Portafilter: bottomless or spouted?
Do you prefer bottomless or spouted portafilters?
I'm looking to replace the one on my machine, and I can't decide if I should go with a spouted like I have now, or try a bottomless. I don't really make two espressos at once, so the double spout is not a necessity for me.
Bottomless is easier to clean and lets you see more of what is happening with your shot - you can tell if your tamp/etc is even based on where the coffee first comes through. More of a mess though if you have shoot-through.
I think bottomless is also more desirable/seen as an upgrade if you ever sell the machine.
Bottomless - any day, every day.
Why do you prefer bottomless? It caught my interest because it should be easier for me to debug issues with my puck.
Debugging is the primary purpose. If you have a well dialed-in recipe, there's no mess. If it's not, it can make a mess, but then covering that up with a spouted portafilter doesn't change that the taste is not so great. You could get a small mirror to keep an eye at what's happening to your shots from a bird-eye-view post-dialing.
Other than debugging, it looks cool, you can shoot coffee porn videos, it can fit taller glasses, etc.
I think it depends... If you're happy with your shots, a bottomless might just expose you to info that might drive you crazy.
Bottomless lets you see how well or how poorly things are going. You'll experience spraying, see obvious channeling, see uneven shots, etc.
A spout keeps all that stuff secret so you can focus on how it tastes.
I use a bottomless from Joe Frex, with one of those fancy "competition" baskets. I like it.
I'm bottomless for the ease of cleaning, but much of my shots ended up squirting from what I presume to the too coarse grind sizes T_T
Being cheap and lazy, I just unscrewed the double spout from mine and made it a single spout. Gives me more clearance than with the spouts.
My handle broke though, so that's why I'm replacing it, and I was thinking of switching to a new type now that I'm getting a new one anyway.
If you like to experimenting with different basket size, I recommend bottomless porta. I used the one that fits 24gr-basket, but able to swap to 18gr or 12gr basket.