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This post is like 3 levels of coffee interest removed from mainstream. RDT is unknown outside of whatever small circle the listener is part of which does not overlap with other, known definitions of RDT.
This post is almost gatekeeping because of how much jargon and technobabble is required to know for this very specific subject. Hopefully you see the value in helping others enjoy your hobby and make any future explanation more open to new users!
For folks who make espresso at home, especially if you’ve worked with a manual grinder of any sort, this is extremely well known. In fact when you first get started and start searching for how to deal with the static problem (cause it’s the first major problem you’ll encounter), it’ll be what comes up. So for future scientists.
https://letmegooglethat.com/?q=how+to+remove+static+from+coffee+grinder&l=1
For the first result I get: https://www.javapresse.com/blogs/grinding-coffee/how-to-deal-with-static-in-coffee-grinders-3-tricks-you-can-try-at-home
Which as #1:
How does a static problem affect the taste?
I don't understand how rdt leads to better tasting espresso. Maybe an easier cleanup session, but taste?
So espresso is very picky about measurements. 18g of beans into your grinder ideally yields 18g out. Not getting that amount of ground coffee out of the grinder and hence into your portafilter will heavily influence the taste.
Is there an acceptable margin of error? It's wild to me that static would cause a difference outside of that margin.
Why not measure your grinds versus measuring your beans? Or, if you know how much you lose to static, could you compensate for that in your bean weigh?
These solutions seem easier than RDT.
if you know how much you lose to static
That's the trouble, it didn't get vaporized or vanish. It's still in the grinder, or sticking to the collection bin. I'm not an expert or anything but I suspect that the residue oxidizing and mixing with the next batch will have more flavor impact than being a little off with your measurement.
Honestly, is incredibly easy to spritz them when measuring, throw em in the grinder and be done.
I've never really read much on the actual effects of water on the coffee flavor itself, just the wonderful lack of static. I don't screw with espresso as I'm at my limit for expensive hobbies. I have in the past and a half gram will make a noticable difference in a shot. Enough to ruin it? Completely subjective.
So the goal is to make your “ideal” shot for the beans you have. Reproducibly. So right off the bat if the ground weight out isn’t equal to the unground weight in (as close and reproducible as possible) then you’ll have to adjust other factors for each shot. Which can quickly become extremely complicated. Especially with static where the amount of loss is going to vary every time.
I get 18g out when I put 18 in, 17 on a very bad day maybe. I think with most good grinders the loss is maximum of 1g and typically substantially less.
I do it for every grinder. Minimal retention = less cleaning.
I do it for every grinder. Minimal retention = less cleaning.
Yep. Those mornings I forget to introduce a bit of water I always kick myself because now I'm fussing with a brush for three times as long to get my manual grinder clean.
I find RDT to be more important with an electric grinder than a manual hand grinder.
Wow.
So what happened was that someone asked a question and while I answered the question someone else answered with a completely incorrect answer. My answer was then down voted and the incorrect one (which has since been edited to add in the right answer) upvoted.
So yeah, you are a bit late to the party here.
At not fucking point did I refuse to answer a basic question.
Spoiler - it's RDT
How can it be a spoiler if we have no fuckin clue what RDT is? 😂
Not gonna lie, I'm starting to hate lemmy for having the most lazy users. You can literally google "coffee rdt" and the first five links explain in detail what OP is talking about. Meanwhile, they're getting shit on for something he still ended up explaining anyways and even their correct explanation that people asked for is downvoted. It seems like nobody even read the article or has an opinion on it, they're just mad that OP didn't spoon feed them.
brew a nice coffee and ignore haters
You know what's lazy? Not spelling out an acronym on first use.
As a espresso person I'm here mostly because the most popular espresso community on Lemmy is pretty dead.
I do really feel like we'd probably be better served if we posted espresso content in a espresso specific community.
RDT is useful for pour over as well, really helps improve majority of grinders and grind types.
True but I would believe the general level of enthusiasm for a conversation about RDT would be substantially higher in a modern espresso group vs filter coffee folk.
Also my previous comment is bit of a inner monologue as someone who posted very randomly detailed things on r/espresso back in the day and rather uncertain if/where I would post that stuff on Lemmy.
If it applies to both I would still post it here as the community is bigger and would still benefit from it. Even for basic stuff as there appears to be far more total beginners than the subreddits in the other place.
How does wet beans not gum up the mill?
You add a very very small amount of water. Like one spray from a tiny spray bottle.
How tiny does the spray bottle need to be?
Not the science we asked for, but the science we need.
Its like they got sent back in time to 2005
They advocate for rdt over wdt as the most important? Interesting.
Wdt, for others in this thread, is a Weiss Distribution Tool. This is using a tool with some thin, flexible needles to break up the coffee after placing it in the portafilter.
I feel like if you do wdt without rdt, you're fine. If you do rdt without wdt, you're missing out.
Not sure if you have watched Lance's video I linked elsewhere in the post but they measured particle size, RDT improved uniformity of particle size. This to me is the first empirical evidence of the actual benefit of RDT over and above less mess with grinding. For what can be a completely free and quick upgrade that seems always worth doing.
While WDT does need a tool and even a homemade one isn't completely free it's ability to better distribute grinds in the basket I would also say it's an essential upgrade as it can be so low cost
Anything else like slow feeding, hot starting that are free upgrades no matter how small for cheap to midrange grinders that lack prefeeding augurs or other chokes that prevent overloading the burrs seem no brainers to me.
OK, I'm loading a spray bottle for tomorrow's shot.
Even slightly wetting the end of your finger and stirring it through the beans can be enough to make a difference.
I use water for my filter grind. I have a measure cup for the beans. Then I use a wet teaspoon and stir it around in the measure cup. If I grind 10 grams the teaspoon is almost dry. If I grind 30-40 grams I have a solid water drop on the spoon. But it varies with the beans. Some beans produce more static and some less. If one or two beans get most of the water they will stick in the grinder. It's also easier to keep the grinder clean when there is less small static particles flying everywhere.
Here is a link to the paper
My favorite part of that paper is that thanks to them actually measuring particulate size we now have empirical proof adding a small amount of water improves the consistency of your grind:
it is clear that the inclusion of even small quantities of water (as low as 5μLg−1) results in an immediate reduction in electrostatic aggregates of boulders and fines
Uh... yes, Mr. Science. We've been doing this for nearly 2 decades. But thanks, I guess.