Portaflon

This has been out on the market since may 2007. Was invented by Swedes, and being in Sweden at the moment I am proud of that fact, although I am not Swedish. You will see this technology more and more and I am all for it.

So here is the basic explanation of what Portaflon is: Portaflon is a company that coats steamwands and inside of the group-handle with Teflon coating. Many coffee machine manufacturers like: ECM, La Marzocco and Synesso have been insulatin their stem wands, so they don’t get hot to touch and to the advantage of milk not burning to the steamwand. The Swedes have discovered that if you make the steamwand out of Teflon the milk will not stick to it. Great idea right??? Well see for yourself VIDEO. I've actually done the very same experiment and got exactly the same results.

I am very fortunate to be working with these steamwands, the milk still burns to it however it is much easier to clean, one simple wipe will do it. For a good clean barista the portaflon steamwand is absolutely not necessary, as you have to wipe the wand after every use. I find it great as you don’t have to spend seconds stroking, one wipe and its all gone.

Wait … it gets better, Teflon coated portafilters, once again I am very fortunate to have them at work. So easy to clean, almost makes cleaning fun! Still it is a luxury for a good barista to have it and not an excuse, not to clean the portafilters every hour. A simple rinse under hot water, light wipe and all the coffee build-up is gone. The coating feels a little oily as any Teflon does, it is an amazing invention and is very efficient. I would like to see portaflon work on Teflon filter baskets next.

The word on the street is that La Marzocco will soon employ this technology in their standard group handle production, till that day you will have to flop out a lot of money to portaflon for these handy tools.