What’s on your coffee bench?

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by goonster

Legit cannot tell if this tongue-in-cheek, or not.

I am so sorry if this was written poorly. Like cycling, watch collecting or any of the other myriad of hobbies we get ourselves involved with, coffee has a definite rabbit hole that is easily to go down deep, I obviously have…

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by sg8357

Does the grinder plane ?, is the water stiff yet compliant ?
Alloy tamper or Depleted Uranium tamper ?

None of these things happen, but when you pull a god shot, it’s all worth it!!!

[MikeD]

I love these coffee threads. :-)

[echappist]

What is a concrete suggestion for dealing with static?

I live in the upper Midwest, and it’s really dry herein the winter.

I have a Niche Zero grinder. It used to be that i could just invert the metal cup onto my portafilter. Now that just leaves a lot of mess (lots of grounds on my bench) and i have to transfer the grounds using a spoon.

Is there something i could do? Or do i just need to wait this out? Also, i have seen the mentioning of atomizer, but those methods don’t appear to be recommended. So i’m looking for something else to resolve the issue.

[fredd]

Originally Posted by echappist

What is a concrete suggestion for dealing with static?

Sprinkle a tiny tiny amount of water in your beans before grinding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Dh1W40ILY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zqp3CgcbA

[crankles]

Originally Posted by fredd

Sprinkle a tiny tiny amount of water in your beans before grinding.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T0Dh1W40ILY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=D8zqp3CgcbA

That first link is the method I use with my Niche humidity is low. Works wonders. I measure the beans and stir in the tiniest amount of h2o before dumping in the grinder.

I wish I still had my old zerostat gun from my vinyl days. I'd like to give that a try ;-)

[MikeD]

Originally Posted by SoCalSteve

None of these things happen, but when you pull a god shot, it’s all worth it!!!

Question on shot timing, how consistent is it and do you credit the grinder for that? Mine is too variable, in spite of weighing the grounds and the shot, WDT and puck raking and level tamping to reduce channeling... I'm blaming the grinder.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by MikeD

Question on shot timing, how consistent is it and do you credit the grinder for that? Mine is too variable, in spite of weighing the grounds and the shot, WDT and puck raking and level tamping to reduce channeling... I'm blaming the grinder.

Excellent question!!!

Others please correct me if I am wrong/off on this. In level of importance:

Beans
Grinder
Puck prep
Water
Scale-timer
Espresso machine


They say ( not sure who they are ) that even a lowly espresso machine can pull a great shot given all the other factors. So yes, if you have a coffee budget, spend big on the grinder. Single dosing grinders are the best for home use so you don’t waste beans or leave the beans sitting in a hopper.

Also, there are many ways of achieving soft(er) water. I don’t have the ability to plumb my machine ( and use an inline filter ) so I purchased a Peak pitcher https://prima-coffee.com/equipment/p...wj001-pe-wa-sp
because I have pretty hard water where I live.

The puck prep tools you use are important as well as knowing how to use them, but having a good grinder makes this easier.

Whenever I try a new bean, I reach out to the roaster to ask what they feel the best parameters are. Temperature, time, dose and output are the factors I want to know, hence having a scale and timer.

Tons of videos on YouTube regarding all aspects of coffee. James Hoffman and Lance Hendricks are 2 of my favorite.

Good luck!!!

[echappist]

Originally Posted by crankles

That first link is the method I use with my Niche humidity is low. Works wonders. I measure the beans and stir in the tiniest amount of h2o before dumping in the grinder.

I wish I still had my old zerostat gun from my vinyl days. I'd like to give that a try ;-)

Does this have negative effect on the burrs (e.g. premature wear)?

[ripvanrando]

Does anybody preinfuse to minimize channeling? Does it help? I sometimes get channeling but rarely. But too lazy to preinfuse. When I want my shot, I want it now.....not 6 seconds later.

[goonster]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Does anybody preinfuse to minimize channeling? Does it help?

I do it, but not because of channeling. In my opinion, it should help, but is a minor factor.

[jkbrwn]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Does anybody preinfuse to minimize channeling? Does it help? I sometimes get channeling but rarely. But too lazy to preinfuse. When I want my shot, I want it now.....not 6 seconds later.

I pre-infuse for 5 seconds before pulling a 35 second total shot time. 18gr in, 40 out. 9 bars, ramping down to 5-6. Using a Robot. No channeling here.

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by ripvanrando

Does anybody preinfuse to minimize channeling? Does it help? I sometimes get channeling but rarely. But too lazy to preinfuse. When I want my shot, I want it now.....not 6 seconds later.

My espresso machine has programming built in to do pre-infusion and pressure profiling. I’ve used it some to get more/different tastes, but haven’t really gotten into it. Im still learning my grinder/machine/different beans. Mostly at the stage of using straight 9 bar pulls.

I’ll get there someday ( soon, I hope ).

[SoCalSteve]

Originally Posted by echappist

Does this have negative effect on the burrs (e.g. premature wear)?

The owner of Kafatek sends along a small spray bottle with all of his grinders, so I’m thinking no. Also, many burr sets are coated these days. Can grind many 1,000 of pounds of beans before they wear out.

[benb]

I pre-infuse with my Flair for 5-10 seconds. It can make a big difference with channeling and such if you're watching what the shot looks like through a bottomless porta filter.

I haven't had much issue with static.. but one thing I do is stir the grounds with a toothpick or needle.. I always do that for espresso. Not going to use the ridiculously prentious term going around for stirring the grounds to break up chunks, but you can find expensive tools to break up clumps.

Lately I'm using my hand grinder for everything..