E&B Lab Superfine basket : signs of under extraction?

#1: Post by **rapha** » July 23rd, 2022, 7:50 am

Hi, I tried the superfine basket today (18g), taste wise I'm not sure it's an improvement yet over VST or IMS baskets for light roasts (tested with 2 lightly roasted coffees: a Kenyan for filter from Three Marks Coffee and an Ecuadorian for filter from April) but what worries me more is that the flow seems really restricted on the sides of the basket (dark spots all around the edge). If I understand this article from barista hustle correctly: https://www.baristahustle.com/blog/look ... ent-pucks/, it could mean that the coffee on the sides get's underextracted.

Here is a comparison of the spent pucks, right one is E&B superfine 18g, left one is IMS Precision 18-20g. I tried this with multiple shots, grind settings and coffees and the spent pucks always look the same.
Am I the only one getting this difference? I'm using the Matrix showerscreen atm.

#2: Post by **John49** » July 23rd, 2022, 8:56 am

I have tried this basket, as well, the dark ring shows that you are leaving dissolved coffee in the puck. I was using 19g in the E&B and went down to 16g in the VST, for the same intensity of flavour. The problem with the E&B is the smaller diameter of the perforation area.

#3: Post by **Airbornewilly** » July 23rd, 2022, 9:54 am

Same experience, and mine was even more pronounced.

July 23rd, 2022, 11:30 am

That's too bad, visually, all the shots looked really good and consistent but maybe it's working a bit like a pressurised basket?

#5: Post by **michael** » July 26th, 2022, 11:17 am

I've noticed that as well, my pucks look like the photos but the shots taste great

My shots always run too fast with the vst baskets; just can't grind fine enough for a ristretto with vst