The B Plus gets an A+ This video, Priceless. Greatly appreciate your time, taste test, tds. Superbly done

The screen has made a huge difference for me on the latter half of the shot. Great video!

Great video, thank you! I’m brand new to making espresso and just tried a screen today because my cheaper entry level machine was getting pretty bad channeling, no matter how diligent I was in dispersing and tamping. The screen really made a big difference with keeping this from happening, more compact, cleaner pucks and cleaner machine.

@d3nn771

2 жыл бұрын

You should probably try adding your dose or adjust your grinding level. Based on my experience, tamping made the less effect on brew time

Another perfect video Spro - much appreciate the effort you put into this content.

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you my friend! I always appreciate kind words.

Reduced channeling by itself would in theory lead to longer shot times. That might be sufficient explanation. Incidentally I highly recommend modding the group to a countersunk/flat bolt.. had the same issue with the puck divot back when I had my Silvia… used to rustle my ocd jimmies.

Just wanna say I really appreciate your vids. Thorough and clear. Thanks for the content.

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks Jesse, I appreciate that my friend. I really do my best to get straight to the point. I mean, some things don’t need a 25 minute video to explain haha.

I’ve just bought the Shades of Coffee 50 micron version. V impressed, does what Sprometheus says. Just a little more time needed to clean the puck screen itself. Not sure if different screen mesh sizes would make much difference - Shades also offer a 200 micron version

For my Bezzera BZ10 HX machine this little screen is a game changer. This machine is set from the factory at something like 12 bar, I've adjusted it to as close as I could to 10 bar but that's as far as it will go. With the added and immediate pressure (no pre infusion) channeling has been an issue since day 1 to the point that I thought I would just upgrade my machine. No need to now, channeling issues are a thing of the past and I can extract lighter roasts without issue. Best $35 ever spent. These should and likely will be a standard one day.

I've been waiting for this, awesome review! Definitely going to try this!

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks CP, I appreciate the kind words! Would love to hear your thoughts after trying them out!

You totally nailed it with this one Asa! I couldn’t agree more. I use my BPlus 100% of the time now and it’s made my espresso so much better. Nicely done💪🏻 Greetings from Canada. Cheers.

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

Thank you! It’s definitely a solid accessory for an espresso lover. I don’t think it’ll be 100% of the time for me, I think when I’m pulling the lighter roasts this will be on the deck though, which is about 80% of the time haha.

Just join the channel, nice work, I've been using a Pesado screen for a while, but watching today, I learned a whole lot more regarding the outcome. Thanks! BTW, what kind of Distribution tool is that? Thanks

Thx for experiments, it's always interesting!

Solid video! Very curious to see how this could be incorporated in a cafe environment since they have to pull hella shots during the course of a few hours.

I knew you’d come through with some good knowledge on this. I was debating wether or not to add this to upcoming accessories but I think I’ll pass or put this further down my list. Doesn’t seem to really do much other than keep your machine cleaner. Great video.

@rook2010

2 жыл бұрын

I'm thinking of buying it just to keep the mashine cleaner Mine is an entry cheap one so keeping it clean will keep it running longer

Great video thanks for sharing what you know. 😀

Hey ! Awesome work ! Do you know if it should work same for lever machines ? Because I have been using it with a Pavoni Europiccola and I actually notice the opposite effect regarding extraction time, I needed to grind way finer in order to have similar speed extraction, with a coarser setting and the mesh, water was just rushing through the portafilter.

Just got the Normcore screen today. Took two shots to dial in at a courser setting. Great shots and easy clean up.

@luckylarrikin1439

2 жыл бұрын

FYI: I bought screens on AliExpress for $7.00 each: SIZE: 51mm, 53.5mm, 58.5mm Thickness: 1mm、1.7mm、2mm Filtration Size: 150μm/100μm/50μm

From Quebec : Merci, je viens de me procurer ce bien. J'aime bien votre approche et reviendrai vous voir ! (Thank you, I just got this good. I like your approach and will come back to see you!)

Ahh finally an answer to why my shot was sour with the screen with an already perfectly dialed in coffee bean!! Merci

Not only does my screen provide better shots, but it really helps keep the group head clean. I love mine.

Great video! I find the BPlus screen helps me a lot with consistent results for (ultra) light roasts. My technique is slightly different, in that I tamp with the screen already in place.

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

Thanks! That’s interesting. I considered that, wasn’t sure if that would maybe clog it up a bit as it’s compressed. I may have to try that out.

@alexlazaridisf.7276

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sprometheus I'd be curious about this too.

Bought one today! Thanks Spro

Yes they work. I could not imagine workflow on my La Pavoni without it.

the option i'm waiting to see explored is a puck screen held down with a spring. it seems to me that this extra mechanical compression is likely to reduce channeling ... even more than the reduced channeling you're reporting here with just screen and water pressure

Great Video as always! What do you recommend as the ideal setting for Linea Mini? I thought i saw your setting at 207F 3 scc for pre-infusion and 3 sec hold for full pressure ...I do have Niche as well and i am grinding as coarse as possible to get to 35 sec extracting time before i set my pre-infusion and holding time. Thanks

The cafelat Robot has used a dispersion screen from the beginning. Of course they kinda need something since there isn't a "dispersion screen" built in like most machines have. Different ball game, same effect, even dispersion, low channeling, good extraction.

I want it just bc I love that it keeps the shower screen cleaner

i've been using this from October last year, and really happy with it 👍🏼

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

Nice! I’ll be curious to see if it wears or the benefits fade over time.

@pppptkay

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sprometheus used to pull 3-4 shots a day, so far i don't see any degradation. only rinse everytime after use and occasionally on weekends use steam wand just for good measure

Spro..will the Flair OEM screen produce similar results. Have you compared screens? Excellent video here!

Hello I have a question which one do i need to get. I have. A 20 bar ilavie espresso maker?

I've been doing the aeropress paper (top only) since seeing your vid on it and love the results. May have to spring for one of these.

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

It definitely works in a similar way to the Aeropress, but the less waste is nice.

@macehead

3 жыл бұрын

@@Sprometheus for sure although I will say i typically reuse the paper about 7 to 10 times before replacing. Still the idea of a permanent solution is pretty apealing.

hello! I used my puck screen on my ECM mechanika V but it just stopped the machine. Sound was on but water was not flowing out anymore. This continued even after I took out my portafilter. I had to full open the flow control valve and fully close the valve to make it work again. Any thoughts? do you think this was due to the puck screen? When i took my portafilter out the top of the puck was a bit wet but not all the way through. FYI, the grind size, amount and every other variable were the same (18g IMS basket and 18g dose). help! thank you!

Help! I can not find a 57mm puck screen. Can I use smaller one like 53.5 ones?

Based your video i orderd the Bplus and i think it's defenitly worthful - more balance in each shot. Of course, all the time it is needed to take a eye on the right baset size due to headspace.

Hi Spro, great video. I’m pretty new to this, I’m a bit worried that the screen might damage my machine (Sage Oracle Touch). Can you elaborate if my worries are ledigt?

Hi, for a 52mm basket diameter, what screen mm would be ideal? Also, any density recommendations?

Thank you for your video. I bought a puck screen as a result. I used to get soggy pucks, but now they changed to nice dry pucks after using a puck screen. - I’m just wondering what the science is behind using a puck screen is. All I know is that my group head stays much cleaner now, pucks pop out cleanly, and the shot still tastes great. - from those with more espresso experience than myself, I’d love to know why the puck screen results in nice dry pucks with the same dose/coffee/grind/etc. - thanks! 🙏🏻

This would be worth it for the cleaner machine and pucks alone, but having more benefits is super cool! Would definitely get this, if I had a machine with a 58mm portafilter

@Sprometheus

3 жыл бұрын

They actually make it in a pretty big variety of diameters. I’d check them out and see if they make them to fit your machine.

@DarkEnigma1115

3 жыл бұрын

Yeah, it’s pretty varied in sizes. I’m using it for my pre-millenium (49mm) La Pavoni, and it has drastically changed my weekly and monthly cleanup.

i finally got a puck screen and was surprised about the improvement in taste. in my case ive always thought that my e61 shower did a poor job at water distribution no matter how much I clean and backflush. I think the screen is helping with that. I got sweeter and more balanced shots

Is there any difference between bplus screen and normcore 1.7mm screen ? Because can’t find bplus in Belgium :-(

So if we use one of these, should we be tamping lighter?

What was the can that you used to transfer the grounded coffee to the portafilter?

heya! just wanted to find out if I dose 20g of coffee for each shot using the bplus screen, should I be using a 20g or 22g VST filter basket?

Do you have a thought of using paper filters on bottom and top plus the screen? Or have you tested just using paper? Thx.

Iv been using the bplus screen for about 2 months now on my Silvia with PID and I have to say iv been getting really positive results. The shots are much more consistent and the extractions are beautiful. Regarding the workflow I've had no issues in cleaning the screen, I usually just rinse it under the tap and from time to time I use the steam wand to blast any stuck particles away. For me thats a very good trade-off for a cleaner machine and easy to remove pucks (seriously, it's beautiful) the only thing you did touch on is temperature as I assume the screen absorb some heat resulting in a slightly cooler extraction water. I try to bump up the temp by about 2f to compensate that. Apart from that iv been getting similar results like you showed. I did sense some lack of brightness in some coffees that has more fruit forward tasting notes so I decided to not use the screen on these particular ones, but over all I use it on 90% of my shots. It's especially helpful with more finicky coffees like light roasts or very fresh roasts that still have alot of gas buildup that are hard to dial in, it helped me achieve great results for somewhat unusable or just simply annoying coffees. Thanks for the video Spro! Great job as always!

@rook2010

2 жыл бұрын

Thanks bro I was thinking of buying one but I will. Mainly for keeping the mashine clean it's really annoying to clean the shower every time after And it's a bonus that it helps with extracting

@yanaysova5782

2 жыл бұрын

@@rook2010 still using that screen btw, it's still pretty much the same since i wrote that comment 😄

@rook2010

2 жыл бұрын

@@yanaysova5782 awesome Thanks I'm Going to order mibru 51m. I thinks it's 150 micron

Hi ive also heard you may want to bump.up the water temp as the screen cools the water a bit before getting to the grinds. Did you find this? Thank you. Im new to all.this just got a machine today. Nothi g fancy but its a great starter one. Got it off Amazon its a Mattinata Teodoro. Thank you

Great video, thanks!

So , would it make sense to keep my Gaggia at 12 bar to use with the puck instead of modding the spring to 9 bar?

Does it make a difference if you reduce the brew pressure on your Linea Mini when using a puck screen?

I have been using a screen since watching your vid. How do you clean the screen?

Is it possible to increase espresso quality in home machines such as sunbean or breville ? Can it make the machines more even during extractions ?

You had to coarsen off your grind but did you taste the shots same grind w/ screen and what were those extraction percentages?

Very interesting video, love to content! I did buy one of these screens recently and I have to say I’ve really been struggling with it. Every shot I pull, I’ve noticed a donut extraction where the espresso seems to be getting around the sides of the screen. The result has been way faster shot times and more channeling, not the slower, more even ones that you experienced. Curious if you had this issue or if you have a potential solution. Thanks!

So if you need to grind coarser to keep the time the same, doesn’t that change the taste of the shots? If it does, I would think keeping the grind the same, even if the flow is slower is best to keep the taste the same. Not sure though

This could have a profound impact on using unimodal "brew" burrs for espresso, no fines needed, better clarity and sweetness and higher extraction rate.

Newer to espresso here. How did your shots taste with the screen? If you had to grind larger to get the shot you wanted, did it make your coffee have less flavor? Thanks

I love my BPlus screen for my Faemina. The biggest improvement for me is keeping things clean, but I think it also improved my shot consistency (maybe related to channeling I could not see). I did not notice my shots pulling dramatically slower though, maybe just a few seconds but not like what you see.

the rocket appartamento seem to have a higher brew pressure ( around 11 to 14 bar ) do you think the screen is a good option to reach the "magic" 9 bar?

I wonder if the is a difference between the screen you used and the Flair screen? I have the Flair 58, and also a Salvatore HX machine. I’ve tried the screen with the Salvatore and didn’t see much difference in the shot. It wasn’t slower. I have a good grinder (Monolith conical) and I use WDT, and my prep is very good. The only benefit I found was a cleaner group head. The thing I don’t like I that the screen stays very wet after a shot, and you can get buildup of “stuff” after many shots. What do you do to clean it?

Can i use this puck screen with the breville oracle touch??

I noticed that for 58.5mm puck screen, there are different hole sizes, which is 50, 100 and 150um. Which one to order?

What is the difference in practice between 1mm, 1.7mm and 2mm filter screens?

Is it okey to use puck on picopresso ? Does it cause damage in long term to the pump ?

What is the distribution tool you are using in this video? It’s so tall, never seen it before

If the screen is against the grounds, the metal would act as a new surface under pressure causing the grounds that are blocked to be unable to extract correctly. The screen looks very fine and likely is behaving like a faucet strainer to the pressurized water, causing a lack of pressure.

Damn, been a while since I've watched a Sprometheus video and the quality has ramped up! Nice one man! I'd like to know whether they're easy to clean and the longevity of these screens, over a couple months, would I start to see fraying on the edges if I pulled 100 shots a day? Are they expensive? Also, with the cleanliness aspect, would fine particles get trapped in the mesh and transfer bad tastes to new shots down the line? Final note, is this screen really preventing channelling or is it just reducing the severity of said channels? I noticed at 1:52 there was a significant angle on your puck, despite using a re-distrubtion tool in your puck prep. I'd like to know whether these surface re-distrubtion tools are actually any good. A theory of mine after seeing that angled puck is that one side could have been denser and therefore compacted less by the screen itself inside the portafilter. I'd like to find a tool that instills confidence in the evenness of my puck density when preparing my basket.

Any different compare to other cheap one such as normcore? Thanks

You mentioned the paper filters, any difference between paper filters (on top) and puck screens? Which is better? Similar result?

Hey what size you use for LM? 58.5? Thanks!

Do you recommend using the paper puck filter at the bottom (which increases flow speed) at the same time as the puck screen?

What happens at higher yields? I get my daily filter up to 24%+ easily and would be amazed if you’re limited to 20% for espresso extractions. Shouldn’t the evenness of flow it affords you enable higher yields and reduce the risk of longer shot times or higher flow rates?

I have been unable to find this product online under ANY brand name in the 58mm size. Only 45mm.

So more course of a grind. But how many seconds did it take to extract the 40-42grams using the screen?

Did you ever investigate if raising the brew temp to account for the temp drop of the water passing through the metal screen would change the extraction? I keep mine stored in the portafilter so it's warm when my machine turns on in the morning.

I bought one for my sage dual boiler it's made a massive difference in my case as I had constant channeling. Would be interesting if you ran the same tests on a cheaper coffee machine with less initial distribution from the shower screen. it saved me money from upgrading coffee machine 😊 One annoying thing is knocking the puck screen into the knock box and having to stick your fingers in 🤣

@keto4life197

2 жыл бұрын

Can it be cheaper

@zepipoco

Жыл бұрын

I Had the exact same experience. I have the sage dual boiler, niche grinder, WDT tool, leveler, spring/leveling tamper, precision basket, and I was still getting a lot of channeling. Was about to start messing with different shower screens, but this puck screen did the job.

@jackMcRyder

Жыл бұрын

thank you for the comments Kristian Lilley and Rafael @zepipoco

I tried a puck screen, and ran into problem #1. WHAT SIZE screen to get? I measured my basket at 53.7mm. So I got a 53.5mm screen. Well that did not even fit. So I got a 53mm screen. That fit, when it was COLD. When it heated up, metal expands, and a heated screen did not fit. Or a cold screen got STUCK in the basket, after pulling the shot. So . . . how to determine what size screen to get, without buying and trying several screens?

To tackle the slower flow of the screen have you tried extracting at 6 bar for a faster flow rate?

What is the distribution tool used at 3:16

Would the cold screen not lower temp?

I'd be curious to see what the results would be using the same grind with and without the screen.

What about the Cafelat filter screen? The stronger one with the silicone pinch grip so it doesn't get bent.

One plus side that I would test is if this screen would help lousy home baristas. You use a lot of prep stuff to make a good shot. But I feel that something like that might help with lousy distribution and compress techniques.

Great video. Do you think having flow control would change whether or not you would use this?

What size basket do you use?

Anyone notice any difference on different brands of screen pucks? I bought one on Amazon and honestly don’t see a difference with or without.

On the Decent forums I've seen people recommending these for cleaner pucks or dosing more then the basket is designed for and I've been on edge but with the coarser grind required I may just get since my grinder doesn't do the best with my really light roasts.

What's the theory behind quicker extraction due to less headspace in the portafiler? Is it due to the limitation of free space in the portafilter which causes the water down to the puck, leading to quicker extraction?

Ha, I think we almost got a smile on this vid!

Q1. what is the impact on the puck temperature? Any experiment has been done? Q2. Standard brewing ratio is 1:2, with puck screen, what is the recommended brewing ratio?

This could be interesting on some of the shot profiles that deteriorate threw the shot the filter is essentially tamping the shot as it deteriorated it’s not lowering flow but exerting downward pressure over the surface area of the filter being pushed down keeping the puck together the coffee is the added restriction it can’t deteriorate and increase flow threw the shot

What thickness you use sir?

All I know from using one myself is, all of the above noted points in your video, but also that I end up with a hot as hell metal disc to handle, which is definitely not a treat. Are you able to elaborate on how you deal with this super-heated disc of death? Some sort of work through protocol that addresses this?

Hey ive got espresso machine from Delonghi but my coffe ( illy) ddoesnt looks like yours... Creamy and dark as chocolate... My is classic coffe with light dark foam... I used basic filter and coffe is fine grind

Learned alot from this channel thank you ☕

I definitely do not get clean/dry pucks with the screen. Still pretty wet (DE1).

Do you think there might be significant difference between a $59 Bplus screen and $20 Normcore screen?

It's great for those cheap casabrews machines with higher pressures that have a 10 second shot pull. It slows it down and makes a better shot. Maybe they're nit needed for good machines but it's probably a good idea for a cheap machine like mine haha

After a lot of tasting with my Pavoni and my commercial HX machine, I can say that even if you warm it up, it reduces the temperature of the water

Does the high price make a difference really

Is it standard size? 50um, 100um or 150um?