Help with issues exposed by bottomless portafilter!

#1: Post by **redcoat** » January 28th, 2023, 12:18 pm

Hi all,

Relative newbie to espresso. Just switched to naked portafilter and am stumped as to why I'm not seeing the good results I was expecting.

Equipment:
Profitec Pro 600 (adjusted to 9 bars pressure)
Eureka Mignon Specialita grinder (with single dose hopper)
IMS Basket 58mm 18 gram Nanotech Baristapro Precision Ridgeless Double Espresso Basket
WDT needles
Normcore distributor
Normcore 58.5mm Coffee Tamper V4 (30 lbs and includes leveler

Coffee: Black & White Original medium dark roasted 12/28

Here's the latest video:

I'm being very careful with dosage, distribution and tamping but extraction obviously not working well.

Please help, I'm not sure what direction to go!

#2: Post by **Elliot** » January 28th, 2023, 1:13 pm

What ratio are you brewing? Channeling can be created by grind size, but tbh, your hardware is all good stuff. I'd be inclined to think it's puck prep or perhaps grind being too fine, thereby shattering the puck to get through, or too coarse, where there's ostensibly an endless amount of "easy paths" for the water.

That said, one note to caution: the IG quality pull is not necessary for good coffee. Taste first.

#3: Post by **Jake_G** » January 28th, 2023, 1:19 pm

redcoat wrote:I'm being very careful with dosage, distribution and tamping but extraction obviously not working well.

Be more careful

It is clear that the right side of your basket is flowing first and faster. When you do the WDT, be very vigorous - on the verge of violent. You should need a funnel to keep from making a mess. Get the grinds thoroughly mixed and then tap downwards to settle once or twice. The top of your grounds should settle to be mostly flat at this point. If not, you can "rake" the top with your WDT tool to make it so and then tamp.

The bottom should wet evenly and then flow evenly. Based on everything else you posted and what I'm seeing, this is 100% a distribution issue and proper WDT will fix it.

Cheers!

- Jake

#4: Post by **jgood** » January 28th, 2023, 2:02 pm

Jake_G wrote:Based on everything else you posted and what I'm seeing, this is 100% a distribution issue and proper WDT will fix it.

+1

#5: Post by **ohwhen** » January 28th, 2023, 2:08 pm

Agreed with Jake, would also recommend dropping the distributor tool from your puck prep for now.

January 28th, 2023, 3:50 pm

Thanks all!

I just pulled another shot - this time spent a long time with WDT and much more violent with it. I didn't use distributor this time either.

Pulled 40.2 g in 27 seconds.

Here's the output:

Seems more consistent but still off.

cheers

David

#7: Post by **Jake_G** » January 28th, 2023, 5:39 pm

redcoat wrote:Seems more consistent but still off.

Are you plumbed in?

If not, I'd suggest eliminating the preinfusion and adjusting your grind coarser to get the same yield and shot time.

#8: Post by **Quester** » January 28th, 2023, 5:47 pm

The back (machine side) is still flowing slower. One thing you can try is rotating the basket 180 degrees when you are done with WDT and tamping. If the dark area is now 180 degrees from before, it points to prep.

What WDT tool are you using? (size of needles)

#9: Post by **zefkir** » January 28th, 2023, 7:27 pm

Is it an IMS basket with nanotech coating? If it is, the coating makes it bead strangely rather than coalesce in a stream.

January 28th, 2023, 7:40 pm

@zefkir - Hi, yes it is. Wow, hadn't heard that - sounds like that's my problem? Am really surprised I hadn't run across that in all the videos I've been watching!

Is NanoQuartz the same? Any precision baskets you'd recommend instead?