MarkPrince Moderator Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 4,650 Location: Vancouver Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Frankenstein'ed LM Linea Grinder: Anfim Super Caimano Vac Pot: 1922 Silex Drip: Krups Moka Brew Roaster: Hottop
Posted Fri Aug 20, 2004, 10:29pm Subject: Simply put: Espronography
Today was a busy day for me - a visit to Ethical Bean in Vancouver, then an extended visit to Alistair's shop (Elysian Room) to further discuss the naked portafilter setup. Alistair mentioned he started formulating the idea a few weeks back when he was fooling around with removing spouts for the pour, but the catalyst was that Chris D, Kyle etc at Zoka posted something almost identical to what he was thinking about doing; Kyle posted the idea and implementation to the SCAA's Barista Board about three days ago. There's a funny story... Alistair read the post, and ran like a little schoolboy to Nathan, his friend and barista at his shop....
"Nathan! Nathan! Someone else cooked up the same idea I'd been thinking about for a few weeks, that portafilter surgery!!!"
Nathan apparently looked at him like his boss was on drugs :) :)
(btw, one of ESI's crew (John B?) apparently did this to a portafilter some years back, but didn't share the espronography with the public - shame shame!!!!! :) :) :))
Neway, I've reserved comment on it till now, and I'm still kinda reserving comment until I do some of my own testing. But Hopkin lent me one of his naked portafilters for the weekend, and on Monday, I'm going to get one of mine hacked down (my LM portafilters are a slightly different design than Hopkins' more recent models).
But for now, here's a high res shot of what all the excitement is about.
And... ever wonder what channelling or pitting might look like? Or, as my friend Cam says, "premature ejaculation" in the basket (lol!).
(again, I'm not developing any new theories yet as to whether this is channelling or not, but take a look at that JET of liquid coming out near the handle side)
AndyS Senior Member Joined: 10 May 2003 Posts: 474 Location: NY
Espresso: Tricked-out Silvia Grinder: Robur, M3, Mazzer Mini Vac Pot: Yama Drip: no, I don't have a Clover... Roaster: PIDed Popper
Posted Sat Aug 21, 2004, 4:14am Subject: Re: Simply put: Espronography
MarkPrince Said:
And... ever wonder what channelling or pitting might look like? Or, as my friend Cam says, "premature ejaculation" in the basket (lol!).
(again, I'm not developing any new theories yet as to whether this is channelling or not, but take a look at that JET of liquid coming out near the handle side)
Posted Sat Aug 21, 2004, 11:25am Subject: Re: Simply put: Espronography
I just came back from Murky Coffee (http://murkycoffee.com/). Nick, the owner, was kind enough to let me compare shots between an unmodified LM portafilter and a “crotchless” LM portafilter. Each PF was fitted with a double basket. I “rinsed” my taste buds with water between sips.
Using the same blend, the shot from the “crotchless” PF was definitely sweeter than the one from the unmodified LM. The shot also had more mouthfeel to it. Of course, that is just my taste buds (subjectively) speaking. Also, the pour from the “crotchless” PF was awesome! Kind of makes you want to extend your tongue under the “crotchless” PF (insert your favorite porn joke here).
terryz Senior Member Joined: 19 Dec 2001 Posts: 578 Location: Olympia, WA. Expertise: Professional
Posted Sat Aug 21, 2004, 1:43pm Subject: Re: Simply put: Espronography
MarkPrince Said:
And... ever wonder what channelling or pitting might look like? Or, as my friend Cam says, "premature ejaculation" in the basket (lol!).
(again, I'm not developing any new theories yet as to whether this is channelling or not, but take a look at that JET of liquid coming out near the handle side)
We played around with this idea some years back, and I had all but forgotten about it until reading a post on A.C. So I went and whacked off the bottom of another PF and have been playing with it this week. I was amazed by the channeling. It surprised me because every few shots would spray off little jets of water. I thought I had a bad gasket and then realized that I was seeing channeling occur. Thats a great shot of it occuring. Using a series of different tamps also proved some theory and tamp shape and design. Watch how the basket forms a convex shape as the pump pressure kicks in. This is something I noted when we first tried this, a few years ago, and to be honest, I did not notice much beyond that. So now it is of great interest to note the channeling. Anyhow, have fun with it.
Posted Sat Aug 21, 2004, 2:29pm Subject: Re: Simply put: Espronography
Well, I said I wouldn't do it to one of my La Marzocco portafilters, but I just couldn't help myself. I decided that I liked murkycoffee's approach so much, that I took my LM to a metal fabrication shop. I had work done at this shop before, so I knew they would do a great job. The modification turned out better than I could have hoped for, and the result in the cup is wonderful. It cost me $30, money well spent!
I am no espresso expert, so I will say that I think the espresso is better, and I enjoy using this new naked portafilter.
Thanks to everyone at Zoka and murky for sharing their ideas and results.
corey Senior Member Joined: 26 Sep 2003 Posts: 1,147 Location: Perth, Australia Expertise: Professional
Espresso: Synesso, Marzocco Grinder: Mazzer Robur
Posted Sat Aug 21, 2004, 3:27pm Subject: Re: Simply put: Espronography
Thanks all for the photos and willingness to experiment. The naked PF would obviously pose a problem when wanting to split shots in a commercial environment, but for doubles this concept is incredible. I wonder what effect on temp the PF removal would make? Temperatures of brewing and in the final cup I guess, could be affected. I love the idea that more crema is transported directly to the cup and the taste of a shot falling directly into the final cup rather than finding its way through metal channels surely would taste better. The other advantage is that old coffee oils are going rancid in the spouts (which are hard to clean well) therefore cleaning spouts and the bottoms of PF's is now redundant. I have a spare PF at work so it's off to the PF plastic surgeon!
Corey
PS Thanks for your input Mark, you know we were all waiting to hear what you had to say!
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