IMS Big Bang Precision Filter Basket for 58mm portafilters, 18-20g. double espresso (h23.5)

Makes a great espresso!

I own several espresso baskets, but the IMS Big Bang has completely won me over. It’s been my go-to for over six months, and I haven’t felt the need to swap it out once! The consistency is outstanding, delivering even extractions every time. It’s also easy to clean, which is a huge plus. If you're serious about espresso, this basket is absolutely worth it!

While cleaning my Isomac Millennium (E61) I decided, after 20 years of use, to try one of the puck screens folks are using these days. The puck screen on the Millennium is not at all easily removable so cleaning it well is a real pain involving tons of backflushing.When the puck screen came, I realized it wouldn't fit in the tapered OEM basket, so that led me down the path of getting a new basket with straight walls that would fit my portafilter. I'm happy to say that this basket fits perfectly in my portafilter and also accepts my 58.5mm puck screen (which does indeed help a lot with the grouphead screen staying clean). My espresso is also notably sweeter, though I'll have to spend more time with this basket before I can say it wasn't due to my latest cleaning. I did have to grind a bit finer with this basket, so I would expect some impacts to flavor.My tamper is 58mm, so it does leave a few fines around the edge, so I'll probably upgrade my tamper to 58.5mm next.Overall, the basket seems well made, looks cool if that's important, and my espresso tastes great.

With a portafilter from the La Marzocco, shots pull fine (though finer grind is needed). However, the basket easily falls out so you should check if flat sided baskets are OK for your machine. Reasonably priced if you want to experiment and not so much that you'd regret it if it made no difference.You can see in the photo that the standard LM basket (left) has a raised profile that is designed to lock into stiff wires in the handle. The Big Bang doesn't have that feature and so it has to rely on friction alone. If you like the basket you could easily shim it for a better fit, but just be aware if your handle relies on this sort of retention mechanism.

I purchased this basket for use with a Gaggia Classic Evo Pro. Right now, this is a mostly stock unit (no adjustments to the OPV, no PID) and the only modifications performed has been switching from the stock shower screen to an IMS GA200IM and the use of a bottomless portafilter.Compared to stock baskets, the big bang offers a number of advantages. First, this is a straight wall basket which I definitely prefer over the curved basket included with my portafilter and the unit itself.For dialing in, this was relatively easy and only took 5 adjustments on grind to get a very workable and consistent extraction. In terms of flavor, it does seem to offer a different level of extraction than possible from the traditional "competition" straight wall basket, but seems a lot easier to dial it in. I forsee this will become particularly useful when trying new coffees, as it is certainly frustrating to go through 20% of a 12oz bag of coffee just to get the grind dialed in.

Not going to leave less than 3 stars.However please note that the quality of this is not 100%.I received my Very batista Big Bang basket with great anticipation only to find that the screen was stamped off-center and some of the filter holes weren't perforated fully through, while most others seemed maybe a bit too open for what I'm used to.I didn't bother using this basket due to the poor design and instead initiated a return.Based on other reviews I can only assume mine was an exception and that it somehow got past a quality control or check before being packaged.I'll maybe give this brand another try in the future.As with anything purchased through here, just be sure to inspect your product so you're satisfied with said purchase

Truly a pain in the behind to dial in, but once you do … oh boy!!!!!! :)))))

Too big for my purposes, and not magnetic, so magnetic funnels won’t stick. But it’s well made, and the holes are consistent. I like IMS, but I’ve gravitated to their BaristaPro line.