I am curious to know if anyone else has dismissed WDT for another method. WDT works, but it's messy and i'm always losing and replacing so much coffee. I use a PID'd Silvia and doserless Rocky, and after a few years of reading and practicing I am getting decent results.

From doserless Rocky my coffee goes into a small milk pitcher. I stir and break up the coffee with a wooden skewer using a motion similar to whisking or whipping egg whites. Then I pour into the PF, level off, and tamp.

Does anyone else practice something like this? Is it a good idea or am I missing something that maybe is holding me from the next level?

Thanks for all of your help!

I do it every morning - three or four times for three or four cappy's. I weigh the ground beans as I spoon them into the portafilter. In all, it takes about an additional 30 seconds - well worth it - I think.

What's the point of WDTing before the grinds are in the basket? You would typically grind directly into the basket before the WDT. If you're updosing, a common technique is to use the top of a paper cup as a funnel, which keeps the grinds in when you're stirring. Also, using a thinner implement like a bent paperclip or the ever popular dissection needle makes significantly less mess.

I also have a doserless Rocky.

I usually dose until the basket is 1/4 to 1/2 full, then use a plastic fork to break up the clumps, then dose the rest of the way and use the fork again. I simply repeatedly stick the fork into the clumps (often all the way to the bottom of the basket), knock the side with my knuckle to bring clumps up from the bottom, and repeat. Sometimes I may even change the grind setting in between doses as a way of compensating for the large step size of the Rocky. It seems to work pretty well. Of course, with some coffees, my wife puts me to shame by dosing all the way to the top, tamping without any attention to breaking clumps, and pulling a great shot. That only works with some beans, though. MY way works all the time.

One of the reasons that I use WDT on every shot is that it helps me keep my area clean. The yogurt cup funnel is cut to fit snugly in the basket and helps prevent grinder messiness as I grind directly into the basket. Then I stir the grounds with the funnel still in place.

For updosing I gently tap the basket straight down (funnel still in place). I usually do this over my knockbox, so I can tap down on the knockbox bar, and then remove the funnel and level the grounds (all while working over the knockbox). There is very little mess from the process, and the pours are very consistent for me.

I've got a small scale that sits under the doser of the major, and the coffee goes right into a cut down yogurt cup that weighs four grams. I go from the yogurt cup to the portafilter, thwacking the portafilter four or five times, helps settle and distribute.

For the Vivaldi s1 V2, I do a really quick series of circular rotations thru the top of the grounds with a needle - mainly to ensure that the grounds distribute evenly with no gaps around the edges of the portafilter. Finishing in the center of the portafilter, this leaves a slight amount less coffee in the center of the portafilter - I'm trying to guess at it being the same amount less in the center that the convex tamper is. Then I do a firm nutating tamp, leveling the edges with my fingers on the edge of the portafilter as I finish.

Hell of a lot harder to write up than it is to do.

For the Cremina - I just tap the portafilter down as I pour the grounds in - level off with a straight edge, and use my fingers to pull the edges of the tamper level with the edges of the portafilter. No WDT or anything similar. Talk about quick and easy.

I'm thinking distribution and tamp may be different with different machines/screens. The Vivaldi has a nut hanging down from the screens, that holds the screens to the group head. If you're filling the basket well, I'm thinking the method I use allows for the nut and higher pressure of the Vivaldi versus the Cremina.

JonR10 wrote:One of the reasons that I use WDT on every shot is that it helps me keep my area clean. The yogurt cup funnel is cut to fit snugly in the basket and helps prevent grinder messiness as I grind directly into the basket. Then I stir the grounds with the funnel still in place.

+1

I don't find WDT to be messy at all! (Difference: I use an OE funnel, rather than a yogurt cup, but still . . . )

Cheers,
Jason

It's been four years, and I'm astonished the original WDT has held up so well. I have a lot more experience with espresso now, but I have not seen any significant improvements on the dissecting needle and yogurt cup funnel. My current grinders (dosered Robur and ghetto-modded doserless Major) do not require any declumping, but I still use the WDT to a) contain the grinds; b) fine-tune the dose; and c) ensure an even distribution.

If I were to make any changes to the original article, I would probably focus on dose. Looking at the pics, I was obviously updosing a lot more than I do today. Stirring the grounds in the filter basket after removing the funnel ("fluffing" the grinds), and then relevelling, allows you to reduce the dose without screwing up the distribution.

Kudos to Orphan Espresso for marketing a more aesthetically pleasing version of the funnel. For the price, though, you'd think they could toss in a dissecting needle or two.

I've come to appreciate the WDT as an invaluable tool when using grinders with very specific deficiencies. Namely my dosered Super Jolly. When using that grinder primarily the WDT was a wonderful tool to help with distribution for me.

However now that my Baratza Vario is pulling espresso in my house I've come to realize that I don't need the WDT when using the Vario and have completely abandoned any "basket preparations" other then a gentle jiggle to level and then tamping.

I don't dismiss the WDT for what it truly is (a workaround for a grinders hang-ups) but do hope that in time grinder design and technology (especially for the home barista) will advance to where we can simply grind an accurate dose and have it distributed evenly right from the grinder. So far the Vario seems pretty close (for me).

Indeed, Tim. I, too, have noticed the WDT is unnecessary with my Baratza Vario (aka Mahlkönig Vario Home), whereas I use it about two-third's of the time with the Mahlkönig K30 Vario.