Distribution Tool Reduces TDS / Extraction?

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jyl
Posts: 325
Joined: 5 years ago

#1: Post by jyl »

I was surprised by this article.

http://socraticcoffee.com/2016/12/exami ... xtraction/

Why would a distribution tool reduce TDS? Any thoughts?

I use a similar tool ($20 knockoff) and noticed more consistent shots, though nothing mind blowing.
John, Portland OR
Vintage bicycles, Porsche/VW, cooking, old houses.

coffeemmichael
Posts: 393
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#2: Post by coffeemmichael »

less channeling

jyl (original poster)
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#3: Post by jyl (original poster) »

I thought that more channeling would decrease extraction, because the water does not have to pass through coffee. Thus I thought less channeling should increase extraction.
John, Portland OR
Vintage bicycles, Porsche/VW, cooking, old houses.

Atbat82
Posts: 42
Joined: 6 years ago

#4: Post by Atbat82 »

I've been using a distribution tool for a few months (since I got my Monolith with it's accompany distro tool). I haven't noticed much of a difference other than "bad" shots (just total gushers with obvious channeling) which I got occassionally, no longer seem to happen. I'm struggling to concoct an explanation for how OCD would reduce TDS...
LMWDP #655

kravmaga
Posts: 2
Joined: 5 years ago

#5: Post by kravmaga »

I've been using a $20 knockoff, too, for about a month. After experimenting with it I've found that adjusting it so that it compresses the coffee a bit--18 grams in an 18 gram VST--it has improved consistency a lot. WDT, settle the grounds with a couple downward taps, use the distribution tool, don't bother tamping.

In fact the only noticeable variable I've been subjected to is adjusting the grind as the beans age.

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baldheadracing
Team HB
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#6: Post by baldheadracing »

jyl wrote:I was surprised by this article.

http://socraticcoffee.com/2016/12/exami ... xtraction/

Why would a distribution tool reduce TDS? Any thoughts?

I use a similar tool ($20 knockoff) and noticed more consistent shots, though nothing mind blowing.
From the comments on this two-year-old article:
With respect to "proper OCD adjustment", we followed all guidelines provided with the equipment at the time (it is our understanding that certain aspects about the OCD's use have been changed/elaborated on since this experiment).
In other words, how they used the tool was not how the tool was designed to be used, but they didn't know that they weren't using it properly at the time. This was not their fault; I thought that how to use the OCD as intended wasn't clear until Sasa released his OCD v2 usage video. I know that I was using mine incorrectly.

For example, the coffee is to be levelled in the basket, e.g., with Stockfleth's or WDT, before using OCD. Socratic didn't do this, so one could suspect that the coffee piled in the center of the basket to be compressed more than coffee at the edges. That would be my guess as to "Why would a distribution tool reduce TDS?" This could also explain why they found that the interaction between type of grinder and OCD was significant. In addition, depth of the OCD has to be set carefully - as Sasa says, the OCD is not a tamper; its usage should not compress the coffee.

YMMV.
-"Good quality brings happiness as you use it" - Nobuho Miya, Kamasada

myso
Posts: 187
Joined: 5 years ago

#7: Post by myso »

I'm curious about extraction yields for best case scenarios. Clearly Socratic didn't do this but they chased the most convenient/fastest scenario for a 'cafe'.

At home setup you would RDT (if needed), then WDT and distribute the grinds properly before going into tamping stage. Even if that takes a full minute of two, granted that the cup tastes better. A cafe can't afford that long prep obviously.

I wonder how "grooming" tools would fare if you use hi-end setup (Max, EG1, Mythos, Peak or properly aligned EK43 with SSP burrs and Titus burr carrier / DE1, GS3 etc) with proper puck prepping technique.
RDT if needed, WDT with something like Duomo tool with same pattern. Then tamped with a levelling tamper or force tamper.

I can speculate that the extraction yields will not varry substantially if "grooming" tools are only used for leveling the top.

Also OCDs/wedges/chisels/filterbasket blades ≠ distribution tools.

A toothpick = distribution tool

adyu
Posts: 36
Joined: 5 years ago

#8: Post by adyu »

TDS as a metric for coffee quality always struck me as very strange. There's no way that every compound in coffee is palatable, right? Surely TDS could be increased by the extraction of undesirable compounds, such as overextraction through channeling. It seems like one could easily speculate that decreased TDS is just a function of lower average, but more even extraction.

IMO this debate will never be resolved without mass spec data, which isn't necessarily that cost prohibitive - you just need to find someone willing to do it.