Courtesy of Tompoland for helping me out and supplying me with the IMS Matrix shower screen as a donation towards the fair crack fund. I promised that I would make a first impression and somewhat a review on this shower screen.
I am comparing this IMS Matrix towards the IMS nanotech shower screen that I have been using in my ECM Synchronika since new in November 2021.
My first thoughts would be that this shower screen could get rid of the use of the puck screen as the shower screen in its self is a puck screen, it is dense that you cannot see through it and does not show that coffee granules should pass through the screen.
I compared the flow of water from both of these shower screens without a portafilter in place to see how the water runs, which shouldn’t be the same result when a portafilter is in place under pressure with a puck of coffee for water to penetrate through
I did not pull side-by-side shots of each, but instead I pulled the same dose, same shot one day and the same dose, same shot the following day. I am using my own roasted Ethiopian Shakisso/Ethiopia Yirgiacheffe blend roasted at a medium to medium-dark. First shot with the nanotech plus puck screen the shot ran 20g in 40g out in 26 seconds( about where I usually pull), it was a medium body with nice flavours and I couldn’t complain about the taste. The 2nd shot I swapped to the matrix and used the puck screen as well, the same dose, same grind resulted in a 38 second shot, I noticed this was very smooth, I felt like the heavy body that I usually get from my niche was subsided, maybe because of the matrix and then puck screen but that’s only my own thought, it was a lot smoother than when using my nanotech shower screen. The following day I pulled the same dose same shot with the matrix but did not use the puck screen, this shot resulted in a 25 second pull, no real channeling but it tapered off towards the centre a lot cleaner than with the nanotech ( a good sign in my books). The flavour was somewhat similar to the matrix with puck screen, but maybe not as smooth or as clean( this could be the difference in the shot time also, I’m no professional).
My only con to this matrix shower screen was the cleaning, as you can’t just wipe the surface, instead you have to dab or use a group head brush, I gave it the usual 2-3 second flush after the shot, most of the coffee came off but I noticed some residual spots, but were easily dabbed off with a cloth, a few extra seconds in cleaning than with the nanotech, but nothing to run home about and complain
I thought that I might resign the puck screen, but I feel like for my personal preference, I prefer the taste with it, even if it means a quick wash each time when using. I have to grind alot coarser when using the matrix + puck screen but that’s not a big issue at all
All in all, I would recommend the matrix shower screen as I feel like its worth giving a shot, it should help some of those that are having channeling issues, but at the end of the day, channeling usually comes down to the users puck preparation, as breaking up clumps with WDT is necessary unless your grinder produces fluffy clouds of grinds ( but I would still WDT regardless).
I hope you enjoy this somewhat review/first impression, and only take this info with a grain of salt. I am by no means a professional, just a home barista, looking to improve my coffee passion further, I don’t do proper testing methodology like some of you do like using a TDS and EY % etc etc
Enjoy, I will attach some video links to each of the 2 shots that I pulled with the matrix as I forgot to film the nanotech shot ( So matrix + puck and Matrix without puck)
IMS nanotech flow- https://imgur.com/a/4xzZY61
IMS Matrix flow- https://imgur.com/a/C5Xo3uJ
IMS Matrix + Puck screen- https://imgur.com/a/N2OYII0
IMS Matrix w/out puck screen- https://imgur.com/a/NQ1DpIv
I am comparing this IMS Matrix towards the IMS nanotech shower screen that I have been using in my ECM Synchronika since new in November 2021.
My first thoughts would be that this shower screen could get rid of the use of the puck screen as the shower screen in its self is a puck screen, it is dense that you cannot see through it and does not show that coffee granules should pass through the screen.
I compared the flow of water from both of these shower screens without a portafilter in place to see how the water runs, which shouldn’t be the same result when a portafilter is in place under pressure with a puck of coffee for water to penetrate through
I did not pull side-by-side shots of each, but instead I pulled the same dose, same shot one day and the same dose, same shot the following day. I am using my own roasted Ethiopian Shakisso/Ethiopia Yirgiacheffe blend roasted at a medium to medium-dark. First shot with the nanotech plus puck screen the shot ran 20g in 40g out in 26 seconds( about where I usually pull), it was a medium body with nice flavours and I couldn’t complain about the taste. The 2nd shot I swapped to the matrix and used the puck screen as well, the same dose, same grind resulted in a 38 second shot, I noticed this was very smooth, I felt like the heavy body that I usually get from my niche was subsided, maybe because of the matrix and then puck screen but that’s only my own thought, it was a lot smoother than when using my nanotech shower screen. The following day I pulled the same dose same shot with the matrix but did not use the puck screen, this shot resulted in a 25 second pull, no real channeling but it tapered off towards the centre a lot cleaner than with the nanotech ( a good sign in my books). The flavour was somewhat similar to the matrix with puck screen, but maybe not as smooth or as clean( this could be the difference in the shot time also, I’m no professional).
My only con to this matrix shower screen was the cleaning, as you can’t just wipe the surface, instead you have to dab or use a group head brush, I gave it the usual 2-3 second flush after the shot, most of the coffee came off but I noticed some residual spots, but were easily dabbed off with a cloth, a few extra seconds in cleaning than with the nanotech, but nothing to run home about and complain
I thought that I might resign the puck screen, but I feel like for my personal preference, I prefer the taste with it, even if it means a quick wash each time when using. I have to grind alot coarser when using the matrix + puck screen but that’s not a big issue at all
All in all, I would recommend the matrix shower screen as I feel like its worth giving a shot, it should help some of those that are having channeling issues, but at the end of the day, channeling usually comes down to the users puck preparation, as breaking up clumps with WDT is necessary unless your grinder produces fluffy clouds of grinds ( but I would still WDT regardless).
I hope you enjoy this somewhat review/first impression, and only take this info with a grain of salt. I am by no means a professional, just a home barista, looking to improve my coffee passion further, I don’t do proper testing methodology like some of you do like using a TDS and EY % etc etc
Enjoy, I will attach some video links to each of the 2 shots that I pulled with the matrix as I forgot to film the nanotech shot ( So matrix + puck and Matrix without puck)
IMS nanotech flow- https://imgur.com/a/4xzZY61
IMS Matrix flow- https://imgur.com/a/C5Xo3uJ
IMS Matrix + Puck screen- https://imgur.com/a/N2OYII0
IMS Matrix w/out puck screen- https://imgur.com/a/NQ1DpIv



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