Weber Workshops Unifilter - Page 15

#141: Post by **BaristaBob** » April 27th, 2022, 8:18 pm

yakster wrote:Maybe putting a metal, wood, ivorite, bamboo or other accent piece between the handle and the portafilter could work for this.

I've used a "clear" nylon washer the same diameter as the end of the handle or PF end. Also keeps everything nice and tight.

#142: Post by **Shakespeare** » May 5th, 2022, 11:55 pm

I have read all the comments and reviews in this thread. I read the numerous objections/complaints to everything from the price, advertising, Weber design, basket walls to thick,and countless gratuitous remarks.
Multiple complaints that it would be a piece of junk if used in a commercial market place, Even though it was obvious that Weber sold it for the home Barista market.
There was even a complaint from a member who was 'very active' in this thread that the Unifilter wouldn't be a good fit for his 'Flair"espresso machine.
A 520 gram portafilter sitting on the bottom of a 'Flair' machine sucking up the heat from the hand poured water 'what a surprise"
And that was one of the more serious remarks.

I asked early on in the thread if this was a gift would there be the same arguments and criticisms...?
I obviously was quite naive to even present this question to this audience.

I agree that Weber should have considered professional and expert assistance before putting out their sales and promotional literature.
It was written with no scientific or experimental testing of their new portafilter design.
This lack of supportive information, of course assisted and entreated the vast majority of complaints in this thread.

It reminded me of when I had a party at my new home and forgot to fill in the swimming pool.
All I received all night were comments about the empty swimming pool rather than comments about my new home and grounds, the food, liquor etc
Weber, gave everyone an opportunity for the multiple complains because of the the 'lack' of water in the pool

or their 'lack' of real testing and results with this new design before putting it for sale.

I do give them extraordinary credit in their manufacturing & engineering of a single piece of stainless steel into a portafilter and basket 'without welding'. ( I have poor eyesight) Quoting Weber: "'We recreated the portafilter out of a single piece of stainless steel''

I would submit that there is very little use for such a expensive portafilter for the vast majority of the espresso community.
And there "may" come a time when a great majority if not all concerned will think that it was a mistake to offer it at all.

I have come away with some new questions of the Weber Unifilter. It seems there were some preliminary positive submissions on its efficacy in the producing well rounded esspresso.
But,those comments were on the portafilter basket and the espresso produced, not the portafilter.

Yet Weber may have opened a new door for me to question........ Is the Weber portafilter basket Alone with it's design,build and structure a possible new innovative solution for something that we haven't tested??
And it could be a better candidate and solution for a better portafilter basket design after all.

#143: Post by **erik82** » May 6th, 2022, 2:32 am

Great post and I agree 100%. New designs that try to make a real difference in stirring up the conventional design always get a lot of negative feedback. And designing and making such small volume beautifully made products costs a lot of time and money so kudos for LWW that they're doing something new and trying to make the coffeeworld better. It's always safer to be boring and not innovative then to take the plunge and stir everything up.

I also don't get that this is called expensive by so many people while they do spend hundreds of dollars on tampers and, in my eyes, completely useless OCD tools and other grooming tools for coffee. The unifilter has at least the potential to be a game changer.

#144: Post by **SteveRhinehart** » May 6th, 2022, 11:13 am

Shakespeare wrote:Multiple complaints that it would be a piece of junk if used in a commercial market place, Even though it was obvious that Weber sold it for the home Barista market.

I would say that it is very obviously intended for cross-market use. Weber spent the first day at Expo test-fitting the Unifilter in any commercial machine available on the show floor and posted the results to his Instagram stories. That does not suggest at all that it's only a home product.

I do not know whether Weber's design will fail due to stress as baskets usually do in commercial use. Only time will tell that. It is a concern of mine for a commercial application that the whole portafilter will seemingly need to be replaced assuming a stress failure does occur, and typically baskets are replaced once per year, sometimes more, in a cafe setting.

May 6th, 2022, 12:08 pm

I fully understand,and agree. I'm aware of Weber using and testing their portafilter at the Speciality Coffee Show recently in Boston.
I spoke to a friend who shared with me from whom was a sponsor at the show.
He relayed that Weber was very active in bringing their new portafilter to every booth that had equipment to test their device on.
I can only assume that Weber wanted everyone to play with their portafilter and create a buzz with this 'shiny toy" and absolutely perfect portafilter creation.

I truly believe it wouldn't matter what machine they tested their device on (commercial or home).
The company has always been a highly visual company promoting their high priced products anywhere they can.
And due to their limited manufacturing runs, they also knew that they could promote that it was sold out for the first manufacturing run.
And you also somewhat agree, that a commercial user has no business buying 3 or more of these overpriced portafilters for their business. Especially if there is a chance that the high price basket will fail within a year or two.

Why would they need to purchase an over priced 'stainless basket,'when it costs them just a few $ to purchase new disposable stainless baskets from their distributor.

And finally Weber did create the buzz at the show they wanted ...they won the New product 'Best Design Award' as 9
Nine others products received the similar award. Weber immediately promoted to the coffee establishment their award received at Boston.

#146: Post by **erik82** » May 7th, 2022, 2:19 am

And that's exactly how running a business works and what we call marketing. You need exposure of the product and actively promote it. Sittng in a dark corner waiting for people to come buy will result in your business going bankrupt. Especially when you're making beautifull expensive niche gear it's very important to do everything to get the investment back.

Love it or hate it but that's just how it works. Without these kind of companies there much less innovation and I love them for taking the huge risk. In the end these are the companies that stir everything up giving us better coffee gear.

#147: Post by **stephenmsis** » May 7th, 2022, 8:47 am

erik82 wrote:Great post and I agree 100%. New designs that try to make a real difference in stirring up the conventional design always get a lot of negative feedback. And designing and making such small volume beautifully made products costs a lot of time and money so kudos for LWW that they're doing something new and trying to make the coffeeworld better. It's always safer to be boring and not innovative then to take the plunge and stir everything up.

I also don't get that this is called expensive by so many people while they do spend hundreds of dollars on tampers and, in my eyes, completely useless OCD tools and other grooming tools for coffee. The unifilter has at least the potential to be a game changer.

Agree with this. Without innovators, nothing moves on. I've happily bought a Key grinder, and I will happily buy a Unifilter when they are back in stock. I've been an early adopter across most of my interests for a long time. I've always enjoyed the stage where everything isn't quite perfected, but the potential is clear.

A couple of things niggle me. On this and other forums there's a pile on when it comes to Weber. Huge opinions and quite often from people who haven't tried the products in question. A reverse snobbishness too, where people who buy the equipment are somehow idiots because they are premium priced, and the hard core in crowd would never be so stupid. I would never consider critiquing someone for buying a budget machine. Why is there a different standard when it comes to more expensive kit? A handful of negative comments getting disproportionate airtime all over the place. A YouTube vlogger, who by his own admission is no expert, getting tonnes of traffic by showboating. What's the point, what satisfaction is there to be had from bashing a small company?

The other issue is the pseudo-legendary poor Weber customer service. A small company with the usual growth pains. My own experience is the founder himself has answered any questions I have had. But setting that aside this is a boutique company which had a wildly successful crowdfund and has struggled to fill demand. That in my book is good news, not bad news.

Good for the innovators. Easy targets for some. Remember the credit goes to the man in the arena. It's great for us all to bash the keyboard. But starting and scaling a small company is something to be admired.

#148: Post by **jdrobison** » May 7th, 2022, 8:57 am

Very well said!

#149: Post by **BaristaBob** » May 7th, 2022, 11:29 am

^^^ And so it goes...

At the very least, we all know WW perchance at high quality products, I own several tools with no remorse. Down the road, I will no doubt purchase a Unifilter from someone on this list that wanted a new "play toy" and then decided to sell at some reduced price. Not knocking this, hey, I have a whole drawer full of "innovative" products. And after some time, experiencing the innovation of what the Unifilter provides or doesn't, I myself, might list it on the HB buy/sell, at a reduced price once again to allow the learning to continue on.

#150: Post by **JB90068** » May 7th, 2022, 11:52 am

stephenmsis wrote:A reverse snobbishness too, where people who buy the equipment are somehow idiots because they are premium priced, and the hard core in crowd would never be so stupid. I would never consider critiquing someone for buying a budget machine. Why is there a different standard when it comes to more expensive kit? A handful of negative comments getting disproportionate airtime all over the place. A YouTube vlogger, who by his own admission is no expert, getting tonnes of traffic by showboating. What's the point, what satisfaction is there to be had from bashing a small company?

Good for the innovators. Easy targets for some. Remember the credit goes to the man in the arena. It's great for us all to bash the keyboard. But starting and scaling a small company is something to be admired.

Perfectly written.

I've been a vocal supporter of Weber on this and other forums because I own and use many if not most of their products. I believe in buying beautifully designed and crafted products and Weber fills that criteria for me. I too will get a Unifilter not because I need it, but because I believe in supporting this company. I want to see them continue to innovate and push design and performance boundaries for many years into the future and not fall backwards and become pedestrian like so many companies in the coffee world have become.