IKAPE Variable Diameter Espresso Portafilter Basket 58mm or 54mm to 32mm
It’s been nice having the vacuum to easily sweep up coffee dust around the grinder. It would be outstanding, though, if the narrow headed piece that now fits only at the blower end had an adapter for the vacuum end. That way I could have an attachment small enough to vacuum extra coffee grounds that get stuck in the chute of my Eureka Mignon Specialita!
It works well; however, when going below zero, it breaks easily, and it's hard to assemble again.
Out of the box the espresso was reasonable. When I started using the app, the brew became even better. The preinfusion softened the coffee and made a pleasant shot. I didn’t realize I needed to pay attention to the water quantity I put in & my first few shots were soup shots. Still pleasant, but a little more liquid than expected. After getting to know it, things began to come together. Still light on the crema, but I’ll need to work with more coffees to see if the crema dearth is consistent with this machine.
The build quality is excellent—consistent with IKAPE's usual standards—and I really love it!
This is a novel product; no other brand has made anything like it. It is highly innovative, very practical, and incredibly easy to use.
It is particularly well-suited for dark and medium-dark roast beans; you only need to use the Unipress distributor-tamper, without requiring a separate coffee tamper. Of course, if you are brewing medium-roast beans, you would likely still need to use a standard coffee tamper.
I tried pairing it with a convex-bottom basket, and that worked even better.
Overall, it is a fantastic product, especially for use in coffee shops.
IKAPE's capacity for innovation is outstanding.
