Better Coffee with a WDT Espresso Tool - Barista Guide

But you got channeling

Is the machine gasket faulty? There is some water leaking out from the portafilter. Incorrect dose?

erm.... im just gonna buy some acupuncture needle and made my self a cheap nice distributor needle....... why buy $33 branded shit when we can make it with only $3..... right ?

Boss: Why are you taking 30 mins on your tea break
Me: Sorry had to WDT

He really believes the drivel he is spouting!

Channeling is my big problem. I can't make it perfect. 😪

Great video. Would you recoment a wdt in a commercial Environment? Do you use it in your Cafe? Or does it take too much time?

Here I am, feeling fancy as hell, watching a WDT video.

How do the needles not scrap the bottom of the portafilter??

any thoughts on wdt tools that are straight vs the ones pointing out?

I never heard of WDT as a barista but when I got into coffee at home I did. I wouldn't use it in the cafe but perhaps when pulling a single origin I might but when they're mixed in with a bunch of other orders.... Yeah no..

Edit: just found out Barista Hussle are planning to bring out the autocomb which could be interesting. It would be good to get some feedback from artisti when it finally drops.

what ''weiss'' word means? its a name? Thank you

I use a Niche Zero grinder, and grind directly into the basket (and funnel/collar) which I rotate under the NZ funnel, for evenness. Accordingly, I don’t see much much, if any, clumping. Still, I have always WDT’d and am loth to give it up. So I deep and mid WDT with very small circular motions, which I more broadly spiral from outside to in. I then surface rake, with a 3D printed tool that I bought on Etsy, into which I have inserted 9 acupuncture needles of 0.35 mm each (80 mm long, including the 30mm handle portion). Still, I am always concerned about moving coffee grounds around, as I understand that less is more. This 9 needle configuration seems to move the grounds around somewhat (not hugely but it does move the grounds around abit). Should I reduce the number of needles (say to 6) or reduce the size to say 0.30mm or do both? As I do not see any pre-WDT clumps, I am wondering whether I am introducing more channeling risks than there were in the first place. Post WDT, I do see some evidence of channeling (1mm wide but not deep holes) and say 75% coverage of the basket bottom during the initial beading, on say half of the shots that I pour. Any suggestions here, as I am looking for consistency.

You need to replace that gasket :)

Hi folks! What's the difference between OCD / NCD and can I use it together NCD+WDT? :)

For a cafe you might try a Duomo the Eight. It’s what I use. I also saw a barista competitor use one a couple of weeks ago. But it’s expensive.

Thanks for this vid! I have been looking forward to you making one about WDT for a while! It made my extractions so much better.

I was wondering if you were also going to go over that new trend of using paper filter underneath the puck that Lance Hedrick, James Hoffman and Jonathan Gagné recently talked a lot about. I have been using them for over 3 months now and it really changed my espresso game!

Cheers guys

That's a really nice intro to WDT, balanced and complete.

One thing I'd add: for a home-made tool, look for acupuncture needles on one of the bigger Chinese websites. I got 20 needles for 5€, which is more than enough for 3 tools (I use 6 on one tool), and it gets cheaper if you buy more needles. :) As you said, the size matters, around 0.4mm in diameter. I cut mine to be a little bit shorter, for personal convenience, but also to get rid of the pointy ends.

These thin needles are also flexible, and I think it helps. In addition to breaking clumps, I find that while using the WDT, you can get a feeling for areas in the puck that are denser than others, so you can further improve evenness.

Clumping happens even with good home grinders, especially as you have to grind finer for certain beans. So I think a WDT is useful if you want to explore various beans at home. Less so if you stick to the same beans and always get fluffy grinds.

Also, you mentioned the need for a funnel: I agree, and I'll add that one should look for a funnel that sits on the outer rim of the portafilter. Funnels that sit on the inside tend to leave a dent around the coffee puck, which goes against our goals. I got one for 6€ (again, Chinese online store), totally worth it.

I would be surprised if WDT became a trend in cafés: in addition to the extra time spent, you lose some consistency, because it's very much a manual process. But at home, it's worth it for me.

I have that same WDT that I brought from eBay. I think it works better if you only use half the needles, like in every second slot. Have you guys tried that?

Some feedback: The way you were swinging around the WDT and leaving the points up on the bench is a recipe for getting stabbed- please remind people to be careful. I’ve switched to the Idroprep tamper and that is proving to be a great technology. There is no more WDT and distribution. Give it a try!

Try normcore needle distributor. OCD and WDT in one

Great video again, you certainly wouldn’t have the time to use that in a cafe, can I ask you how water was also dripping from the group head while you were pulling the shot.
Once again great video and full of info.
Kind regards to you all from Scotland.
Johnny

Home user : Eureka Single Dose Grinder. WDT has definitely improved my espresso. I was first advised to grind, WDT, OCD, then tamp. I get better results if I leave out the OCD. Thanks for posting your technique!

I saw sprometheus do a controlled tds trial with what I can only guess is some sort of kruve-esque sifter.

I'm always worried about workflow but have seen needles on the end of an ocd handle sold on aliexpress.

The question is whether such a tool is as good as the 'ol needle stir.

The other thing is that spro' didn't do tapping puck prep on all, whereas I go tap>ocd>tamp

so whether tap>needles>tamp is better remains to be seen.

At the least, it makes sense in that if your grinder gives out the big clumps, an ocd doesn't fix those clumps, whereas mr. slightly smaller herb grinder might actually do the job.

I'd just like one inbuilt into a dosing funnel for the ultimate workflow efficiency

Can't wait for the comparison video 😄. I'll be waiting for it.