When deciding between a shower screen vs puck screen, your first question might be, “What even are those?” And you wouldn’t be alone in wondering! Shower and puck screens don’t usually come up much early in the espresso brewing journey. They’re small, relatively inexpensive little add-ons that can help you improve the taste of your brew. Whether you’re troubleshooting for a specific issue or just seeking out every advantage you can, learning what they do and how they can help could be what enables you to make your espresso great.
What Is a Shower Screen?
Let’s start with a closer look at the shower screen. The espresso shower screen is a small, flat, metal circle with an even distribution of holes that sits at the base of the group head. It’s basically a built-in filter, and its job is to disperse hot water across the puck for consistent extraction evenly. Without it, the water would channel, and the uneven saturation would leave the flavor of your shots sorely lacking.
Your espresso machine comes with one, which means you’ve probably never thought much about it. But upgrading it could offer a host of benefits, especially if your machine is older or has seen a ton of use.
How espresso shower screens affect shot quality
A great shower screen can have a bigger impact on flavor than you might think. Just as cleaning your machine is a great way to improve flavor, a clean, well-functioning shower screen helps maintain temperature and water-pressure balance. If you let it get too dirty, the oils from the coffee can build up, clog the filter, go rancid, and affect the flavor, or even damage it. That’s when you can end up with erratic brewing and sour, bitter, or weak shots.
While a great shower screen isn’t as flashy as a new bottomless portafilter, it’s just as important. How well your puck is saturated is one of the most important steps in brewing, so why not pay more attention to exactly how that happens in your machine?
Maintenance and when to replace
The shower screen needs regular backflushing to keep gunk at bay and then occasional deep cleaning. To properly clean it, you’ll need to remove it from the machine with an Allen key or screwdriver. Mix a little espresso cleaning powder with warm water and soak the key and screw. Wipe down the area on the machine with a damp towel and then use a brush to gently clean any residue off the screen itself. Wipe dry and reattach it before running at least a few shots of water through the machine to flush out any remaining residue.
If the water flow is still uneven after a thorough cleaning or you notice that the screen is warped or corroded, then it’s time for a new one. Luckily, Pesado makes a high-quality screen designed to eliminate irregular extraction.
What Is a Puck Screen?
Unlike shower screens, most machines don’t come with a puck screen already. Puck screens aren’t part of the espresso maker itself. Rather, they’re a thin mesh disc that’s placed direction on top of the coffee puck, directly underneath the shower screen. This acts as a buffer layer between the water and the coffee to help distribute the water and pressure even more evenly. The goal is to help reduce brewing issues like channeling and the buildup of coffee oils on the shower screen.
Puck screens come in a range of sizes and thicknesses from around 0.2mm thick up to 1.7mm thick. Determining the right thickness for your setup will depend on your machine, your current process, and how much headroom you have.
Benefits of using a puck screen
Puck screens are mainly designed to promote more even extraction. The extra buffer between the puck and the water and the fineness of the mesh encourage the water to disperse more evenly than it would without the screen. This means less chance of channeling and thus less chance of ending up with a weak, sour, or bitter brew.
The puck screen also tends to lead to a drier puck in the end, and dry pucks knock out more easily. That makes cleanup just a tad easier. It also keeps the grouphead cleaner, which means less maintenance for you. It might even result in a cleaner, richer flavor. It’s particularly helpful for higher doses, fine grinds, and bottomless portafilter setups.
Do you really need one?
If you’re a casual espresso brewer, then definitely not. Anyone can brew a great cup of espresso without a puck screen. But if you’ve come to love your brewing time and are really chasing optimal flavor and shot consistency, then it can be one of the smartest, most affordable upgrades you can make.
They help the most for those who have been really struggling with channeling, people using a bottomless portafilter, and those looking for clarity in their shots. So if that sounds like you, you might be surprised at what a puck screen can do for you.
Which One Should You Use?.
Upgrading your espresso shower screen or grabbing a puck screen isn’t as essential as having a really solid portafilter, but they are the kinds of upgrades that can elevate your shot. Quality-focused brewers know the value of a precision shower screen and puck screen can eliminate frustrating channeling issues and improve shot clarity: both visually and clarity of flavor. Thankfully, Pesado makes top-notch versions of both so you can see the results for yourself. While you’re at it, check out their entire collection of precision brewing accessories from portafilters to tampers and distribution tools.
