WAFO vs Unifilter vs VST: Espresso Basket Comparison

I compared the WAFO Spirit to the Unifilter as well as the VST filter basket to look at which basket performs better in taste and extraction efficiency. This exploration would not have happened without the help of Brandon Leong who lended me his.
I bought the WAFO Classic through Eric Porres’ friend who went to the Taiwan Coffee Fest, and then I bought the Spirit in late December.
Wafo Spirit vs VST: / wafo-soe-spirit-vs-vst...
Wafo Classic vs VST: / wafo-soe-classic-vs-vs...
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[@choyhsien]

Nice video. I appreciate your content and have been trying to keep up with your posts. It's good to see someone work so consistently (and competently) with quantitative data. You're a great complement to the others that give softer opinions.

[@espressofun6091]

Thank you so much for your kind words!

[@cicciobello8470]

Super-thorough review, great closing, bravo! The "and now a word from our sponsor" bit superb!!

[@espressofun6091]

Thanks!

[@BensCoffeeRants]

I like how you threw in your own book as the sponsor :D Nice.

[@espressofun6091]

I appreciate that you appreciate the humor.

[@Coffeenerdtools]

This is fantastic. Good stuff Robert

[@LoayOmari]

Man this is good thanks

[@imnotgivingyoumyname810]

Loved all that work you put in.

[@espressofun6091]

Thanks!

[@weesamboss]

Amazing work. I used the VST fir a while and i got the Spirit recently. Big improvement and i agree with everything you said.

[@espressofun6091]

Great to hear!

[@tob4942]

Any plan to test it against sworks billet baskets?

[@espressofun6091]

Not currently. If I can borrow one, I will.

[@robertandil5950]

Thank you for the helpful video, one question, did you say you use 1:1 extraction ratio? As in 20g in 20g out and tasting that?

[@espressofun6091]

@@robertandil5950 yes that’s what I did

[@viranjith]

Wow great content!

[@JLeverEspresso]

wow, man thanks for posting that, that's saved me some time, I'm doing the same comparison for the expresso maker I'm developing, and trying to choose which basket to go with...

[@espressofun6091]

I hope your espresso machine well. Let me know if you’d care for an opinions or suggestions.

[@vithavatvonn]

What product do you use for your hair?

[@nickbarkley7569]

Is it possible that the weber and the wafo classic have considerably more even extractions than the vst despite the same EY?

[@espressofun6091]

It is possible but hard to prove. The channel to me to conceptualize more even extraction without higher extraction is that uneven extraction is done by channeling and over extraction in some areas has more water volume. I would be very interested in a purposeful experiment to hit the same output yield and TDS with even and uneven extraction because I think evenness is correlates to extraction in the same manner than flow correlates to pressure. But an experiment to speak to that question would be highly desirable.

[@yesthatenzo]

How do the Classic and the Spirit compare to each other?

[@espressofun6091]

I didn’t do a direct comparison, but based on how they compared to VST, I think the Spirit would perform better.

[@beyou3015]

You are 10 cm taller than you really are.

[@3ede467]

Don't understand why knocking out the unifilter is considered difficult here… As they are usually used with paper filters at the bottom and a puck screen at the top, that should not be difficult at all.

[@espressofun6091]

I didn’t use paper filters, nor do I use a puck screen. I’m sure that would make it easier, but I’m aiming to reduce my workflow complexity. So I took a break from paper filters.

[@3ede467]

@@espressofun6091 Understandable. But to be fair, I need to mention that you are using the unifilter in a wrong way then as it is highly recommended to use a paper filter so that the holes don’t get clogged.

[@espressofun6091]

@@3ede467 that’s a fair point. However, wafo didn’t clog as easily so apples to apples on that metric, wafo was better.

[@jorgelobato3604]

Thank you very much for your work. I appreciate your effort and accurate work. The puck screen and filter paper doesn’t help that much to knock the puck a lot easier. With the unifilter its hard to do it anyway. Ive tested even with wet filter paper, helps but not that much. I agree with Chris that to be fair I would compare all three with the manufacturer recommendations. That would be, in the Unifilter Cafec Filter paper and puck screen and in the WAFO 97ºC temperature. Either way, its your work and video, just giving an opinion. Ill soon make a review comparing Unifilter vs Unibasket vs Unifilter based mainly on taste results. A lot easier than your work and much subjective but a different view. Again thanks for such a beautiful job done. @dontchanellmebaby // Jorge

[@BensCoffeeRants]

Yeah with the paper filter it's not too hard to knock out, maybe harder than a regular basket though. Easier to clean though afterwards. The price chart doesn't seem fair since Webers UniBASKET is what you should be comparing and I believe is one of the cheaper options, the UniFILTER is a whole fancy portafilter, which I like because it lays perfectly FLAT no tamp stand needed! Also no crevice where water hides when rinsing the basket/portafilter. You're comparing the price of a naked Portafilter and basket (attached as one) to the price of baskets. But that makes sense if you don't want to use paper filters the Wafo might be better. IS clogging really bad using the Weber without paper? I'm afraid to try. I do also have a waterpic I rarely use!

[@gro967]

Interesting. The potential for clogging was the highest in Wafo, due to their not as high quality of hole cuts in all other reviews I have seen. The unifilter had the least clogging there.

[@espressofun6091]

I don’t think it’s a quality issue. It is the shape of the holes. The Unifilter also clogged but you could use a WDT needle to clean it hole by hole. Both filters have straight holes rather than the typical whole shape of pressed baskets.

[@gro967]

@@espressofun6091 there were some reviews, checking the hole quality under the microscope and the wafo ones were the ones worst cut with most of debris clogging them because of that.

[@espressofun6091]

@@gro967 it’s still cleanable and the best performing. My main concern is performance.

[@gro967]

@@espressofun6091 it probably depends on what you define as performance. Rate of extraction, subjective taste, etc..

[@espressofun6091]

@@gro967 I’m not sure about your data, but my data shows improved performance in both taste and extraction