About us (me)

My name is Gábor Laczkó. I used to be a treasurer in a bank and now I have a company called Kávékalmár Kft. and operate a small roastery in Szentendre, Hungary.

Naked portafilters and the art of making espressos with them have been something of an obsession for me for quite some time. I own one for each of my machines. I made some of them myself and bought others. I recently had a few made for my small levers (Olympia Express Cremina and Club, Arrarex Caravel, La Pavoni Europiccola) in the CNC workshop beneath my roastery. The original batch was produced for a short film that we made to capture the hypnotic images of a naked extraction. All ten pieces were quickly “adopted” by friends and family. I had no plans about any additional production.

 

Then we released the film in September 2014. It was received favorably, but it was also misunderstood in a completely positive way. In just a few days’ time, I received inquiries from all over the world about orders for the portafilter. I have never harbored serious ambitions of becoming a filmmaker or a metal machinist, but the inquires fired up my imagination. This is how naked-portafilter.com was created.

A naked portafilter is an essential diagnostic tool for making a perfect espresso. It exposes and mercilessly punishes any mistake that a barista, whether amateur or professional, can make. It is like a tight-handling performance car without any electronics: the smallest mistake can send you crashing into the ditch by the road.

Many people just throw away their naked portafilters to collect dust in a corner after the first few bad experiences. It is true that in addition to high-quality coffee and equipment, you will also need a lot of patience, a bit of an analytical mind and a healthy dose of commitment to find the holy grail of a perfect naked pour and a richly flavored coffee. Once you’ve done it, however, you will find that it was worth all (well, almost all) the sacrifice.

I am happy to share this experience with all aficionados.