![Can’t make a cup without a diarrhea mess [breville bambino plus and silenzio 55]](https://www.diningandcooking.com/wp-content/uploads/2026/03/sd0sek2jubmg1-scaled.jpeg "Can’t make a cup without a diarrhea mess [breville bambino plus and silenzio 55]")
I’ve tried many things. I use fresh beans, roasted 2 weeks ago. Two different types of beans. I’ve dialed them in to get a slow honey drip. The espresso tastes great. I used a tool to break up the coffee, I use a level tool, & I tamp it with decent pressure. I keep getting tiny streams of coffee and it splatters all over the place. I’m stuck can someone please help
by creeched
46 Comments
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Getting a honey drip and crazy splatter seems paradoxical. If the taste is to your liking just use a spouted portafilter
G
I have this quite a lot on my machine and have just considered getting a spouted portafilter.
What in all that is sacred is that mug
I can’t do anything without a diarrhea mess. Grind finer.
It looks like you need a laminectomy
So if you like the taste, you may not want to mess with things too much, because they could all affect the taste. So I’d say either use the same basket with the spouted portafilter, or you can just try putting the scale and mug onto a book or something to prop it close to the portafilter and catch the spray.
Otherwise you can try a) grinding finer though this will change the taste, b) using a 54mm paper filter on the bottom of the basket which will require grinding finer and change the taste,
Increase your dose to fill the basket more then redial in the grind.
Do you use a puck screen? A puck screen stopped my diaherra
Diarrhea before diarrhea after for some people
I’ve heard air roasted coffee hurts ur stomach a little less. Could help your diarrhea situation
Spouted portafilter.
I’ve seen some videos mention that a leveling tool can actually create some channelling, and that just WDT and proper tamping should be enough. I think that could be creating the sputtering. Could also be tiny coffee pieces getting stuck in some of the basket’s holes. If a puck screen (as I see someone else suggested) doesn’t help, maybe getting a high-quality basket should. Take all of this with a grain of salt, as I don’t have a bottomless portafilter myself, and I haven’t had to deal with issues like this. But as also mentioned here, if you like the taste, just use a spouted portafilter.
I’ve found that a level but still, even slightly, sloped coffee bed in the portafilter can be detrimental. A self-leveling tamper can help, but issues still sometimes can happen. What helped me was the use of an inexpensive, via etsy, tamping station, which helps assure me of an unsloped coffee bed.
Have you just tried a regular spouted portafilter? I don’t understand this fascination with making a mess with bottomless portafilters and wondering what the problem is when you can simply just not use that and not make a mess.
Huge gap between portafilter and cup. I use a black mirror scale and a Anchor Hocking small measure (about 5oz ) so there is almost no gap
So a few things based on what you’re reporting: problem could be hardware based. If your portafilter basket is crap, you’ll still get spray. But lots of people use the stock baskets of breville machines without the issue, so that’s not too likely. The more likely culprits are the fineness of your grind, and how much you’re filling up your basket.
The Breville double basket can take about 17-19g. You should be grinding fine enough to fit that in your basket with ~2.5mm of room below the basket rim after a firm (but not hard) tamp. If there’s too much space in the basket after your tamp you’ll get channeling and spluttery spraying.
Someone also mentioned using a puck screen. They’re meant to reduce channeling, but after dialing in the above mentioned items, I’ve found the puck screen doesn’t really make a difference unless I want to use less coffee in the basket.
EDIT: I realise this may come across as overly prescriptive based on how many different setup and bean permutations there are in the espresso world, but this is what I targeted with my Breville setup that gave me best results. It should by no means be taken as 100% accurate, but could get you about 2/3 of the way there.
Ok call me crazy (I might be) but are you running clear water through the group head before putting the portafilter with grind on?
Download Grindr
It’s all about the grind. Grind finer, WDT to declump, tamp evenly and that should fix it.
It’s surely not on account of the Cursed Spine of Smaug that you’re attempting to drink from, surely not.
Looks like my toilet after my morning coffee
We’re assuming the coffee is fresh. Somewhere within the two week window from roasting.
Is it super light roasted? That type of coffee presents its own problems.
Headspace is most likely your issue. After tamping, place a nickel on the bed of coffee and lock in the PF. The nickel should leave a slight impression in the bed of coffee. It should be untouched, and it shouldn’t be jammed into the coffee. I’m guessing you’re not filling up the basket enough, there’s too much headspace and under pressure the puck loses its integrity and completely breaks open.
Yeah i went back to a spouted porta because the bottomless makes a mess. Mine doesn’t spatter per se but it gets coffee everywhere.
I thought you meant the espresso was making you diarrhea lmao
Are you a neurosurgeon?
Most likely you’ve got stuff blocking the holes in the basket. Give it a thorough clean.
Also, go back to the normal portafilter, then it doesn’t matter if it spits. You already said it tastes great so that’s all you need..
I used a bambino for 5 years until January of this year. I think the bambino used a bit more pressure than my ECM machine so the spray is more likely to happen. I found an IMS precision basket really helped with a paper puck screen (not sure what it’s called) at the bottom before putting in the coffee. I used a stainless puck screen on top as well but that was to keep the showerhead cleaner.
What I do after WDT and hand-leveling (sweeping side of finger across the top) is what CoffeeGeek.com, back in the mid-aughts, called the Wendleboe tap (after the champion barista who devised it). Sometimes called “geographic” or “four points,” dangle the portafilter from the fingers of your other hand so it can swing lightly and gently knock against the rim of the basket. Let it tap north-to-south, then east-to-west—repeat if you want to make sure. For some reason I get less channeling that way.
Cheaper grinders suffer from this pretty often. The less uniform the grind, the more likely it is to create channels that can cause spurting. The finer you grind, the harder and harder it is to grind evenly, meaning you need an even better grinder.
If there is head room, you could try grinding coarser and increasing the dose. But the easiest solution is to use a spouted portafilter.
I got a bottomless portafilter once. Used it a handful of times, while most of the coffee came out in one stream there would always be a random squirt or two off to the sides that would make a mess. Didn’t improve the taste of the coffee in any way I can tell. Went back to spouted portafilter
Creepy cup
Thats a pepsi shot
Get a spouted porta filter. Bottomless is so unnecessary
Raise your cup about 3/4 of the way to the bottom of the portafilter.
Have you tried using the portafilter it came with?
Grind finer
Have you tried using a spouted portafilter
Obviously grind finer as a everyone has already said.
But just as important, preheat your portafilter immediately before pulling shots. bambino does not stay warm whatsoever, the plastic lines inside suck the heat out instantly. If your room is cool, warm it up with two full length empty pulls, then immediately pull your actual shot. It makes a world of a difference.
Beans less than two weeks old is also absolutely key. The exact same beans after 10 days will start squirting with all other variables being the same.
I started freezing my beans in 1/2 lb bags instead of 1 lb. I no longer have any channeling squirting since I switched to 1/2 lb, I go through 1 bag a week.
If the espresso tastes great, who even cares
Ditch the pressurized portafilter and invest in a better grinder. If you’re in the US, look up Turin grinders. They have a 54mm espresso grinder, the DF54, it sells for less than $250.
Not to sound like a dick, but why do so many newbies buy bottomless portafilters? They’re not for beginners. Simple solutions OP. Grind finer, tamp evenly, use WDT not leveler those don’t do shit. make sure you do a good job not half ass it. Use fresh beans. Old beans give that watery splashing everywhere if too old. If it still happens, just get rid of the bottomless portafilter until you get comfortable with espresso. Bottomless portafilters are meant to see the extraction and fix minor hiccups you might miss.
Cool mug. That doesn’t look like the portafilter that the bambino came with. Is there a chance it’s an issue with the fit of the portafilter?
Use a paper filter at the bottom of your basket, thank me later
Cool mug!