Wednesday, February 8, 2012

Barista Magazine article by Vince Fedele
The fascinating story of the VST Precision Filter Baskets

Vince Fedele wrote an article for the April/May 2011 issue of Barista Magazine giving valuable insight into the fascinating story of his VST precision filter baskets. The story begins on page 74 of the April/May 2011 issue and is available to read for free online (link).

The baskets are revolutionary. The article explains how existing espresso filter baskets were identified as a systematic problem and how this problem was ingeniously solved by VST. Existing filters were found to provide poor and inconsistent filtering performance, resulting in poor and inconsistent results. The VST precision baskets provide exceptional performance, extreme consistency, and are precisely tuned for their specific dose sizes to produce a desired range of extractions.

VST 20 gram basket with summary quality report.
VST 7, 15, 18, and 22 gram baskets in the background.

I've noticed with my own results using the VST precision baskets that dialing in to achieve a balance of flavors and desired extraction is easy, repeatable, and predictable. I've noticed unequaled balance, nuance, clearer acidity, and matching the description in the article, chalkiness and vegetal qualities I've experienced with other baskets are gone.

I find my other baskets unusable now in comparison. This article is the single best resource to learn about these baskets that I am aware of online.