Sage Appliances BES100 Espresso Knock Box, The Knock Box Mini

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The Ross Droplet Technique (RDT) involves wetting your beans before grinding to minimize static. It works, so if you have a grinder that does suffer from a lot of static, then you might want to do it, but if you do, I would highly recommend only doing this when single dosing, and using the SPN tool instead. I'd strongly advise against spraying your beans in the bag, or your hopper, or wherever you store your beans, because wetting your beans and leaving them wet, will in (theoretically at least) increase the aging process. If you do store your beans in the hopper, by the way, I'd advise against that too, hoppers aren't intended for storage. See:

You may think you don't need it because your grinder has a timer and the espresso machine has an automated shot button, you still need scales, 100%. You'll get a different weight of coffee from the same grind time at a different grind size, or even at the same grind size with a different bean. Also, you'll get a different volume of espresso with the exact same pre-programmed shot button even at factory settings, when the grind is different and/or when the beans are different.They need it to wake up (or at least think they do) and don't really care all that much about how it tastes. This category of coffee machine users are what I refer to as “normal” coffee drinkers, and I'm not having a go at this kind of coffee drinker, not at all, in fact, I think this kind of person has a perfectly normal relationship with coffee, it's geeks like me that are weird! 😉 Most people will make a short trip to the bin, and dispose of that in there. We have all done that at some time, and one or two solid taps is enough to get it into the bin, and out of sight. After all that costs you nothing except the short trip to the bin. One thing to keep in mind, though, is that changing to an IMS or VST competition basket, for example, isn't necessarily going to give you better tasting espresso, just different, and they usually allow you to grind finer, so it's something you may want to try, but it's not crucial. Upgraded Shower Screen I do it, because I quite like doing it, I find it quite therapeutic, and if I've had to go particularly fine with the beans I'm using I think it probably has more of a benefit, as there tends to be more clumps to break up when you grind finer. Again, if you like you can swap out the shower screen, the metal mesh part where the water drips from, with a compatible shower screen, and as with the baskets, you can do that if you like, but it's unlikely to make a big difference, and whether any difference means an improvement, is down to personal taste. Freshly Roasted Coffee Beans

Personally, I think most people using the Oracle or Oracle Touch aren't going to want to mess about doing this, and I think it's fairly unlikely that they'll notice the difference in cup quality anyway unless they happen to have an amazing, Q-grader level palate. Dosing Ring As you would expect, we’re looking at a quality stainless steel unit here, which just glistens and oozes with class. It’s a lovely thing to have in your kitchen, and wouldn’t look out of place in the trendiest of coffee shops. In short, this is a really useful item to have in your kitchen. It is also, as you have probably guessed, one of the cheapest items that we’re looking at, so if you’re just after something to do the job, this could be the one for you. Bottomless or “naked” portafilters, as they're sometimes referred to, are great tools for home baristas, as they allow you to see issues with the shot that you might not be able to taste, but I think most people using a hands-off automated portafilter machine will probably find them an annoyance, and if you can't taste the issue, does it really matter? More often than not, when you use bottomless portafilters, you get one of the most common signs of channeling, spurters, where espresso decides it wants to go on your worktop, your pants, or straight in your eyeball if you're crouching down looking up at it (that has happened to me on numerous occasions).You don't need a tamping mat for the likes of the Oracle or Oracle Touch unless you're planning on manually distributing and tamping. The same is true with the Barista Express Impress, but you will need a tamping mat for the Barista Touch. It's not as if adding WDT to your workflow is going to take your espresso from zero to hero, in fact, I regularly do tasting with and without WDT, and most of the time I can't actually detect the difference, that's not to say there isn't one, but I think it's often very small. In an ideal world, I think most people would find both of these machines better to work with if they have a PID. This is the coffee I drink every day, it's amazing, and I would say that of course, but I'll put my money where my mouth is, with this chunky discount: OK so now we're probably getting into the stuff most people came here to find out, thinking “Do I really need a WDT tool, an RDT spray bottle, an OEM leveler” and so on, and the answer for most of these is not necessarily.

Obviously, someone can move from one category to the other. I certainly did, I was a very normal coffee drinker up until about 2014/2015 when I started to dip my toes in the proverbial rabbit hole, which is what prompted me to start this blog, almost straight away, just as a hobby for the first few years. Similarly to the above, this will depend on whether you can get decent replacement shower screens for your particular machine, you can for most, but whether you'll actually find much of an improvement in the shot is unlikely, I'd say. You may find a difference, but whether it's necessarily an improvement, is hard to say. When I say “normal”, coffee drinkers, I mean the majority of the population of the UK at present, who just see coffee as a means to an end. People who just want a cup of coffee because it's part of their daily ritual. In my humble opinion, while WDT isn't a huge thing, it won't harm your espresso, it may help it, and it'll probably help with consistency (in terms of consistently slightly reducing channeling), and it's quite a fun thing to do, I find, so I say why not.Or, should I say, on any coffee machine. The Grindenstein has been specially designed to fit on an espresso machine’s drip tray, meaning that it won’t take up any extra room on your work surface. It measures just 10.2×10.2×10.2 centimetres, so won’t have any trouble fitting in – although obviously this does mean that you may end up emptying it quite often. That is unless it's one of my videos of course, because I always wipe the machine when I get it bang on, to hide the evidence ;-). Upgraded Basket