If you have the space, I am all for the mess of anything as well as the bottomless portafilter just cause its fun to watch each time. Between the puck prep, the portafilter clean up, and the puck disposal, any mess is just part of the myst that makes the sweet espresso. I say go bottomless.

Your timing is excellent. Have someone gift it to you this holiday, or more than one person, and get one with a handle you really love using. Then every day is a holiday.

DaveC wrote:I agree, much less clean up, less in contact with the coffee, because after the first shot in a standard portafilter you have stale coffee oils for the next shot. With a bottomless, you can completely clean it after your shot.

With the bottomless, on some bleary-eyed mornings I've forgotten to remove the portafilter after pulling a shot, where it remained until the next one. After ejecting the puck, it was a lot harder to rinse the basket clean - from front and back using hot water from sink sprayer. Apparently the reside hardens significantly after several minutes. With a standard portafilter, it would be extremely difficult to remove this residue from the spouts by rinsing alone. And since you can't see inside the spouts you have no idea whether they're really clean or not.

I've been mainly primarily using a bottomless portafilter for several years, it's my strong preference to use it. For a short time I used to switch to a double spout if I needed to pour two singles, but otherwise I really love the visual feedback especially when dialing in a grinder. Even when everything is running smoothly and shots are coming out well, I still like it for that reason

DaveB wrote:With the bottomless, on some bleary-eyed mornings I've forgotten to remove the portafilter after pulling a shot, where it remained until the next one. After ejecting the puck, it was a lot harder to rinse the basket clean - from front and back using hot water from sink sprayer. Apparently the reside hardens significantly after several minutes. With a standard portafilter, it would be extremely difficult to remove this residue from the spouts by rinsing alone. And since you can't see inside the spouts you have no idea whether they're really clean or not.

Try starting the pump for second or two as if pulling a shot. Then stop the shot. The hot pressurized water tends to loosen the puck & makes the PF easier to wipe clean after rinsing.

BTW, I started with a bottomless with my 1st machine & kept with it. I like seeing the pour, helps me verify a good extraction & is a heck of a lot easier to keep clean than a spouted one