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The coffee extraction portafilter is an important tool for semi-automatic espresso machines. There are two main types of coffee handles. The first is a bottomed diverter handle, and the second is a bottomless straight-out handle. The Front Street store currently uses bottomless handles. So what are the advantages and disadvantages when using bottomed handles and bottomless handles?
What's the difference between the two?
The bottom handle seals the outlet, leaving only a small outlet. The outlet is usually equipped with a splitter, which can evenly divide one portion of espresso into two portions. The bottomless handle has no obstruction at the bottom, and you can directly see the bottom of the powder bowl.
The difference between the bottomless handle and the bottomed handle is that the bottom closed part is removed, and the powder bowl can be directly seen from the bottom. The advantage of this is that it can directly observe the discharge state of the espresso liquid, and can also effectively observe the channel effect, because when the channel effect occurs, there will be a spray phenomenon at the bottom of the powder bowl. The bottomless handle can be easily observed, but the diverter handle is difficult to see.
If the coffee machine you buy only comes with a bottom handle, and you want to have a bottomless handle, just go to the street and find a master to saw off the bottom of the bottom handle, and it will become a bottomless handle, with the same effect.
What are the pros and cons of bottomed handles?
Advantages 1. The bottom handle has a drainage port, which can prevent coffee liquid from splashing after flowing into the cup.
Advantage 2. The bottom handle can be equipped with a splitter, which can evenly divide an espresso into two cups.
Disadvantages 1. The bottomed handle needs to be preheated before extraction, because a large piece of metal at the bottom will absorb heat and affect the quality of the coffee.
Disadvantage 2: The bottomed handle is prone to accumulation of coffee stains, and the powder bowl needs to be disassembled and cleaned frequently, otherwise the subsequently extracted coffee liquid will change in flavor.
What are the pros and cons of bottomless handles?
Basically, the emergence of bottomless handles is to make up for the shortcomings of bottomed handles. But the most important reason for the emergence of the bottomless handle is that it allows for a more intuitive observation of the quality of the coffee liquid. Because when the channel effect occurs, a spray phenomenon will appear at the bottom of the powder bowl. The bottomless handle can be easily observed, while the diverter handle is difficult to see.
Furthermore, if you are making layered coffee such as dirty, a bottomless handle is more convenient. Because some coffee machines have a limited position between the brewing head and the water isolation table, if a diverter handle is used, it is likely that a cup with a height of 7 cm cannot be accommodated. Using a bottomless handle saves 4-3 cm of space.
The disadvantage is also obvious. The coffee liquid it extracts is prone to splashing.
The main reason why Front Street has been using bottomless handles to extract espresso is to better observe the concentration flow rate and the state of the oil falling into the cup. Moreover, once the extraction is abnormal, the bottomless handle can also help to quickly adjust parameters. In order to give you a more intuitive demonstration here, we use the most fatty Front Street classic blended coffee beans to demonstrate how to extract espresso with a bottomless handle:
Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) espresso extraction parameters
Grinder: Galileo Q18
Grinding degree: 2.1
Coffee machine: Pegasus E98
Pressure: 9±2 bar
Temperature: 90~96 degrees Celsius
Amount of powder: 19.5g
Extraction volume: 35 grams
First, turn on the coffee machine and wait for the inside of the coffee machine to heat up automatically. Then prepare freshly roasted coffee beans and grind them into very fine coffee powder. Then click the handle into the powder bowl and fill in the corresponding amount of coffee powder according to the recommended capacity of the powder bowl.
After filling the coffee powder, use your fingers to distribute the coffee powder as evenly as possible in the powder bowl, and then use the tamper equipped with the coffee machine (or the flat surface on the other end of the coffee bean/powder scoop) to press the coffee powder layer vertically.
Then fasten the handle to the brewing position of the coffee machine and confirm whether it is fastened. Then press the switch, extract to the state you want, and the espresso is finished.
By observing the espresso coffee falling from the bottomless handle, you can see that the espresso extracted using Front Street's classic Italian blended coffee has a beautiful crema visible to the naked eye. It is thick and dense, and smells of a rich nutty cookie aroma. Front Street usually adds it to fresh milk to make latte coffee. In this way, the taste is not only smooth and mellow, but also the nutty flavor of the espresso itself, which is called a crunchy aroma.
You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
