I just watched the performance of the current WBC champion, Stephen Morrissey. When filling the basket, he simply creates a big heap of coffee and presses it straight down into the basket?! After reading many posts here on distribution, I would expect a dense center in the coffee bed that will lead to a donut extraction. Nevertheless, the judges crown him the champion.

Does this mean that if a grinder doesn't clump, Stockfleth's etcetera can be skipped?

Bas

There's already an interesting discussion going on about this topic: http://www.home-barista.com/tips/...cessary-t9639.html

Basically....

1 - many of the "tricks" that are suggested and prescribed here are work-arounds for flawed equipment.
2 - techniques designed for home use often don't transport to bar use. techniques designed for bar use often don't transport to competition use. techniques designed for competition use often don't transport to home use. and vice versa etc.

LGB wrote:There's already an interesting discussion going on about this topic: http://www.home-barista.com/tips/...cessary-t9639.html

Thanks for pointing that out. Even if it makes my post totally obsolete

Cheers,

Bas

malachi wrote:Basically....

1 - many of the "tricks" that are suggested and prescribed here are work-arounds for flawed equipment.
2 - techniques designed for home use often don't transport to bar use. techniques designed for bar use often don't transport to competition use. techniques designed for competition use often don't transport to home use. and vice versa etc.

yep yep yeppity yep.

malachi wrote:Basically....
techniques designed for competition use often don't transport to home use. and vice versa etc.

Certainly, but which ones? Stephen Morrisey and the competitors he has been training (which includes two of the 2009 WBC finalists) aren't going to sacrifice taste for speed. The taste component of the score is too important. So, how good does your grinder have to be to skip the distribution step (not to mention needle stirring)?