Has anyone had issues where the portafilter won't unscrew from the main body? I may have ground the coffee too fine and nothing came out. Now I can't unscrew the portafilter.

Try to put the lower part of the Picopresso in hot or even boiling water to heat up the metal and then try unscrewing it again. This helps most of the time when metal threads are locked.
In the future I would not lock in the portafitler with a lot of force. The Picopresso should get a good seal when you screw in the ring with normal force.

Marmot wrote:In the future I would not lock in the portafitler with a lot of force. The Picopresso should get a good seal when you screw in the ring with normal force.

I would agree with that, if it's not dripping from the sides then the seal is sufficient, but you don't need to go crazy for that to be accomplished. I screw it on until there is some resistance, then give it a quick hand torque and leave it at that.

Marmot wrote:I preordered a Picopresso when it was offered for 99 dollars. I think it will be available again at the end of September for 129 dollars (plus shipping ~19 dollars).

I am really impressed with the Picopresso so far and the only real drawbback for me is the temperature management for light roasts. You really have to keep an eye on preheating the unit and at the same time the chamber gets quite hot and uncomfortable to touch.
But nevertheless to me this espresso maker is the perfect solution for travel. Especially in combination with a grinder capable of fine adjustments like the JX Pro from 1zpresso. Combined they don't take away too much space and weight about 1.3 kilograms.

I have some pictures from testing this combo with light roasted Sidamo beans:

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And with some really dark roasted Quarta Rossa beans:

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If you have any questions or want me to test something I am happy to help out

After a long time with the picopresso and light roast beans, can you please share further thoughts of how good it is for light roast espresso? Are you happy with the taste?

I have used it mainly for darker roasts since then because I prefer that roast level most of the time.
When I use it for light roasts I preheat it several times while using beer coolers as insulation to reach a higher temperature. So when using it for light roasts you have more preparation to do (if you prefer a high brew temperature).
I like the light roast shots I get out of the Picopresso. I don't get as much tasting notes as brewing with flow control but the danger of getting harsh tastes is also lower.
I feel like the Picopresso is similar to a lever machine like the Pavoni. You can get a good shot even if you are off with grind size and dose. However while Pavonis tend to overheat the Picopresso tends to "underheat" if you don't keep up with heating. Therefore it is easier to use with traditional blends and darker roasts.

If you travel frequently and want espresso every morning, I don't think there's a better option than the Picopresso. I've used it many times now in hotels, and it's great. I use an 1zpresso JMax grinder and a small bonavita travel kettle. The kit is small and doesn't weigh your bag down. I enjoy all of the shots from it (as long as you're reasonably dialed in).

Has anyone had a chance to try out Wacaco's new smaller 12g basket? Wondering if that would be a better or similar result to using a La Pavoni 14g basket

I have one and the quality of the finish is very disappointing as it's not a precision cut. You can feel the roughness of the holes unfortunately. The LP compatible one is much better machined (get what you pay for I guess). In terms of the taste the LP is better.

Enjoy!

BC

Hi. So I got an IMS "competition series precision filter basket" (14-16 grams) for La Pavoni post millennium and it seems to fit well. However, when I pump the Picopresso some amount of clear water comes out on the sides, so the seal doesn't seem to work that well. I tried to omit the puck screen that I used to add, just to give the coffee puck some more "breathing space", I thought it may have been just too dense, but it's the same result with clear water coming out.

I still get enough espresso through the bottomless portafilter to get a full shot, but with the leakage I think it also impacts the pressure that builds inside, and it makes the Picopresso bottom screw part often too hot to unscrew by hand. The amount of crema is also disappointing (but that may be due to the beans I'm using right now, they're not the best).

The result, even with the leaking, isn't bad, but I think would be much better if it'd seal tight.

Does anyone else have that issue, or better yet a solution to it? Thanks!

Anatol wrote: Does anyone else have that issue, or better yet a solution to it? Thanks!

I'm only in the early stages of learning how to use my Picopresso, but I think I have the same problem with a La Pavoni single basket. I've only tried a couple of shots with it, but both turned out soupy with no crema and tasted watery. I didn't see any water coming out of the lower seal, but I did hear some hissing that probably isn't normal. I need to perfect my technique with the larger basket to make sure the differences have to do with the basket and not the grind/dose (i.e., singles being a challenge with any machine.)

That said, I did some measurements with a caliper and found that the outer diameter of the LP single basket rim is about 1.5mm larger than the Picopresso stock basket rim, even though the inner diameters of the baskets is about the same. Consequently, the larger diameter rim extends beyond the edge of the gray shower screen gasket, preventing the assembly from just dropping into the bottom of the Picopresso. You have to wiggle it in the get the basket rim past the Picopresso plastic threads that the PF screws into. Also, the gap between the metal PF and the plastic bottom edge of the Picopresso is about 0.15mm larger with the LP basket (I checked with feeler gauges.) This may be due to the larger diameter rim contacting the walls of the Picopresso and not allowing the gray shower screen gasket to compress as much, or a the top edge of the PF not seating all the way into the rim of the LP basket.

A smaller issue is that the Picopresso funnel doesn't fit on the LP basket. I ordered an aftermarket funnel to see if I can get a better fit.

If the LP basket rim diameter/shape is the problem, there may not be a good solution. The funnel and seal problems could possibly be solved by slightly bending the sharp under edge of the rim inward, but it would be hard to do that uniformly and without deforming the rim or basket. That might prevent the basket from contacting the plastic sides of the Picopresso, but it might not solve the problem of the basket not fitting the rim of the PF correctly.

Are there other machines with 51mm baskets?