Crema and Distance from Portafilter to Basket

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Iowa_Boy
Posts: 483
Joined: 6 years ago

#1: Post by Iowa_Boy »

In the world of tiny details that makes espresso making fun, I have made some changes to my setup that I didn't think would affect the espresso but seems to have affected the crema I am getting. I have a Breville Dual Boiler and have until recently been using a spouted portafilter and basic Amazon scale (about an inch thick). Setup has worked well. However, due to a great sale I upgraded to an Acaia Lunar scale and also started using a bottomless portafilter over the last week. The bottomless has really helped even my extraction out (toothpick WDT did the trick, followed by distribution tool then Decent leveling tamper). What I have noticed is that distance from the portafilter is much greater due to the bottomless and the much thinner Acaia scale. As a result, it seems like I am getting noticeably less crema. Anyone else notice this? I suppose I could switch back to spouted now that I have technique down, or put something under the scale, but wouldn't look as clean.

Not a huge deal, but curious if others have observed similar result and what they did about it.

bach
Posts: 79
Joined: 5 years ago

#2: Post by bach »

I don't know whether the distance makes any difference, never tried, but I've actually seen an increase in crema when using my bottomless. I always thought this was due to less surface contact before hitting the cup. Who knows 8)

Iowa_Boy (original poster)
Posts: 483
Joined: 6 years ago

#3: Post by Iowa_Boy (original poster) replying to bach »

Interesting! Well, maybe it is just my imagination. Will do some more detailed testing the next bag I open.