A few of the HB member audience and I are going to received a copy of the Sifdis to test out. I believe they said they only had 5 copies they could lend out at this time and I hope all that do receive them chime in with their input. My copy arrived today and I'll add some photos and updates to this post as I gather some practice with it. All of the test units will be returned the manufacturer, including mine and my thoughts here my own and not an official endorsement by HB.

I didn't take any pictures of the unboxing, but it came extremely well packed, well secured and padded snugly. In the hand it both looks and feels higher quality than what I expected it to, based on the photos I've seen previously. My initial impression was that it was more solidly built and had more heft that what I expected, which is a good thing since it'll likely get a lot of action in prep work of espresso.

I noted last March that a device like the Sifdis and a single dose type grinder like the EG-1 would possibly be an ideal pairing, and I'll focus mainly on that since I have both here to work with. I've only tried a few shots, but the impression I'm getting of the Sifdis is positive (more positive than I even expected), but I'll carry on with a lot more testing before I draw any conclusions. But I took a quick iPhone shot to show that it does fit and works well with the EG-1.




Here's the first dose. It sits nicely above the screen. I purposely dosed it without the upper screen in place, but I imagine I'll test it out with it already in place moving forward (I think that's the way it's supposed to be used).





And you can see quite clearly that it came out rather uneven. I'd write this up to rookie mistake. The next attempt looked far, far better.



I think it does a better job of distributing than some of the other current designs on the market. My Dozer sits unused (the mushroom head works great as a tamper part however) due to the fact that too much coffee sticks to the Dozer face, and the simple fact that it doesn't prevent channeling or uneven extractions on doserless grinders. You still have to do a WDT if you want a consistent, even extraction. The OCD I'd assume does the same thing, make the top look pretty, but does nothing for the other 2/3's or 3/4's of the dose. One allegedly copied the other and they look identical so I'd sorta assume they function similarly.

The Sifdis works more like a traditional Japanese matcha tea sifter. Those are designed to break up clumps so to optimize a thick even creamy froth for matcha tea. For the espresso focused, it would appear that it helps get an even, homogenous distribution in the basket without the need of WDT. I'm a religious WDT'er, I do it for every single shot without hesitation. As a home user, there's absolutely no reason not to ensure optimal distribution in the basket if your grinder isn't doing it for you, regardless if it takes a bit longer. I'm not banging out 20 shots for line of visitors so I don't care if the added time I put into basket prep slows me down. Optimal results are my only goal. The slight glimmer of the Sifdis tool is it might make my WDT step more consistent and slightly cleaner for my work area. My Orphan Espresso dosing rings have been part of my daily kit for years. They're practically indestructible and reliable. But if one forgets to give a few gentle taps at the end of the WDT (in my case a mini cocktail whisk) then the donut ring of fine powder will collapse partially onto the bed around the edges, or onto the counter, making a bit of a mess.



This is the second attempt, already nice and level, on par with what I get with my cocktail whisk and OE dosing funnel. Note, I've managed to pull uneven shots even with the OE funnel and whisk, and I chalk that up to my fault, and that it's not as easy to do the exact same thing each and every time.


I'm hoping to find that the Sifdis prevents this. If it prevents the occasional stray grinds mess and doesn't take more time, and still yields exellent extractions, then I'd obviously consider it the superior device to use.

I half expected a large amount of the dose to just fall thru the screen and into the basket, but to my surprise, it didn't appear to. The note in the box suggests grinding into a separate cup and then just pouring the dose into the Sifdis and go from there. But I really wanted to see if I could skip a step and just load it into the EG-1 and get the work done hands free while I can focus on other tasks.


My first dose after I spun the upper section until all the coffee passed thru ended up leaving an uneven basket. For test purposes I intentionally didn't redistribute manually, rather just tapped gently on the tamping stand until it appeared more level (this is a fools errand) and tamped and pulled the shot. It of course came out poorly and quite uneven. But my second attempt with the same settings came out much more even and the resulting shot pulled dead even and gently, with no flaws at all. I imagine it comes down to getting familiar with how to use it. An initial impression I have is wishing that the upper section that gets turned, either fits a hair too snug, or the loose coffee that manages to get caught between the two sections makes it slightly less than easy to turn. Not a burden, but I imagine that maybe a tad more play might make for easier spinning. But then again, maybe that would just make the problem worse and cause more grinds to trap up between the two? Further testing will make this clear. It may be just a matter of how I approach using it. It's not brain surgery, you just spin the top section and watch the dose pass thru to the basket. Maybe basket size, dose size or something else plays a role. There's a minuscule amount of grounds caught in the very corners of the screen area where it connects to the side wall. I'm going to brush it out and start over again shortly, but if frequent brushing and cleaning of the Sifdis is needed to make it work easily, then am I just trading one prep routine for another? I think maybe so.

Anyways, I'm impressed with it's build quality and the 5 blade wipers do a good job of evenly distributing the coffee into the basket. It'll be fun to bang on some more and follow along with others impressions.

It would be interesting to see whether this device, like the others, have negative impact on extraction yield. OCD and other OCD like devices all have negative impact on extractions and I am wondering what device like this does to it...

baldheadracing wrote:In any case, IMO, WDT is the preferred option for distribution/grooming for home baristas. OCD might be good for use by spouses/friends/co-workers - that's the only reason I have kept mine.

Couple of friends and I played with OCD like distributor and couple of other options one very similar to Sifdis and guys measured the extraction yields. Pretty much all of them lowered extraction yields up to 1% compared to WDT method, if memory serves well. WDT worked the best and was the most consistent in our tests. I use WDT all the time.

i use and like the OCD, but not 100% as a distribution tool.

I first palm tap the side of the portafilter to distribute:
https://baristahustle.com/how-to-distribute-by-tapping/

Then use the OCD to get a nice flat surface to more easily get a level tamp. In this manner i feel like i always get great looking pulls on bottomless, as well as very consistent results. However, with that said, this is not with single dosing, and i didnt compare EY.

Curious how sifdis compares in its results not only to WDT, but to blind shaker.

I took a few slightly better shots tonight, with the exception of one, with a very high ISO it's quite grainy in large formats. But it shows the various mounds of coffee better.


I mentioned earlier that I wanted to demonstrate the amount of grinds that get stuck in the corner where the wire meets the side wall. This was after 3 shots from last night. Today before I got started, I used a brush and swept it clean as new before starting. It's not much at all, and my main concern was not having the grinds on the sidewall. But this problem is solved by not letting it happen to begin with. I found it better to leave the whole unit intact (just as the manufacturer recommends) and grind into a separate container (in this case the LLW Blind Shaker) and then just transfer in to the Sifdis.





In this horribly grainy pic, you can see the crazy amount of volume you get if you don't tap. This mound was like a soufflé. I gently finger swiped to knock it all towards the center before tamping. Again, I'm looking for a streamlined, consistent approach to basket prep, but the current OE dosing rings and a whisk are still slightly leading, they may be a tad less consistent, but generally a bit cleaner and a bit less fiddling time. But I'm hoping with other coffees and more time with the Sifdis, I might find that it accomplishes my needs better than the OE and whisk. Time will tell. On this specific dose, a tiny amount collapsed onto my prep surface before I could even attend to it. This is the same dose size as all the other shots shown in this post, 18.3g.






Just a shot of it in action. It's much easier to spin if you leave the upper piece in place to begin with. Imagine that, giving the manufacturers recommendation a try instead actually works better!



The residue left behind if you don't tap at all. I don't know thing aggressive, repeated tapping is needed, but I don't think one light tap is going to harm anything at the end, and it'll leave this part cleaner.



These last two are just some random samples of how the dose can end up uneven in the basket. Again, before any tapping.

HBchris wrote:i use and like the OCD, but not 100% as a distribution tool.

I first palm tap the side of the portafilter to distribute:
https://baristahustle.com/how-to-distribute-by-tapping/

Then use the OCD to get a nice flat surface to more easily get a level tamp. In this manner i feel like i always get great looking pulls on bottomless, as well as very consistent results. However, with that said, this is not with single dosing, and i didnt compare EY.

Curious how sifdis compares in its results not only to WDT, but to blind shaker.

I agree completely. I have the OCD v2 and I think my favorite part is how it helps level the tamp. A few portafilter taps helps tremendously and the v2 ensures you can set the perfect depth to just help smooth out the top of the grounds. I don't have any scientific data to back it up, but my naked extractions look better with the OCD tool.

After working with the Sifdis for a while, I'm coming to the conclusion that although its an innovative idea and is well built, it just doesn't help my workflow since it doesn't shorten any steps in my prep routine. I imagine if one to were frequently use Stocksfeths grooming to try to even out the dose, it may work fine, but I'm not really into that method myself. I've found that even when using it, I need to put a whisk to it and again even out and level the dose before tamping.