Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Jonathan Meadows on February 19, 2008 at 9:56pm

I think you have brought up the only Con, which is not being able to split shots. That is important. As for cleaning, it really doesn't take that long to purocaff the portafilters, as long as you have some back up portafilters on hand. I really enjoy watching a naked shot come through the portafilter as well. It really shows you where the weak points in your tamping methods are.

Jon-

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Permalink Reply by Jason Dominy on February 20, 2008 at 4:20am

I will say one thing about nakeds, and using them in your regular day. Make sure your baristas know how to pull great shots. i think the margin of error is increased when using a naked. But then again, maybe that's just me seeing what the shot looks like, and wanting to correct it, when normally you wouldn't have seen the whole picture of what that shot looked like. Point being, make sure your baristas are pulling great shots first, using the naked as a diagnostic tool.
And no, you can't split shots. And you wouldn't want to break it up, either. Good luck to ya!

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Permalink Reply by Stickman on February 24, 2008 at 9:04pm

I find the naked pf makes great-looking crema and is wonderful to do the art with but personally, I don't like the texture of the shots. I think they're grittier.
As far as splitting...Pouring the singles as ristrettos is what we do. HAving dabbled only a little bit with the nakeds in my shop I love them for training but as I said above, I don't like the texture.

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Permalink Reply by Alex Negranza on March 18, 2008 at 1:39am

At my last shot, we used the split portafilter on our GB5 and only trained with the naked.. I liked it. The new shop I'm in is strictly using naked portafilters. My shots have improved 100%. In my opinion, it definitely took some getting used to, but the end result was amazing. I'm getting delicious syrupy shots and noticing ANY flaw in my preparation.

Good Luck.

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Permalink Reply by Pat Thomas on March 20, 2008 at 10:44pm

I think Jeff has something there, though what I've noticed, switching back and forth between the two types is that you'll get a brighter shot (in general) with a naked. For the most part we use nakeds but there are those days where the espresso is so gassy and you have to put a splitter on there to tone it down a notch.

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Permalink Reply by Stephen Curtis on October 29, 2008 at 6:50am

Hey Dan - haven't had any trouble pulling singles on a bottomless, but you Cannot overdose - at least I haven't ever done so with good results. We use all bottomless, but have spouts for two singles (double baskets do run better) or straight doubles (a bit smoother)

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Permalink Reply by Ian McCarthy on October 31, 2008 at 2:02pm

I notice much nicer crema with the bottomless PFs, and use them for milk drinks. However, shots from my splitter seem much sweeter and more developed, I generally prefer them. A friend who has judged USBC in the past always recounts this one B who poured his singles into a vessel, (glass shotglasses, if i remember), THEN Into the demitasses that he served. He says it was like candy, and far and away the best spro' he had that day.

That being said, I only REALLY learned what I was doing until I could see what was happening during the course of extraction, and it was happening so quickly. I would dose and tamp, having an idea of where problems might occur when I engaged the pump, and get to see the results within seconds. Immediate gratification. Adjust, corrrect the problem, try again. Highly reccommended. Here is the only issue:

Trading taste and aroma perception for the visual. I am the trainer at the shop where I work, and I dug out the Nakeds a few days after I started, all of a sudden alot more coffee started going down the drain. If the Bs were not enchanted by the aesthetics of the bloom, they would'nt drink it. None of them are experienced enough to know exactly what that shot is going to taste like by what it looks like. They will make a latte for themselves, and go through 6 or 7 shots, till they get one they like the 'looks' of. I encourage them strongly to taste everything they decide to pitch, but I can not pour spro' down their throats. Just a word of caution. The proof is in the puddin'.

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Permalink Reply by Kelly David H. on October 31, 2008 at 9:02pm

I have gone form a shop that used only double pitchforked portafilters to a shop that onlyused bottomless back to using only pitchforked again. Currently i am trying to get my "boss" to order some bottomless or atleast convert some of the ones we have into bottomless. Basically, i like to use both...it all depends on the circumstances of where i am serving coffee. Both are great, but for my enjoyment in coffee, i prefer bottomless portafilters.

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Permalink Reply by Jimmy(Alexander)Smalls on November 15, 2008 at 10:19pm

I must say, in my short experience I have found that I like working with the naked portafilters much more than the splits. In my earlier experience I worked exclusively with naked portafilters, and as it has already been mentioned, they are a wonderful diagnostic tool, there is also something to be said for having the ability to observe the shot being pulled straight from basket to porcelain.

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Permalink Reply by Stickman on November 15, 2008 at 10:57pm

I agree with Ian. Better taste through the split when all is well and dialled in nicely. Better crema look with the nudies. Oh and can we call users of the naked pfs "Nudists"?

Ian McCarthy said:

I notice much nicer crema with the bottomless PFs, and use them for milk drinks. However, shots from my splitter seem much sweeter and more developed, I generally prefer them. A friend who has judged USBC in the past always recounts this one B who poured his singles into a vessel, (glass shotglasses, if i remember), THEN Into the demitasses that he served. He says it was like candy, and far and away the best spro' he had that day.

That being said, I only REALLY learned what I was doing until I could see what was happening during the course of extraction, and it was happening so quickly. I would dose and tamp, having an idea of where problems might occur when I engaged the pump, and get to see the results within seconds. Immediate gratification. Adjust, corrrect the problem, try again. Highly reccommended. Here is the only issue:

Trading taste and aroma perception for the visual. I am the trainer at the shop where I work, and I dug out the Nakeds a few days after I started, all of a sudden alot more coffee started going down the drain. If the Bs were not enchanted by the aesthetics of the bloom, they would'nt drink it. None of them are experienced enough to know exactly what that shot is going to taste like by what it looks like. They will make a latte for themselves, and go through 6 or 7 shots, till they get one they like the 'looks' of. I encourage them strongly to taste everything they decide to pitch, but I can not pour spro' down their throats. Just a word of caution. The proof is in the puddin'.

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Permalink Reply by Johnny Kemnitz on February 1, 2009 at 3:12pm

i find a normal portafilter with the spouts removed provides the best results. the coffee touches less metal then double spouts. and unlike bottomless portafilters they retain heat fairly well.

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Permalink Reply by Kate Brown on February 1, 2009 at 6:52pm

go with the naked. pulling the perfect shot with a naked is super satisfying b/c the crema is amazing. the major con would be single shot, but like others have brought to your attention, pulling a ristretto would be ideal. i have trained new baristas with the naked exclusively so the can see how microfissures in the puck can dramatically change the shot - you can't see that with the regular portofilter.

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