In April of 2022, Weber Workshops released a new portafilter for espresso preparation called the Unifilter. This, along with Weber’s own Unibasket, changed an industry trend of portafilter basket construction that had lasted close to a century, spawning an entire new product category of “fancy baskets” that provide higher extraction yields.
On June 24, at the WOC event in Copenhagen, Weber is unveiling their latest iteration of the Unifilter, doubling down on the engineering and taking the design to a new level.
From the beginning the manufacturing of the Unifilter has been inspired by the watchmaking industry. Douglas was personally interested in and then involved in during his tenure at Apple where he got to learn about much of the behind the scenes manufacturing techniques with the Apple Watch development.
For example the combination of stainless steel forging, CNC machining, and customized polishing jigs allow the designers and engineers to create mechanically enhanced forms with excruciating attention to detail on the convergence of features within a single piece of metal.
A watch is an object meant to be regarded and used daily, and a good watch is often designated as an heirloom piece. Applying the same care to a portafilter allows for a more pleasurable experience crafting a beverage, and ultimately improves the quality of the espresso in the process.
The Unifilter is an heirloom piece that can be cherished for decades, one that makes espresso instead of marking the time.