When I am pulling a shot, I notice there is a very small area underneath my bottomless portafilter that doesn't fill with coffee and the small metal area stays exposed for a good 15-20 seconds before a single stream finally comes together.

I am grinding into the Niche dosing cup, putting a funnel on my portafilter and transferring the coffee. I am using the WDT linked below to stir it, but I am afraid the prongs are too thick and causing the coffee to clump up. Could this be the cause of my trouble?

https://www.etsy.com/listing/777478389/ ... _purchases

Cannot say your current tool is the only cause, but I was using a tool with thick prongs and switched to using 0.4mm printer cleaning needles and feel I get better puck prep with them. $6 needles on Amazon, a spare wine cork, and 15 minutes assembly time and you can test it for yourself!

Convince me why I shouldn't use paperclip for WDT

Yup, what he said. Probably not just your tool, but the way you stir too. Don't just blindly stir the grounds around and assume that because you did, everything is great. Good puck building requires you look at how the grounds are distributed as you do your WDT, and how you leave them when you're "finished".

The LeverCraft Ultra tool is excellent, and very nicely built, but you can achieve the same thing using the needles and a wine cork, as suggested above. But still, you gotta pay attention to what you're doing and how the dry puck is affected.

The levercraft tool improved my results significantly. I start with a thorough wdt touching the bottom and work my way up through the layers to the top where I finish raking. Then a single tap on the counter before tamping. Below is a pic of what it looks like post tap/pre tamp:

Thanks guys. Sounds like it is worth trying the Ultra tool.

LBIespresso wrote:The levercraft tool improved my results significantly. I start with a thorough wdt touching the bottom and work my way up through the layers to the top where I finish raking. Then a single tap on the counter before tamping. Below is a pic of what it looks like post tap/pre tamp:

image

Do you use a funnel before stirring?

I do. Either grind into LW tumbler or OE Ipanema funnel.

What brand basket are you using? VST baskets are known for sometimes having blank areas on the bottom before the streams come together.

All of this begs the question of whether any of this makes any difference in the cup.

No doubt, prep must be good enough to avoid significant channeling, meaning enough to speed the flow rate (e.g., a gusher) and/or reduce contact time with other areas of the puck, either of which will result in under-extraction.

But as far as I know, there has been no rigorous scientific study or blind tastings that prove "ugly" pours, such as uneven emergence of drops at the start (e.g., halo extractions), blank areas before the streams come together, a few spritzes here and there, etc., result in significant reduction of flow rate, under-extraction or, most importantly, inferior taste in the cup.

As for clumpy grounds, where the clumps fall apart at the slightest touch, I haven't seen anything that confirms they cause ugly pours, alteration of the flow rate, under-extraction or inferior taste.

That said, I do spend time on puck prep when I'm not in a hurry. My feeling is, "Why not? It can't hurt." I sometimes use RDT to minimize retention and mess, but that also tends to minimize clumping. I use a Kafatek catch-cup, which I shake after grinding, put a Tidaka filter on top, put the inverted PF on top of that, and flip the entire assembly so the grounds fall through the funnel into the basket, sort of like turning a cocktail mixer upside down (a twisting motion on the catch cup makes this smooth and easy.) Plenty of mixing going on there.

Because I'm a bit OCD, if I see clumps in the catch-cup, which sometimes form after shaking, I might grab my preferred WDT tool, a mini-whisk, and give the grounds a quick stir before transfer to the basket. I could do that with the funnel in place on a double basket, but I almost always pull singles, and WDT in a single basket caused grounds to sweep under the edges of the Tidaka funnel into the upper portion of the basket (i.e., out of the puck depression.)

I always tap the PF once, then use my mini-whisk to rake the top of the puck, not to flatten it but to create a small depression in the middle and push grounds to the edges of the funnel so I get a good seal around the perimeter. This tends to eliminate halo pours and minimize blank areas with VST baskets. I gently tap three more times, then tamp. I only tamp singles. I use a BT Wedge and no tamp for doubles.

I get prettier pours when I do these things, as opposed to just grinding into the funnel/basket, then raking, tamping and pulling, but not better taste in the cup.

I'm baffled by claims that ultra-thin WDT tools are superior to dissection needles, paper clips, mini-whisks, etc., and the bizarre explanations about why they supposedly work. Seems to me that really thin needles contact fewer grounds than thicker instruments, and should be less effective.

Dick; I make no claims to their superiority and why, but I think the resulting coffee bed is fluffier and more uniform before tamping. And I have fewer uneven extractions and spritzes with the thinner needles. Yes, these are all subjective comments and I certainly can't say they make a difference in the cup. But unlike many things we spend money on in this hobby, at least this gadget is cheap enough to try out and decide for yourself.

Peppersass wrote:What brand basket are you using? VST baskets are known for sometimes having blank areas on the bottom before the streams come together.

All of this begs the question of whether any of this makes any difference in the cup.

No doubt, prep must be good enough to avoid significant channeling, meaning enough to speed the flow rate (e.g., a gusher) and/or reduce contact time with other areas of the puck, either of which will result in under-extraction.

But as far as I know, there has been no rigorous scientific study or blind tastings that prove "ugly" pours, such as uneven emergence of drops at the start (e.g., halo extractions), blank areas before the streams come together, a few spritzes here and there, etc., result in significant reduction of flow rate, under-extraction or, most importantly, inferior taste in the cup.

As for clumpy grounds, where the clumps fall apart at the slightest touch, I haven't seen anything that confirms they cause ugly pours, alteration of the flow rate, under-extraction or inferior taste.

That said, I do spend time on puck prep when I'm not in a hurry. My feeling is, "Why not? It can't hurt." I sometimes use RDT to minimize retention and mess, but that also tends to minimize clumping. I use a Kafatek catch-cup, which I shake after grinding, put a Tidaka filter on top, put the inverted PF on top of that, and flip the entire assembly so the grounds fall through the funnel into the basket, sort of like turning a cocktail mixer upside down (a twisting motion on the catch cup makes this smooth and easy.) Plenty of mixing going on there.

Because I'm a bit OCD, if I see clumps in the catch-cup, which sometimes form after shaking, I might grab my preferred WDT tool, a mini-whisk, and give the grounds a quick stir before transfer to the basket. I could do that with the funnel in place on a double basket, but I almost always pull singles, and WDT in a single basket caused grounds to sweep under the edges of the Tidaka funnel into the upper portion of the basket (i.e., out of the puck depression.)

I always tap the PF once, then use my mini-whisk to rake the top of the puck, not to flatten it but to create a small depression in the middle and push grounds to the edges of the funnel so I get a good seal around the perimeter. This tends to eliminate halo pours and minimize blank areas with VST baskets. I gently tap three more times, then tamp. I only tamp singles. I use a BT Wedge and no tamp for doubles.

I get prettier pours when I do these things, as opposed to just grinding into the funnel/basket, then raking, tamping and pulling, but not better taste in the cup.

I'm baffled by claims that ultra-thin WDT tools are superior to dissection needles, paper clips, mini-whisks, etc., and the bizarre explanations about why they supposedly work. Seems to me that really thin needles contact fewer grounds than thicker instruments, and should be less effective.

Thank you for the thoughtful reply. I am using the standard basket that came with my BDB. I wish I knew how good my shots truly are but I have never really had espresso by a pro so I have nothing to compare it to. I can definitely taste a difference when I use good, fresh beans though.