I literally just received a Gaggia Classic that I ordered from ebay and it came with a whole pile of baskets that were confusing me no end. This video comes at exactly the right time. Thank you!

When is "The James Hoffmann Cozy Sweater Club" going to be coming??

10:45 I was actually blown away by this fact. After switching to an IMS basket, I thought I was crazy how fast my shot was pulling, but realized after putting a stopwatch to it that my shot was pulling a full 8 seconds faster than it was when I was using my earlier stock basket. It's taken a bit of time to dial it in, but I've since been grinding quite a bit finer with this basket and now get excellent (and perhaps just as important, more consistent) shots every day. EDIT: I'll add that the shots I pull are in fact much sweeter and complex, particularly for lighter roasts (as Mr. Hoffmann mentions).

This gives me so much validation, I thought I was the only one having trouble with the one-shot basket the puck kept expanding and was muddy and wet, horrible extraction.

“A blunt and fussy man.” I want this as my epitaph.

James's timing is impeccable. I was looking for grinder a while back, and he made a video on hand grinders at the same time. A few days ago I ordered my flair 58, and am currently looking for baskets.... and James makes a video on them He knows all.

I personally would love to see a video, devoted to single baskets. Keep up the great videos 😊

Thank you for clarifying the importance of baskets, especially with magnified shots. I always wondered how much difference is there when people say ‘basket is not precise’, but had no idea they could look so different!

I've started using the IMS Precision one over a year ago. Massive difference I'd say (compared to Gaggia's original one).

To keep the precision and prevent damaging of the holes, make sure nothing hard touches the holes. If the puck remains stuck in basket, don't use silverware to extract the puck. Use something something softer like a nylon handle from a coffee scoop and hand wash only. Basically treat it like other precision kitchen instruments like your kitchen knives.

I just love these presentations. I watch every video with absolute concentration. The detail, the nerdiness the humour fantastic. The chance of doing 90% of this is very low. I use a simple Melita bean to cup machine, but one day the fact that JH has developed my inner coffee nerd will force me to actually do something. Thank you Mr Hoffman. Keep up the great work.

Hi James. When you said Italians made single shots, bacause that allows them to drink more espressos throughout the day it made sense to me. Having a nice espresso machine and grinder kinda makes me want to do brew more than one shot a day, which is a little bit too much caffeine for me if I use the double basket. I tried to research the topic a bit but could not really find great ideas about making singles. People were trying to use the basic, funny shaped single baskets as you mentioned without much success. I remembered seeing an older video on a Hungarian coffee channel and they used a funnel that was specifically manufactured for 7g LM baskets. It also requires a smaller, 41mm tamper, but using these two paired with a good quality, straight walled single filter seemed to produce pretty good results. I found a German shop, called tidaka, who sell these funnels exclusively for LM 7g single baskets, they’re not cheap, but considering the advantages I decided to give it a go. It would be lovely to have more info on these or possibly a video in the future. It could be interesting for a lot of people, as I think the art of making single espressos is neglected for some reason. Thanks!

I bought a VST basket for my Sunbeam EM7000 a couple of months ago - my experience is inline with James' expectations. Definitely a lot less resistance compared with the stock basket, more consistent results and better flavour. Excellent bang-for-buck upgrade!

Love this. Especially the history. I would love to see more videos in the future about the history of espresso and coffee!

This explains so much! Thank you! I was using a precision 20g filter and dialed in what I liked perfectly. I bought a new machine (another gaggia) and was using the stick 18 g filter. The flow rate plummeted even though everything else was identical (grinder, grind size, etc). This explains other things as well.

Great video. I’ve been working in coffee for around 7 years now and this is a topic that you hear about vaguely but never see much information on. And running cafes doesn’t give me much time to research. This was a fun and informative watch. Thanks!

Love your channel! I’ve learned quickly many aspects of brewing espresso I had no idea about. Your explanations are fantastic and detailed but also digestible for a new coffee fan like myself. I’d be Very interested in a video about the “Lelit Bianca” espresso machine with the flow control paddle. Seems like a whole realm of possibility to control pressure and flow by hand.

Thanks so much for this video! I recently switched from my very overkill Mazzer to a Niche Zero so I can play around with different coffees - got it all setup properly to run on my r58 using what was either a stock basket or a better alternative that I bought at same time as the machine at launch and then I decided to order some properly sized baskets from Decent Espresso and I got the shock of my life. Puck was coming out wet whereas before they were dry and 'perfect' and my grind was going way way finer to get where I wanted to be. I panicked. I went back to my old basket, even though Decent kindly emailed me pretty much exactly what The Hoff has said in this video lol. But wow, when The Hoff says chill out this is normal - I feel better about the world. Gonna go back and get that all set now. Thanks Hoff!!!

Always insigiteful and informative. Thanks for all the work you do to keep us interested. Merry Christmas!

What a legend. Thank you. I need clarity, you deliver clarity. I want to brew finer, you explain in brilliant detail what to expect. Hats off sir.

I‘m normally pretty picky when it comes to my coffee and prepping it, but that‘s 100 Percent how I feel about quality baskets. I personally use them because they work better for lighter to medium roasts. Nice Job, well done.

I bought a VST basket for my Silvia and I bought a high quality tamper at the same time. These two items made a monumental difference, it was like I had a completely different machine that suddenly started producing shots 10 times better than before.

I got my first espresso machine yesterday and find your channel is so very helpful and entertaining. Was wondering if I should use the single shot basket or the larger one for both single and double shot. And bam; there is your video. I have learned so much from you in just 24 hours. Thank you!

i tried getting into espresso making almost 20 years ago, but ended up selling all of my gear (Rancilio Silvia, Rocky, Reg Barber Tamper) because i always had such incredibly inconsistent results. ended up getting a Nespresso because the coffee was super consistent and about as good as 60% of the home shots i was getting. i came across your video tasting all the Nespresso pods a month or so ago and it peaked my interest and i've been following your videos ever since. feel like i finally know how to make consistently good shots; just need to save up enough cash to get a new setup so i can try putting it all into action.

My second hand Rancilio Silvia (revised with the usual kit) and came with one original and one IMS basket. I'm a beginner and came from the small (cheap second hand) Breville espresso experience witch was not great and inconsistent. With the Silvia original basket pullen consistent shots and adjusting was just more difficult then the IMS basket. I did not know the difference was so big but now I understand. I might pick up a new one sinds I don't know the age of my IMS 17g basket. I love this community and greetings from the Netherlands!

I purchased a Precision VST 20g basket about a month ago and the increase in quality of my espresso is astounding! Cannot recommend it enough. For reference, I was using the standard Breville/Sage Dual Boiler basket.

Bought a VST 19g with ridge for my Rancilio SIlvia about 9 months ago on your insistence Mr Hoffmann! Thank you so much. Completely changed our coffee experience. Creating a reliable puck is so much easier. The finished product is of a completely different order. Even the simple act of knocking out the puck is better/easier. Best $$ I've spent on coffee making equipment in a very long time.

Your help with ridged vs ridgeless and size of basket was extremely helpful. Always great content. Thx!

I would love to see a video about getting the best results with a single basket. Sounds like a great way to enjoy espresso more often without having a heart attack, but it is hard to work with.

I’d love to see a video on getting the best out of single baskets. I have an 18g VST that I can get great shots with but I use the single that came with my Breville Dual Boiler as my daily.

I switched from original 18g NS baskets to VST 18g ridgeless baskets at our cafe and the difference in flowrate was mindblowing for me. Went from 30 to 15 seconds. Also the difference in taste and body for the same recipe between those two baskets was incredible!

Thanks James - I've just got a Gaggia Pro for the home and upgraded to a VST with a bottomless portafilter. While I'm still dialling it in I was amazed to see the difference in flowrate with the VST and have been able to drop my grind size quite a bit. I've had one or 2 great shots out of it but still some work to do. Thanks for validating the experience :)

I'm definitely interested in single baskets, I found I was having trouble getting good shots with a weird box store machine I got, and practice on the really hard single basket made me better at using the machine in general.

100% I have a 2007 Gaggia Classic and the biggest difference made to the taste was upgrading to a VST basket. Great video as always James.

Thank you so much, very informative as usual! Really like how you treat your audience with respect and believe that everyone can be good barista!

I dont want to drink too much caffine everyday, so I prefer to drink single basket shots based on the amount of coffee. But yes the workflow is way harder there. I switched to a VST 7gr LM1 basket with straight edges. Disadvantage is that you need a funnel and a 41mm tamper. But with this, my results are as consistent as with my 18g vst.

Great overview of baskets, I definitely am challenged by the small one shot basket...7 grams in and my tamper can touch the metal on the bottom of the basket..and soupy mess! The espresso can be good though but I usually end up dosing 8-9 grams to feel a good tamp. I would love to watch a video about using a one shot basket. That also brings up the topic of the ongoing trend toward larger baskets and dosages.

I don't even like coffee but I really enjoy your videos! It's so interesting to see the different aspects of coffee, how it works and what tastes good.

This is a great channel. Would love to see a video on how to get a good pull from one of those conical single-shot baskets. Your comments have validated my years of struggling with one! 🙂

I use an IMS competition basket with my Flair 58. I didn’t even bother with the stock basket, which looks perfectly okay, but the precision of course has a very different hole count. One thing I like about this basket is that the bottom is slightly convex, and I think that helps the puck pop out more cleanly if it’s slightly wet.

Santa, remind James we need a tiramisu recipe for Christmas 🎄

My IMS 54mm was a huge game changer. Although it was a bit tougher, more sensitive, the coffee has much more body and such a fuller taste. It was a great advice from one of the reviews.

I actually just changed to a VST 20g basket from a stock 18g Rancilio basket a few days ago. The flow is so much quicker. Then i had to mess with the grind size. However, the coffee cake seems to be more wet compared to my stock basket. still trying to get used to the VST basket. Amazing video as always!

We have a minima espresso machine which came with a pretty good basket. However, we noticed a pretty big change when we swapped to the VST, as you mentioned flow rate increased but fining the grind sorted that. We very much prefer the VST basket over the supplied one.

Excellent! Got a good laugh out of your gloating on the shot that could not be replicated!

Switched to a 54mm Precision basket which I use on my Breville Pro. Went from 7 to 4 on grind size to achieve same shot pull time. Much more uniform as well. Probably best investment per unit of return I have made.

Mr Hoffman. You sir are an absolute legend. I can't tell you enough how helpful your videos are. I've a profitec pro 700 on order with a eureka mignon libra. I can't wait to start pulling shots

For sure we've noticed a change, we work on an old school machine that's very prone to channeling, by switching to precision baskets and shower screens we grind finer and brew a lot more consistent. Straight wall baskets are generally referred to as high flow, would love to hear your thoughts on low flow baskets, E&B has em, looking at em as my next toy.

Yep, changed out the stock breville 54mm basket with an IMS basket and the flow increased! Trying out the IMS shower screen too. Interested to see a discussion about that!

Okay, okay, you convinced me to buy a precision basket. Now I just need a video how to use a precision basket with a french press...

In the past, before brewing light esppresso exclusively, I had noticed a marked difference in volume between the same mass of ground darker, medium, and light roast. I used to use the depth of the shower screen screen screw depression in the puch to gauge if I was over my basket's max capacity. Ahh... memories. I've come to really appreciate your videos @jameshoffman, and was semi expecting another scientific analysis of such phenomenon. Fortuntately, I was greeted by something else I had wondered about... Is there a standard for basket hole size and coverage. Glad I was correct to assume not. I had been suspecting less resistance would be useful for my lighter roasts, but hadn't yet done the research to see who makes such a basket. Off to VST I go. Then, more trials to again better dial in the GS/3 :--) Thanks again for a great viewing experience.

this might be one of the best (if not the single best) videos on the topic. thank you!

Merry Christmas James

7:05 This made me realize that I was under dosing my espresso for a few months! I had no idea that under dosing was why my pucks were much wetter before upping my dosing amount than after. Thanks James!

I got an IMS basket on your recommendation before my Gaggia Classic Pro came in the door. I am still working of brewing my first 20 shots and feel blessed to have such knowledgeable parasocial friends.

new to the channel and the world of brewing.. ! I just upgraded to an IMS basket and panic set in when my flow rate changed .. you explained it well.. great info, great channel thank you

54mm IMS basket greatly improved my coffee coming from a Bambino plus, it required grinding noticeably finer and reduced channeling also. Definitely recommend these for anyone with a 54mm Breville.

I think many makers have taken notice. All my ECM/Profitec baskets have impeccable machining and workmanship. I was surprised, given they come standard with their machines, how well done they were when examined with a 10X loupe with ample backlighting.

I went from a tapered double basket to an ims double basket and actually noticed the extraction time decrease. I thought I had done something wrong and went back to my tapered baskets. Now I know that was normal. I'm going to give the ims baskets another go and dial them in. Thanks James!

I find your videos to be really pleasant and informative to watch. It's like brewing pleasure with knowledge.

Thank you for this video. I had difficulty pulling a decent shot with the Gaggia Classic until I gave up on the single shot and started using the double shot basket. I'm curious to check the holes of those baskets now :)

I bought precision baskets the moment I upgraded to 58mm portafiler. It was one of the reasons I wanted to upgrade my machine lol.

Thx for your tipps and tricks. I never thought about the basket quality. Love your videos. Cheers from Switzerland.

I will watch any twot you post. I have bought a delonghi machine and got rid of the pod machine and can actually tell the difference between beans and grounds!! I feel very smug indeed. Thank you hoffcoff

This is a fantastic video - textbook example of why James Hoffmann is such a good information source. Thank you!

As a fairly inexpensive tool that eliminates another variable to consider when brewing, precision baskets are a no brainer. I bought and 18g IMS basket for my E1 Prima and haven't given it a second thought since. If the flow rate seems off, I know my basket's not an issue.

Thanks, James! As usual bang on. VST basket in my Gaggia classic running 6.5 bar has been a revelation!

I finally made the switch this autumn to the IMS baristapro e61 precision nanotech 20g basket from an OEM VBM. I also replaced the oem shower screen with IMS's. These two upgrades have completely changed(for the better) my esspresso brewing. The look, the texture, the depth of flavor, and most importantly the Consistency of these elements has improved tremendously. I was having really troubling channeling issues on my 2 year old OEM baskets.. I was frustrated that I couldn't seem to dial in good shots, and I could never seem to pull 2 good esspressos in a row for my morning coffee with my fiancée. The new basket and screen from IMS are the two most important upgrades I have made, and I cannot reccomend them enough.

I went to a 18 g 54 mm IMS basket, and it has Made a significant difference. Almost to the point where I had to start from scratch on pulling shots. Had to change the grind size, and then figure out flow rates. Still a work in progress.

I work in a cafe in Minnesota and I've noticed our espresso heads pour at different rates for the same grind. They are very old and after watching this video, probably not well machined. Unfortunately, there is little that I can do other than recommend new brew baskets to the manager.

This is some extremely valuable information. I can really work with this , Thank You !

IMS baskets made a HUGE difference when pulling shots on my Appartamento 🤘🏼 Excellent video, been wanting to watch something like this to better understand all the different basket types 😁🤙🏼

For those with Breville machines, the stock Breville baskets are actually fantastic! So 'upgrading' isn't necessary but different baskets may give you different results.

I'd love to see a dual vs. single basket comparison!

This was exactly the video I needed at this moment! Thank you so much.

I once took over a very badly maintained cafe to run. Single biggest difference was made by replacing the very worn, old OEM baskets with VST and a bottomless portafilter. Difference was literally night and day. Now 3yrs afterwards, being an idiot, i am now again in the process of bringing back another cafe shutdown since beginning of Covid. First thing i will spend money on is getting the maintenence done on the machines followed by proper baskets and portafilter to minimize the grief😂. I found the Ditting grinder with a total of 86k cycles on what i suspect to be a original blades....

I would have expected to hear more about the relationship between nominal basket capacity or open area and the optimum tamping pressure - for instance, how under-loading a higher capacity 20 or 22g basket with a 16 to 18g dose affects the amount of pressure that should be applied.

Living with my elderly mother a double shot is too much coffee for her, so I've spent a lot of time making singles and have finally nailed it. The quintessential point with making singles is accurate dosage sensitivity is much greater than with doubles. My mark is 16gm of coffee weighed before grinding. Anything over and more than .2gm under and the shot is ruined. And this with only the same coffee beans roasted by the same roaster. Use another bean and all bets are off and recalibration would be needed. I'm happy with the stock baskets that came with my Isomac machine but am curious to try one of these VST baskets - if only they didn't cost so much.

I've got a Lelit Victoria last week, dialed a lighter roast in, have nice flavours used with the commercial basket. First things first, ordered 58 mm gadgets (bottomless portafilter, IMS superfine basket, distributor, tamper). The brew time dropped immediately 8 sec (18 g dose), dialed the coffee again and got much more complex results than before, cant believe it. Now make sense, thank you!

“He left annoyed which has me embarrassingly delighted” is the most British phrase I’ve heard in a long time! lol great video!

Irrelevant to the video, but I love your jumper James! (and the opening scene is really well done in how you've got everything laid out in frame)

I had to redial my espresso when I made the change to my 20g VST basket. The espresso I'm able to produce now is definitely more complex with a better mouth feel and sweeter too. I'm still learning to dial in and your videos are definitely helping me to understand fresh coffee and roasting level's. I'm definitely more of a fan of light to medium roasts as most dark roasts I've had just taste of ash or burnt plastic. Probably a dialing in issue but most chain cafés serve dark roasts and I'll never know why. I definitely prefer the acidity and fruity notes of a good fresh light/medium roast.

Thank you so much for sharing your time and talent ❤💜

This is a fantastic video on a topic which is difficult to read / learn about generally on the internet. I loved the little piece of history as to how VST Baskets came about initially, and the idea of a frustrated Tim Wendleboe. I wonder how long it was before he demanded one for himself 😂 Thanks, James. Merrry Christmas.

Crazy to think that I was just fine drinking instant coffee at work a year ago and now I'm only buying fresh beans and am about to check the holes on my portafilter basket with a magnifying glass.

Quite a bit of analysis went into the Breville basket quality over at the Espresso Aficionado discord from microscopes and pattern analysis. The result was that the Breville stock baskets are pretty good. Not a huge upgrade to go precision if you have a Breville/Sage.

James, you just hit all of my questions so well!!! "Embarassingly delighted," hehehe! I've always checked my baskets out really well when washing them and I have never found any with weird blemishes. Even thogh I have only had pretty cheap machines. Yay, I problem I have not run into!!!

Exactly what I've been looking forward to you making! 10/10

I lived in Italy for a long time and walked to Uni everyday. I sipped maybe 4 ristrettos on my way and they were always made in one of those tiny conical 7-gram baskets. It was heaven. Today, I'm brewing my own at home with 18-gram baskets. I can't match, yet, what they did! I've tried the 7-gram ones and these things are freaking difficult to master! You should make a video on VST and IMS technologies... it's fascinating.

I bought a VST basket a while ago, but I have to say that the hole distribution and uniformity on the Breville double basket that came with their dual boiler machine is really very good. The weird thing is that their instructions have you prep the puck by using their Razor tool after tamping. I had to look online to see that the basket is meant for 19-22 grams of coffee. Anyway, I like the VST.

I'm relatively new to the idea of looking in more detail at the machines etc., and this video is a MUST WATCH to understand why baskets are even mentioned at all, and what some of the factors might be. Even though my interests aren't as fine-tuned or as involved, I enjoy the videos anyway and like to be able to take what matters to me from watching -- but that's hampered hugely by the lack of the most basic knowledge about baskets! One or two other aspects, too, of a jargon and technical sort, but many details can be gleaned in context or looked up. But the first time I heard about VST, for example, I had no clue whether that was an abbreviation for a technique or a design type or a brand or what. It would spoil other videos to have jargon overly explained along the way -- so finding this succinct introduction into the topic of baskets was a huge benefit to me.

I'm just about to buy a new basket, this video helps so much. After your video about dosage i started questioning my baskets because my extraction seems too fast, the puck is generally wet the coffee doesn't taste bad though, I compare it to the independent coffee shops i go to, and that gives me a great benchmark to work towards. I think i have a couple of tweaks to do though. Oh and on that note, i'm also that annoying customer who asks a lot of questions to baristas, since they're the professionals 😂 but in a way I've felt they've also enjoyed the conversations.

Is there a huge difference between 54 & 58mm portafilters? Is one better than the other? Please help. Thank you.

I bought my espresso machine 2 weeks ago Sunbeam em7200 using the standart basket i went with 13gr 10 grind size with 30sec pull time changed to 15gr vst basket and the result was shock me 15gr dose 3 grind size with 28sec pull time that change in grind size was crazy the espresso taste more strong sharp and better , result literally night and day

I’ve been waiting for this video. For so damn long. The stock Sage/Breville 54mm baskets have the slight tapered profile that narrows and makes it impossible to accommodate an puck screen when dosing at 16g because the taper blocks the screen for sitting evenly on the puck. That’s not to say it’s PuckScreen or bust, but I found that I was led to use them due to this consistent channeling caused water flowing down the taper sides first (evident when using longer pre infusion). James THANK YOU!! For putting this topic under the microscope (literally and figuratively) cheers from central FL and the House of Mouse.

First thing I did when I bought my ECM Synchronika was replace the stock E61 gasket with a silicone gasket, the stock baskets with IMS Barista Pro Nanotech baskets, and the stock showerhead screen with an IMS screen. I'd say the biggest difference I immediately saw was with the screen upgrade, which resulted in a much more even shower. The filter baskets definitely helped achieve a nice even extraction. Very pleased with IMS quality.

Only think I'm confused about here is should your shot time be faster or do you need to grind finer with precision baskets?

If you have any issues with single baskets, get a tight-fitting (e.g. 58.5mm) self-leveling convex tamper. No channeling what so ever, not even at the sides of the puck. But even without such a tamper I don't really get why people find single baskets so challenging. Grind the right amount of coffee, distribute and level the puck properly, and you're done. Now enjoy twice as many shots a day with the same overall caffeine intake :-)

I purchased an ECM Synchronika and soon after purchased a 18g VST basket to fit it. Chalk and cheese, improved my espresso instantly. It gave me consistency, better flow and better tasting espresso that I could repeat.

impeccable explanations as always. Another great video