Can a toothpick replace a coffee distribution tool? What is the WDT distribution method? How to use an espresso distribution tool?

"Rain is falling from the sky, tears are rolling from the clouds, dripping into my heart"

Violent storms, lightning and thunder—this kind of thunderstorm weather will continue in Guangzhou for about a week. And with every arrival of rainy days, making espresso always becomes much more unstable. Because humid environments make coffee powder more likely to clump together during grinding, which will lead to more channeling effects during the coffee extraction process, thereby affecting the taste of the coffee. If we want to reduce the occurrence of channeling effects and make espresso extraction and taste more stable, then we need to solve the root cause of channeling problems—clumped coffee powder. How to do this specifically? It's very simple, a "needle distributor" will be a good choice~

A needle distributor is what we commonly call a distribution needle. As shown in the picture above, it's a type of coffee auxiliary tool equipped with many fine needles. By using this tool to stir the coffee powder, clumped coffee powder can be broken up, and the probability of channeling effects will decrease as a result. Then because this method was invented by John Weiss, it was named: Weiss Distribution Technique (WDT for short). However, not everyone will have a set of distributors at home. After all, rainy days don't occur frequently, and the impact of channeling effects isn't too significant, so there's not much need to purchase distribution needles. This leads many friends to have this thought when encountering clumped coffee powder: since breaking up coffee powder is done through the fine needles at the front of the distributor, can using similar items as substitutes also achieve the same effect?

Very good! Next, FrontStreet Coffee will verify through practice whether needle distributors can be replaced by other needle-like objects!

Extraction Experiment

By collecting information online, FrontStreet Coffee decided on the substitute for this experiment—"toothpicks." Because toothpicks are currently the most commonly used item as a substitute for distribution needles, and we can see related posts with a simple online search. They're also very easy to obtain—just order some takeout and you'll have them~

For this experiment, FrontStreet Coffee extracted three shots of espresso for verification. Before each extraction, toothpicks were used to break up the coffee powder. The parameters were 20g of powder, 1:2 powder-to-liquid ratio (extracting 40ml of coffee liquid), and then observed whether channeling effects occurred during the extraction process. In the absence of channeling effects, the time to extract 40ml of coffee liquid from 20g of powder averaged 30±2 seconds—this is the result FrontStreet Coffee obtained by extracting 3 shots of espresso using distribution needles.

Having said that, FrontStreet Coffee will briefly introduce the characteristics of these three cups of coffee during the extraction process and in terms of taste, to facilitate our subsequent comparison with the version using toothpicks as substitutes: these three cups of coffee all had consistent performance, not only did no splashing occur during the extraction process, but the taste was also very balanced, with prominent flavors and a smooth, rich mouthfeel. Introduction complete! Next, let's use toothpicks to replace distribution needles and see if toothpicks can achieve the same effect as distribution needles with the same parameters~ The specific steps are as follows: ① First, we add the coffee powder to the portafilter. ② Then, we take 2 toothpicks, stagger them, and stir the entire coffee powder in the portafilter.

③ After stirring is complete, tamp the coffee powder and attach the portafilter for extraction. ④ When the coffee machine extracts the specified liquid weight, we can close the water valve and stop the extraction.

Next, FrontStreet Coffee followed this process to extract two more shots of espresso, and then drew conclusions by observing the coffee flow state during the extraction process and the taste of the coffee: toothpicks are not suitable as substitutes for distribution needles. There are two reasons: first, because toothpicks are too thick! The needles of a distribution needle are very thin, so they can break up coffee powder without affecting the distribution of the coffee powder. Toothpicks are much, much thicker than needles, and when using them for stirring, they will push the coffee powder away. This not only fails to achieve a good breaking effect, but the distribution of coffee powder is also changed (very easy to push coffee powder outside the portafilter);

The second reason is that toothpicks are hard to hold! Unless you use some object to fix the toothpicks, you won't be able to use multiple toothpicks simultaneously to break up the coffee powder. This will greatly reduce the effect of breaking up clumped coffee powder, so these three shots of espresso stirred with toothpicks still experienced splashing during the extraction process. As for the taste, needless to say, there will be some minor flaws, but not many. (Accidentally spilled one)

Conclusion

In summary, we can know that toothpicks, or items with similar thickness to toothpicks, are not suitable as substitutes for distribution needles. Only needle-like objects that are thinner and more slender than them are suitable for breaking up coffee powder, but when using them, we also face the same difficulty of holding them. Therefore, if you have relatively high requirements for coffee taste and strive for excellence, it's best to purchase a distribution needle as a backup. Because what causes coffee powder to clump is not only humid weather but also dry seasons that easily generate static electricity. And distribution needles have different price differences based on size—inexpensive ones like the one FrontStreet Coffee has cost only a single-digit price, while expensive ones can reach four digits. So how to choose depends on everyone, but FrontStreet Coffee basically doesn't need one

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

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