This winter I was starting to get annoyed at my grinder. More and more it was making a mess, to the point I thought there was something wrong with it or that the inner part of the collection cup had somehow disappeared. I always weigh out 16 grams of beans, and was losing as much as seven tenths of a gram in the finished product. Then one day out of the blue my college friend Tony sent me an article about the Ross Droplet Technique.
The idea behind it is adding very small amounts of water to beans before grinding reduces static electricity, resulting in reduced flyaways, a neater grind, and much higher retention. Makes perfect sense, then, that I was seeing more problems in winter. I live in an area that has high humidity for much of the year, with a significant drop in humidity in winter.
I gave it a try with one very light spritz from a spray bottle, and I’m now a convert. Much less mess, much higher retention. I’m not sure if it is improving the brew, but anything that combats channeling is going to lead to more consistent quality. I did find that too much water, particularly with oilier beans, could gum up the grind a bit.
Similar to the Weis Distribution Tool, it’s a case where I hadn’t know this existed, but since learning of it I’m seeing it in almost every Instagram clip of a barista making coffee (follow enough coffee shops and roasters, and you too will see tons of espresso making and latte art mastery). I’m going to have to watch them more carefully to see if there are other touches I should be trying. Bottomless portafilter? Dosing funnel? Distribution tool? Spring-loaded tamper? I’m game for anything that helps make better coffee.