Update from Tom Chips post at Home Barista and the Decent Diaspora forum. Thanks TC.
With the Decent’s group head cover removed, I’ve been working with the Unifilter for about a week now. Here’s a few thoughts I’ve gathered so far
PROS
I’m finding that I like the weight of it. It feels very substantial. The fit and finish is absolutely incredible.
It’s allowing me to explore much finer ground coffee and I’d surmise it’ll suit light roast extractions well because of this.
Rinsing it/cleaning it out is slightly improved over a standard basket. The high degree of polish and sharp, straight surfaces give it a jewel/mirror-like reflection that makes it very easy to see any debris.
I can do all my prep directly on my countertop if I choose.
CONS
While it’s easier to rinse and clean, it is actually slightly harder to dry than a normal basket, since the bottom edge is a sharp corner, a hand towel requires more attention and effort to get tiny drops of water out of the corners.
Price- it’s obviously an expensive tool. But it matches the fit and finish of my Titus grinder, this level of manufacturing will never be cheap.
I personally don’t think it’s going to be as compelling to use with machines that lack fine control. I really want one that is made to fit the Decent specifically, without having to remove the group head cover. It’ll probably be fun to use on anything that has gentle pre-infusion.
Not as much shot “pron” as a traditional basket that creates beautiful centered cones of espresso during the extraction. This might even out after users explore more coffees/blends, but so far, I’m finding that the extraction comes out more even, but not as visually pretty.
I’ll probably be able to pass it around with other Team HB folks before returning it to Doug and they can weigh in. I’m still working on fitting a nice wood handle to it at the moment.
