanly. Also, the lack of back-pressure, blowing up through a 3-way, leaves the screen and surrounding chamber 100x cleaner than my old E61 (as long as I wait, until after I froth/pour my milk, before removing the PF).

Does this change the service interval significantly? Or does it just make the task a little less unpleasant?

Moka 1 Cup wrote:
Question: Why the stainless steel screen instead of just paper? Doesn't it require more work between shots?

I got the screen before ordering papers. The screen isn't that bothersome. I've got it down where I knock the portafilter at a certain angle and the screen pops out by itself and then I can discard the puck with a second knock. I do a quick run of water through the tea/americano spout then dab it with my cloth before the next shot. I soak it in Cafiza weekly with my other accessories. However, with the puck paper on the bottom the whole puck comes out so easily now that I can't knock it separately anymore. So I knock the whole puck out on my oversized tamp mat and tack the puck screen off. The puck is so perfectly compact and clean that it makes it very easy.

I actually have that La Marzocco single basket that tampers in. It came with my machine. I've just never used it. I'll give it a go sometime this week. Thanks!

If the Profitec 800 slathers on a similar paste lube as the Strega it is considered beneficial to pull out the piston, clean the paste off everywhere and lube with something more effective like Dow111. Bezzera gobs their lube on. You only need a thin coat of Dow111 for group and piston seal lubrication that would probably give the piston seals better protection.