Bottomless Portafilter Spray, What am I doing wrong?

[@brianguzman6951]

Grind finer. And distribute the coffee more evenly. It all part of the dialing process. Embrace it. And don’t forget to taste all your shots.

[@mollieduker8690]

Definitely grind finer

[@neuro1996]

From experience you need a grinder like an adjustable one and grind fine enough so that the water doesn't go through too fast, your also using too much coffee in the portafilter if you see the shower screen printing on the coffee grounds use less coffee dose. Don't grind too fine or you will choke it. Finally tamp the coffee evenly without using too much force as to not plug the holes with coffee hence uneven extractions open portafilter shows the error during extraction makes it easy to fix, when distributing coffee gently tap the portafilter with your palm i do that and it gave me great result for free. Watch KZbin videos and i suggest james Hoffman a coffee expert and whole latte love also a great channel for coffee tips.

[@bettyladonna]

Use a wdt tool and perhaps a puck screen, absolutely a game changer

[@atayseremetli7885]

if your machine's grinder has adjustable burr make it finer then adjust your grind setting afterwards hopefully that will solve your problem

[@akramadam8308]

Grind finer and take good care distributing grounds into the portafilter.

[@jazzyjaxta]

It’s puck preparation. I just bought the same thing, same result. But just went to town more thoroughly on the grounds with my WDT needling tool before I tamped and it stopped the little spray out. It was channeling that’s why it sprays. Was probably doing the same thing in your old portafilter but you could never see it

[@aemdxb]

Pretty much this! It's all down to stopping the channeling by making your puck as uniform as possible. To the comment above, I'd also add misting your beans with water before grinding as that will help avoid clumping of the grounds and making sure you're tamping evenly. There could be a more "serious" issue that your grinder isn't producing even grounds. Try cleaning it and inspecting the burrs.

[@JaiBrews]

I do use a wtd tool before tamping

[@JT-zy2ft]

⁠@@JaiBrewshow much coffee are you using in your basket? Too much or too less can impact channeling. You should aim for a total shot time between 25 to 30ish seconds starting when your press the shot button. If you’re around that timeframe and still getting spraying it could be your grinder.

[@CoffeeGremlin_]

Can you make a quick vid on your puck prep? Would be much easier for people to diagnose the issues.

[@JaiBrews]

Yes I’m going to post full video later

[@healthplusappde]

I've had the same thing happening to me with a bad filter. Try a better sieve maybe?

[@treyhartsell7936]

Shootin from the hip here but it looks like you are too corse on your grind setting. What’s your recipe though? How many grams of coffee in vs how many grams of liquid out and in what time. Just as a general rule of thumb..try 18g in and 40g out in 20-30 seconds. That should at least get you in a good range and eliminate that spraying

[@buttonman6262]

This is a big help, thank you!

[@1nf3ct3dTT]

I also think its too coarse. For a 2:1 recipe it should take around 30 sec to finish and your throughput is waaay higher i think thats why it spreads so massively.

[@TheMusicDrawer]

Could also be a bad grinder. The flow looks weird though your time is high.

[@blueplanet1048]

The grind shouldn’t be coarse and make sure it’s temped well and tight

[@JaiBrews]

The grind is so fine that it’s coming out the bottom holes and I’ve tried tamping hard and not so hard and using a wdt tool and this is still happening

[@blueplanet1048]

​@@JaiBrewsdid you drop your portafilter by any chance? It's not bent or anything?

[@HighTechChronicles]

As some have said, this appears to be a channeling problem. There are a few things you can do, starting with more thorough use of the wdt tool. I'd also introduce a puck screen to sit on top of your puck. If you've tried that and you're still getting the channeling (i.e. spraying), you can also introduce a paper filter on the bottom of the basket, before the coffee goes in. So now you're looking at a bottom paper filter, evenly distributed coffee becuase of the wdt tool, and a puck filter on top to more evenly disperse the water. These three things will almost certainly increase the contact time with the water and coffee, so you may need to revisit your grind settings until you get a contact time you're satisfied with. Good luck!

[@laurenzr.8524]

This is not channeling. The grounds are simply too coarse. She probably doesnt have an espresso grinder, if this is the finest setting possible

[@JaiBrews]

@@laurenzr.8524 They were so fine they were coming out of the portafilter holes as you can see in the video

[@JT-zy2ft]

@@laurenzr.8524no this is channeling.

[@JT-zy2ft]

If you’re going to use a bottomless portafilter you need to be a lot more detailed in your puck prep. A few things to take into consideration: 1. Weigh your coffee. 2. Use fresh coffee ( preferably 10 days off roast). 3. Grind finer 4. Get a distribution tool. There’s a ton of helpful videos online to help you troubleshoot this.

[@JaiBrews]

I do all those things I just didn’t put it in the video bc it would of been too long =[

[@JT-zy2ft]

@@JaiBrews what machine do you have?

[@JaiBrews]

@@JT-zy2ft Ultima Cosa, I know it’s a cheap machine but I’ve seen people use this same portafilter doing no puck prep on this machine and it works fine.. idk maybe I just got a bad one

[@JT-zy2ft]

@@JaiBrews that could be a possibility especially with built in grinders. Even with the $700 breville machines most people end up just buying separate grinders because you don’t get enough settings options to dial in. Also are you using light, medium or dark roasted coffee? Lightly roasted coffee can be extremely difficult to make espresso with not matter the machine you have.

[@Chrischin99]

Finer grind and wdt. You'll never have this problem again!

[@chaosphere3841]

Grind Finer!!!

[@proevilz]

I have this problem, albeit not quite as bad. I use WDT, leveler, springed tamper and a puck screen, but alas the problem still exists. Most people here are saying to grind finer, but I buy pre-ground from a specialty coffee roaster (Pact Coffee) so I can't really get any finer at home with my Espresso machine grinder as they use professional commercial coffee grinders.

[@JaiBrews]

Preground bag coffee or even whole bean coffee from the grocery store is not good to buy for espresso machines. 10/10 it’s probably old and stale, go to a local roasting place that roast beans that way you can get fresh beans for a thicker outcome, try going with a medium dark or dark dark roast, also if you have a machine that is more than 9 bars like mine is 15 bars of pressure that’s not adjustable it’s going to push out to fast and if your coffee is not fresh and ground fine it’s going to come out too fast and watery..

[@proevilz]

​@@JaiBrews My coffee is from a specialty roaster, not the grocery store. It's delivered the day after roasting, it's very fresh. My Machine is a Sage (Breville) Barista Touch.

[@proevilz]

@@JaiBrews My coffee is from a specialty roaster, not the grocery store. It's delivered the day after roasting, it's very fresh. My Machine is a Sage (Breville) Barista Touch.

[@JaiBrews]

@@proevilz Hmmm 🤔 Can they grind it finer? I couldn’t get it to stop spraying even if I tamped with all my weight 😂 so I just went to a different coffee roasting place and got dark roast beans and it solved my problem.. but I also have a built in grinder, and with darker beans can grind finer on the same setting. So the coffee was able to pack more tightly.. remember every bean is different and needs either less or more grind. It took me about 3 days to dial in my beans to my machine

[@JaiBrews]

@@proevilz I’ll trade you machines 😂 😝

[@vikramjadhav3631]

A Wdt tool is all you need. On top of that, if your machine has the feature, try increasing the pre-infusion time.

[@JaiBrews]

That is with using a wdt tool.. I don’t think it has that feature

[@vikramjadhav3631]

@@JaiBrews You may need a precision basket, IMS or VST. - Make sure you are using the Wdt tool right. There are some decent videos online. Start from the bottom of the portafilter (the tool should touch it) and work your way up. - Is your tamping consistent (approx. same pressure every time) and levelled? Please don't tap the portafilter after tamping. - spray some water on beans before grinding for better declumping and less static.

[@Travelingwithme7788]

I HAVE THE SAMMMMME EXACT PROBLEM!!!!!!!! I bought a new portafilter it’s coming tomorrow with smaller holes in the basket maybe that’ll prevent the spraying ??

[@maxbro16]

What kind of coffee grinder do you have?

[@Travelingwithme7788]

@@maxbro16 breville smart grinder

[@JaiBrews]

@@Travelingwithme7788 Did the new portafilter work out for ya?

[@Travelingwithme7788]

@@JaiBrews yes, it actually didn’t fit my machine but I took out the basket and put it in my regular one and it worked better ! No sprays but I also changed to a medium roast which I believe fixed a big part of my problem

[@JaiBrews]

@@Travelingwithme7788 Thats what fixed my issue, I went with a dark roast which makes sense bc darker roast can grind finer.. I was using a medium roast before

[@carrscoffee]

See the video Lance Hedrick did on puck prep he said it all.

[@JaiBrews]

Yes I’ve actually watched that video twice before

[@1967davidfitness]

Poor puck prep, or too fine a grind.

[@UxJoy]

1) Grind it finer 2) Get the pin hole directions checked 3) Check the water pressure / if you can control it 4) add a directional collector

[@Leo790]

Grind finer

[@JaiBrews]

It’s actually too fine bc it’s coming out the bottom holes

[@wszhou]

You definitely neet to grind finer If you can't grind finer, use a pressurized basket

[@Watpong]

Tamping too soft

[@7531monkey]

Definately get a bottom. Spray isnt flavor. Its just what dorks on the internet think is some kind of coffee porn, but its useless.