Anybody use a circular paper filter in the bottom of your portafilter when making espresso? Does it improve your shots and where do you get the filters? Aeropress filters are too big. Do you make your own? I just got through watching a James Hoffmann video and was a little surprised to see him using one.

After watching the video I had a go a couple of times with some I cut out of a chemex paper with scissors. The shot ran a bit quicker, and it might have been a touch cleaner, but I like decent body and didn’t think the difference was worth the extra step.

Cafelat sell the papers, they fit perfectly. I’ve been messing around - one on top, one on bottom, both. I can taste any difference. Also, people mention the shot runs faster, but I don’t experience that. Possibly one of my failed going down the wormhole experiments

@"hornbyben"#p15388 Yeah, I might try it but I'm pretty satisfied with what I get from my Bianca (most of the time). What's made a difference lately is a new WDT tool.

The super fine eb baskets are good for a clean cup

I'd rather not filter out some of the goodness !

@"Cuprajake"#p15413 Haven't heard of those. They look interesting. Thanks.

@"hornbyben"#p15388 I’ve got exactly the same results and conclusion haha

Tried 2 shots with a cut to size Aeropress filter, that I wetted and then paper towel dried. Put the filter on top of the puck. First shot had bottomless PF squirts (haven’t had that issue for ages) and tasted terrible (awfully sour). Second shot had somewhat better flow, but tasted equally bad. Not interested in placing one on the bottom of the PF, as I do not wish to filter out body or flavor. I have no plans to bother with that again. I did however just receive a Normcore filter, and will give it a brief whirl before it probably collects dust in the discarded espresso accessory box.

I like it. I do use it from time to time. But what I do is to simple cut a batch of aeropress papers to size.

@"MediumRoastSteam"#p32567 Top or bottom of the puck? Not sure why I got that immediately pour distribution and sourness, when placing the cut Aeropress paper at the top of the puck?

Paper filter at the bottom of your portafilter?

FadedFrontiers

CoyoteOldMan you’ve found something that works for you and that’s what matters.

Is 10 secs better than none at all? I’m sure it is.

Is a slower more thorough stir going to produce better more repeatable results? Yep, but stirring for twice as long as you originally said every time wouldn’t sound quite as low effort versus dropping a paper filter in the basket. 🤷

CoyoteOldMan

FadedFrontiers stirring for twice as long as you originally said every time wouldn’t sound quite as low effort versus dropping a paper filter in the basket.

Maybe - but then there are a couple of other considerations:

I quite like ‘body’ (fines) in my coffee. I drink a fair amount of Turkish, and I don’t like filter brews (too weak and ‘clean’ for my taste). I suspect putting a paper on the bottom would produce those effects, even if actual extraction may improve (though again, since I like medium/dark+ roasts, I doubt it would or that it would increase “pleasantly”).
Picking up the paper from the bottom of the puck, rinsing and drying it is not effort free, and it takes more than 10 seconds - nor is the cutting of more papers (which are more expensive and less durable than needles). I often pull 4-6 double shots in a row because I have guests or I cook something (mainly desserts) that requires large amounts of good coffee. I can do that with WDT quite quickly; with paper - even assuming I’d like the result more - it would mean cost and/or significant increased time.

What I’m trying to get at is that the assertion that ‘a paper filter on the bottom produces better results with less effort and cost than WDT’ is, if not outright incorrect, at the very least highly circumstantial.

FadedFrontiers

CoyoteOldMan I definitely agree with you that it’s highly circumstantial, and my previous posts did try to get across how it’s very much effort and taste/bean dependent. I also see a lot of studies with lighter roasts in espresso so would be interested to read more looking at darker roasts.

But my comparison to WDT wasn’t helpful, it was more to draw parallels about broader skepticism over new developments in espresso but I slipped into bad generalisations about cost and effort! I also should have been clearer that by results I meant extraction yield but that doesn’t necessarily equal a better coffee.

For the record I do think WDT is great 😂

steve_07

Interesting thread. Im going to give the 55 mm Whatman 5 filters a go and see how i get on!

JHCCoffee

steve_07 Im going to give the 55 mm Whatman 5 filters a go and see how i get on!

Bought and tried them, along with a good paper cutter. Tried it for a while before it went into the box of other espresso stuff that needs to be given away.

It’s been a while so I’d have to reread old tasting notes, but I do not recollect seeing any improvement in taste. I also like a bit of body in my espresso coffee; I’m not a “clean taste” kind of an espresso guy.

I do however continue to use a metal screen on the top of the basket. But nothing on the bottom 😳

chlorox

I have been using one filter paper disc at the bottom and one at the top and then a stainless steel mesh disc on top of the filter at the top. I have not been finding any negative tangible difference in taste. On the other hand the shot usually runs faster than if I don’t use filter paper so I assume that it’s helping the flow through the puck.

My main reason for doing it is because some studies apparently showed that it cuts down significantly on the fats that are transferred into the espresso. I have started using two filter paper discs at the bottom for this health benefit to enhance the filtering out of fats even more and I am not really finding any tangible diminution in the taste.

chlorox

Here is a study that seems to suggest that two fats found in espresso can cause a significant rise in blood cholesterol.

https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2007/06/070614162223.htm

chlorox

On the other hand here is a commentary that casts doubt on that study.

https://www.mcgill.ca/oss/article/health-and-nutrition/assessing-reports-linking-espresso-and-cholesterol

So I think the jury is still out on the question but withthe nunber of espressos I I drink on a daily Basis make adding filter papers to me a worthwhile precaution jus1t in case. YMMV of course…

Cuprajake

When I was on 58mm baskets I preferred the clean taste from my SSP and ims e&b super fine basket.

Adding paper is a bit of a faff for me and just adds another variable to the equation.

I’ve tried it in the past with a cut v60 paper, but didn’t like the results.

drdre89

So who’s using a paper filter these days at the bottom of their espresso puck and what type of roast of coffee?

delta76

drdre89 I use the aeropress filter paper. take a bit more work as it’s 63.5mm but it works, cheap as hell (I bought 350 pieces for like, 3.5 GBP ? made in USA, good quality. compared to 400 pieces/10 GBP/made in china 58mm, yeah, aeropress every day.

I don’t intend to improve extraction or taste, but it reduces channeling and make the pf bottom much cleaner, so, why not

Cuprajake

I still use them on some shots, in the Pullman basket

Generally light to medium

drdre89

Cuprajake ok. So not really useful for medium to dark ?

Cuprajake

It will clean the cup up a little as it will trap solids from the cup

So loss of texture

Depends what you want from the bean and it’s notes 😁

Cuprajake

Wrong thread

chlorox

I use a paper filter not only for below the puck but above the puck as well for almost all the shots I make. I don’t really taste any difference but I do notice it makes the shot faster so I assume its helping with the extraction rate. I am doing it more to keep the group screen cleaner and to trap more fats from entering the cup for health reasons.

drdre89

chlorox I use a puck screen for the top to keep the shower screen clean.

chlorox

drdre89
Yes so do I - the stainless steel screen goes on top of the filter paper…

FadedFrontiers

I still use them, made some from chemex filters which can be rinsed and reused. Not sure I’d bother with them if they were single use though, seems rather wasteful compared to the pretty marginal differences in cup I’ve noticed.

drdre89

Where can I buy espresso filter papers that fit 58mm VST basket. Most of those Chinese papers are too big for the bottom of a VST basket.

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