Espresso baskets are rated for a dose — 14 g, 18 g, 20 g, 22 g — and the rating is not a suggestion.
Why matching matters
A basket is designed so that a correctly dosed puck sits at the right depth, with a small gap below the shower screen. Get that wrong in either direction and you create problems:
Under-dosed: headroom above the puck. Water pools there, the puck swells unevenly into the space, and water escapes round the edges. Also the classic cause of a soupy puck on a machine that should knock out dry.
Over-dosed: the puck presses against the shower screen, compacts further when the pump starts, and often chokes. A screw imprint on the used puck is the giveaway.
Which size to buy
18 g is the sensible default for a 58 mm double, and it is what most recipes assume.
Larger baskets give a longer drink from a shot and need more coffee per cup. Smaller baskets are useful if you drink singles, and shallow beds channel more easily.
Precision baskets
IMS, VST and similar make baskets with more consistent hole size and distribution than stock ones. They genuinely improve evenness — and they also tighten the acceptable dose range, so weigh carefully.
Single baskets
Harder to pull well. The bed is shallow, so channelling is more likely. Most people use a double even for one drink.
Last reviewed 8 August 2026