Coffee Distribution in the Lower Half

[Abe Carmeli]

Our coffee leveling/distribution technique affects a relatively thin layer at the top of the coffee puck. What can be done to improve coffee distribution in the lower half of the basket?

[malachi]

1) Rotate the portafilter in the fork as you dose.
2) Use the "aussie" settling technique (two or three quick downwards, never sideways or forwards, raps on the fork).
3) Apply downwards pressure while distributing.
4) Manually distribute in a circular pattern from a centered mound.

[HB]

What is it with you guys (and Schomer) with downward pressure? Isn't that just another form of overdosing? OK, OK... I'm willing to give it a go, but I assume that I'd have to back off the grind a full notch to compensate for the extra two grams that will get crammed in, right?

[malachi]

Yup.

You'll find a dose that works best for your palate for the coffee you're using (and it will change with each coffee). Regardless... downwards pressure results in your distribution being just that... distribution, rather than a simple leveling.

[Abe Carmeli]

I've been doing the P/F tap dance for a week now and I must say it works. Better coffee distribution throughout the filter basket. When I knock the puck out after the shot, it is knocked out in one piece leaving the P/F basket practically clean, which indicates even saturation of the puck. The only problem with it is dosing. Using an 18 grams ridgeless basket I'm unable to properly dose less than 17 grams. I moved back to 14 gram Faema baskets to dose 14-15 grams. Not a big deal. Ken, if you are listening - there is a market out there for a 14 gram ridgeless.

[luca]

My rocky doserless spits out huge clumps and it seems that no amount of distributing around the top, pf rapping or spinning the pf is going to stop there from being strangely distributed areas. What I've been trying lately is dosing half, distributing manually, just barely flattening with my tamper and then finishing dosing as per normal. I can feel that there is still heaps of give in the puck when doing the final tamp. Comments, questions, criticisms?

For the record, Abe, I'm with you and Chris on the whole non-polishing thing. The best extractions that I have gotten have been from a plain tamp at work. (My tamper has been machined to fit the baskets at work ... means that I've got a bit of slack in the basket at home ... will have to chase up another work double basket).

Also, I'm totally down with the PB updosing technique. Seems to make things more consistent on Silvia, although I really do think that one needs a stepless grinder for best results.

Cheers,

Luca

[srobinson]

Luca, I use a doserless rocky as well, and I find the clumps diminish with the fresher the coffee you use. Try some less than a week from the roaster and see if the clumps go away. The only other thing that I have tried that works well is to grind into a separate cup and use that to distribute from....this takes a bit more time but really helps you control the distribution.

[HB]

It seems so long since I sold my Rocky DL, but like Steve, most of the time I would dose into a small plastic cup and transfer. Don't laugh, but the new owner took that idea and found a perfectly sized cup -- the cap of a shaving cream can! He'd fill the cap, place the portafilter over the top of it, then invert both. Since the cap fit neatly inside the portafilter (I would guess it was around 49mm in diameter), gently lifting it with a couple taps would result in a perfectly centered cylinder of grinds. Quick distribution / level and tamp away. Of course such machinations are only practical in a home environment where you're not rushed...

PS: For those who may not recognize "PB updosing" in Luca's post, here's an excerpt from CoffeeGeek that explains (link):

Hey Dane, yeah dosing up basically means dosing very high in the basket. Dosing high enough so that when you insert the PF into the group head and then remove the PF without brewing, the coffee is mashed onto the grouphead and the top of the puck is not level anymore. If you can't lock the PF into the group then you have over-dosed too much. We over-dose and have fantastic results. There is really very little room for expansion but our pucks when we finish are nice and firm with a decent screw indentation and can always be banged out in one firm piece. Never had any probs with baskets, screens etc but occasionally PF's can leak, we just tighten them up a little.

Corey

PB = Paul Bassett, 2003 World Barista Champion

[afx]

Hi Luca,

try wiggling the PF while it is being filled. Works perfectly on my doserless Innova. The clumps break up and the coffee settles nicely in the basket. No sprays or anything with the bottomless PF, just perfectly even extraction. (in contrast to my b... dosing Cimbali Jr).

cheers
afx

[cannonfodder]

For what it is worth, I am too new to this to have an authoritative opinion. However, I grind into a very large, metered shot glass. I then pour that into my just dried out basket. I rap that against the table (up, down...) gently three or four times. I raise the spouts on the portafilter a half inch or so, drop it down (level) to the surface of the table to level, and settle the grounds in the basket. Then I tamp, tap, tamp to full pressure, twist, lock and go. I have about 40 seconds after my flush to do all of this before the HX gets to hot.

I get seemingly good shots even with my crappy grinder (my new Mazzer from Chris arrives tomorrow).

[luca]

Thanks for the hint, guys.

Steve, I'm actually using beans about three days from the roaster. Atomica are really great; they deliver to us twice a week at work so that it's around its peak.

afx, I do wiggle and rotate the pf as it is being filled. The problem is that the coffee comes out with large clumps that are undisturbed by this. I'd take a photo if it was enough of a problem to justify it.

I do the whole pf rap thing at work, but at home I'm not keen on wrapping on the granite bench! Without this, I don't know that dosing into a cap is a great idea.

Still, my technique seems to work fine. Over the past few weeks I've had some of the best shots ever from Silvia, so no real reason to change!

[PheasantCreek]

Ok, based on this thread I figure I would give the two-tap a shot. I've been doing it now for the last few days I do notice better saturation in the lower half of the puck.

Should note that we use the Espro Tamper at 30 lbs. in the commercial setting. Lower half saturation did improve with this combination. Pucks using just a leveling technique tend to break into a top half and lower half when dispensing. The two tap is giving us a full puck drop when dispensing.