Is an Espresso Distribution Tool Actually Worth It?
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- Опубліковано 28 жов 2019
- You might have seen baristas using a distribution tool, sometimes called a leveller, to get an even extraction from their espresso. I've been using one for a few months now and made this video to show if it is really worth getting.
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There's so much knowledge involved in making coffee these days that it makes learning to play piano look easy
Espresso is like music! ❤️
No it not.
As an intermidiate piano player who is learning both, trust me coffee is MUCH easier lol
Cheaper too
As a professional pianist trying to get into coffee: yup.
I love my distributor. I'm not an expert barista, but the tool helps with consistency. That's the key to keeping customers coming back.
3:41 Dist + Tamp : Really Good
5:01 Dist only: A little more liquid, cleaner taste than Dist + Tamp
6:31 Tamp only: More bitter and sourness.
Thanks for this. I couldn't quite remember which he liked best.
Reduce the coffe powder
Extremely satisfying watching naked portafilter extractions!! 😍 Especially that close up!! Beautiful!!
Thanks! Got a new camera so might as well use it :D
This is a great video. I bought a distribution tool and only in the past couple of days have I started getting nice even extractions with my naked portafilter. So it was great to watch your experiments as I have been wrestling with these questions myself. It has given me some ideas to try tomorrow!
Thank you for the straightforward and really easy to understand demonstration!
Very interesting I will have to try this my self now, thank you
Thanks - very helpful. Appreciate the thoroughness of your investigation!
I use my distribution tool only with no further tamping and consistently pull excellent shots. Thanks for your video.
Great vid and editing!
I just bought the same exact distribution tool and combined with my automatic tamper have been pulling perfect shots ever since. Love my naked portafilter too. My theory is it takes out a number of variables, so quality is more determined by grind size, making for better consistency. Combined with my Rocky Rancillio and Europiccola. La Pavoni's, 51mm double basket, holds 17g. Great analysis!
Beautiful camera work. Made my mouth water....
Thanks for the video! You answered what I wanted to know!
Thank you. Very convincing. Appreciate the content.
This is a very informative content ! Subscribed.
Thank you!
The camera angles really make the video shine! Nicely done!
Let me share my experience (for home baristas, not top-end professional ones):
You can leave the tamper behind providing you have the adjustable height DT.
If your DT is not tall enough to compress the ground coffee, you will end up seeing a flat surface in the basket, which looks totally fine, but with the lack of compression, so because of the air bubbles/packets, you will see a faster but less dense extraction.
First of all, you MUST NOT press the tamper too hard. A little pressure will be fine.
So, do this try and error until you find the sweet spot: you use your DT and tamper to press down your coffee, note the softness of what is beneath the tamper. Is it too soft? That you hand goes down somehow? Therefore increase the height of your DT.
Then try again, press it. Is it rock solid? That you cannot feel a millimeter of moving? There you go. That's the sweet spot and you can ditch your tamper from now on
Thank you for this...i know it's a bit older but it's really good for some of us who are new and don't really know how to tamp well. Appreciated!!!
This is a very informative content... This was one of the best videos Iv seen. Spent a whole afternoon watching video on this subject.
Neil {Lochness Scottish Highlands }
I'm glad you liked it Neil 🤗
I do that too!! Fascinating luv a great espresso ☕️
Very helpful video. Thanks. 👍
Great review! Thank you
Respect for the research!!!!
I'm so glad I watched this video! I was gifted a Breville Pro and I was ready to give up on the bottomless portafilter bc I always had channeling, no matter how much tamping and such. I tried just my distribution spin-amabob only and I was finally able to pull shots without channeling at around 25-30 seconds! Thaaank youuuuu
Great vid, and you're lecturing great as well! thank you
Still learning how to make perfect espresso tnx!
This is one of the best home barista videos I’ve watched. So clear. So thorough.
Thank you so much ^^
I bought the Motta DT to use before my Motta Tamper. Very noticeable improvement in my Open Portafilter shots. Highly recommend using both.
Very interesting. Based on the faster flow of the distribution tool only, I was expecting the results to yield a more sour taste. So many things to try! Coffee is awesome. Thanks so much for the content🙂
The focus on that crema. So beautiful....
good review...appreciate the side-by-side.
Excellent video almost scientific based tests, really helps me decide getting a distributor tool
Making good espresso is an expensive hobby, but so worth it in the end.
The main problem with home espresso is that I am now dissatisfied with most all coffee shop product
Yep
not wrong. i must say though i had the best coffee oyr of my new machine yesterday, so nice.
Good video. Thanks !
I have a DT and like the consistency it provides.
It depends on how well you can put the ground coffee into the portafilter. My skills on putting the ground coffee evenly into the portafilter were inconsistent and I find the distribution tool helps a lot so I kept using it. It helps a lot for me giving consistent results ever since using it.
Pretty cool I actually never heard of these until today.
Found and got a cheap one on amazon and I liked using it, felt like a good quality / heavy duty tool but I don't think it makes a difference. It's only really leveling the top layer.
I should have maybe tried setting it deeper so it works as a tamp to some degree. But I think making sure distribution and that there's no clumps is good but using WDT (stiring tool) and tapping / leveling with your finger is going to be cheaper and more effective.
My main issue I think is getting the tamp to be perfectly even. There are self-leveling tampers I think are a good idea, I'm going to try that next.
I'm going to try one of the more expensive 'legit' ones and see if it makes a difference, and if it's true that you can use a distributor/leveler in place of tamping with more consistent results.
Thanks for the infos!
very enjoyable to watch.. first saw, like it, subscribe.. keep up
Thanks for the sub!
I just received the DT today from Crema and will be using it tomorrow. Your video re-affirmed the reason I purchased it. Thank you.
Glad it was helpful!
As a newbie it made a huge difference I have the 2 in one. It’s a distributor + tamper. I tried doing it manually and it was bad. For some reason one side is higher than the other
I’ve got a Dt and love it. I was having trouble getting consistent pulls prior to using it.
Hello Charlie
Thanks for this very informative video, I've decided to go ahead and get a distribution tool and give it a whirl.
I've been making espresso at home with a Mazzer Mini and a Fracino Cherub w/ bottomless PF and VST basket since early 2010.
I've finally got a little fed up with the waste and retention from the Mazzer, and I've a Niche Zero on the way. I'll be looking to revisit many of my old workflow habits with a view to improving quality, and thanks to your content this will be one of my adjustments.
All the best
So glad it was helpful for you!
LOVE the flag in the background!!! I have one. it is a coffee bag we use to stock/transport
Satisfying and professional review.
Great start, good to see the side-by-side tests w/limited variable modifications. However...I would love to see this done as a proper blind experiment...i.e., someone else prepares and pulls the shots, then you taste not knowing which ones you are tasting and render judgement. That's the only way to eliminate bias based on internal expecations (conscious and subconscious) that affect our responses.
Great point!
indeed, it would be awesome !
Really good content, I got the same DT and have similar results. Less tapping and channeling for me going forward! (also, better tasting coffee!)
Cool test THX
Distribution tool makes the process easier. I never had a problem in extraction since I started using distribution tool. Using tamping with distribution tool gets me best results in taste and texture.
Hi yes. I do distribute and tamp but only light tamp is enough to make the shots better!
Great video
I use a distribution tool, set at the espresso "blade" level, and it produces a pleasant resultant ...
I find the distributor allows more consistency when pulling shots. Definitely less room for error.
I think it makes my espresso pulls better and more consistent. More than that though, I find it helps speed things up. That may not be important to some, but there are times I need to get drinks made for my wife and I in a short amount of time, and being able to set depth and give it a quick spin before tamping is really handy.
These last few years coffee "experts have moved away from the 30 pounds of pressure tamp. Our friend Marc at Whole Latte Love has left his tamper behind and uses only his OCD leveler. He turned out a solid puc without tamping.
Loved seeing the 3 shots as a comparison at the end. For me the middle shot (leveling only) looked the best as it appeared to have a far better extraction & colouring in the cup at the end. Even though you only leveled the puck and the extraction time was longer, you probably should have changed the grind a bit on that shot to keep within your timing to see if it even came out better.
Normally coffee has a sweet spot or a variability of about 4-5 sec around that sweet spot. To early comes out sour, to long and a more bitter weaker tasting coffee.
I did see a study 3-4yrs back suggesting the tamp pressure done at 5-10-15kg and analysing the shot using a refractometer it had no effect on the TDS coming through at the end.
I did just order a leveling/tamp combo tool. So I’ll be looking forward to using that to see what I get out of my Wega at work.
Hey man I know this is a few years ago.. but could you point me in the right direction to get a set of distribution tools?
@@JamieD247 aliexpress is a great place for those
@@craigs902 I live in the Uk shipping is a lot 😂
@@JamieD247 sorry bud can’t help with that.
@@JamieD247Amazon
I was going to buy a Puqpress, but I shall try this first! Thank you!
Honestly I would recommend not to use this anymore. A WDT (the pins tool) is better for even distribution, though a bit more faff.
Amazing. Coffee. 👍👍👍
Loving the consistency I get using a bottomless portafilter and my DT. So much better than the plain tamp that came with my Breville Bambino 🙏
I got my first machine a week ago, with one weeks worth of practice I don't notice any spurting or baldspots with my extraction
I use tapping and vertical collapse for distribution , and a 58.4 mm Motta flat tamper.
I tamp slowly and deliberately
Rancilio is the best, I bought mine in 2002 and it's still making perfect espressos!
Wow very interesting!
Hi, Charlie great channel. I was wondering where you bought your coffee storage jar?
I won't have my peace of mind without a distribution tool in my brewing tool set. It's a must.
Found this really interesting! Using a very similar distribution tool and recently acquired a naked portafilter for use with the sage bambino plus... getting high sourness so know it’s under-extracted. My quantity of coffee-in is much higher though; 17.5g in, 35g out, so will try your recipe of 15.7g in and see how it goes! Subscribed also, thanks!
as always one must experiment. I do thank there is something to that - using less coffee in. I will try this as well.
Whats the pressure and heat of the machine? That may contribute.
It seems like other factors have a lot more influence (like dosing, grind) but frankly the distribution tool for me is all about the satisfaction of seeing the puck nicely leveled off after months of tap-tap-tap, stick the finger in and move the grounds around, tap-tap-tap some more. It's enough to drive me somewhat crazy and this little tool very satisfyingly fixes my process.
Haha yeah I think espresso people are detail oriented, so something like this just makes us all feel better 😊
I think you'd have amazing results if you use DT only, but with it set a little deeper. So it also compresses the puck a bit more as it levels it.
Was about to write the exact same thing.
I had one posted this morning, I went from a cheap plastic double end tamp to the distribution/tamp tool the difference is night and day.
Thank you for the video. Please ignore the mean and haters comments. Your video teached me a lot. I have adjusted the height of my dt with the ruler that comes with the breville barista express. Than i only adjust the grind size and dose. I have a lot more consistence results this way
I use the distribution tool only method which gives consistent results. When I tamp it after using the distribution tool, it all goes wrong.
Good video thanks
This experiment needs to have multiple samples of each configuration, to help rule out the inbuilt variance between shots.
the dt only looks yummy. tamp and dt loos good to. like the sound of clean coffee.
Awesome video! What grind setting did you use on the Baratza encore? Is it recalibrated or stock?
It's stock and I'm not sure as the settings changed depending on the coffee. Usually somewhere between 4 and 8 clicks from the left.
I use the same distribution tool without tamping in my daily coffee ritual.
Ordered one last night yeeeeeeww \m/
I noticed your using a rancilio Silvia. Great little machine 👍
However, since we are being as scientific as we can in a home environment 😉, you could argue that a higher level, volumetric machine would never produce a shot in a 23 second period that would be differ in amount of liquid, as the. second shot you pulled did. Simply because thats exactly what a volumetric machine does - measures volume 😉
It would be interesting to repeat the test with a volumetric machine and se how much time would be added to the different shots pulled 👍🤔🙂
Thanks for a good video 👍👍👍
Really good point! I would love to test this on a variable machine like the Decent DE1+. My dream machine for the future!
Enjoyed your "tutorial"...as it happens, just today, Amazon delivered an order to me which included an OCD tool...they say timing is everything...gonna see how my shots look and taste with this new device...thanks again...
I hope it helps you. Make sure to adjust the level so it doesn't go too deep.
You can pull the distributor out more. so, you can distribute and "tamp" at the same time. been doing this for awhile and I've been getting good result with almost zero channeling. tastes very clean and balanced too which I like.
Nice! Yes adjusting the distribution tool is a MUST. Perhaps I'll do a video on that too
My cheap adjustable distribution tool is not even it has a high side seems to work ok just need to make sure I spin it fully around a few times. Will be buying a better one soon.
Great review - nice job. I am looking for a bottomless portafilter to use in my Silvia - I like the looks of the one you used in the video. Care to share what brand that is and where you got it? Thanks.
This is a third party one I bought from a guy who was selling his, so I don't know the brand. I'm fairly sure most espresso stores online will sell one for about £30 though.
With the tamp the coffee becomes more compressed. i.e less air pockets. Water will always flow faster through anything that has a lesser rate of density/compression, that’s the only reason it forms a line faster. Also, the heavy the density or compression, the greater flavor is extracted. Water is being held or stored longer before finding a way out to drain through the bottom, thus flavoring and extracting more.
hedonisticmind yes when the excellent host, who did a great job by the way, did fail to mention the real reason he got more liquid in the cup.
I've purchased a distribution tamper. It's actually a longer distribution tool, where you can distribute and pressurize at the same time.
Which make/model?
@@austinphillips04 it's a custom model from South Korea. You should look for any company that offers custom made tools
Hi, great down to earth video, thank you! Any recommendations on how to adjust depth of the distribution tool?
Some models you can't, but on the one I'm using in the video you just have to unscrew the top dial and rotate the silver metal part until it's at the right depth. It can be a bit fiddly, but once it's adjusted you don't really need to adjust it again unless you're changing filter baskets.
@@homecafecharlie I meant how do you exactly determine when depth is right? Whether you should go deeper or stop?
Good question. I have been going to just before where I would compress the puck to with a tamp. Look inside and measure the distance on the side of the basket. Mine has a little dimpled line, and I adjusted so the coffee was just below that line. As long as it is distributing well and you don't see an imprint of the DT fins, you're good!
The correct depth is based on this Breville Trimming Tool (this comes along with the Breville machine). I believe you can order this from Breville website.
Are you in Japan?
Loved your video! Very Informative!
Thanks, and yes I'm based in Japan at the moment :D
Hi mate, thank you very much for the video! Really helpful. One question please - I have been looking at "leveling tampers" which practically is a tamper with spring on top so that you can tamp multiple times without a hassle, but still giving you a "level" puck. Do you find this type of product useful? Or would you still recommend using separate DT and tamper?
I think either one works, as long as you are even and consistent from shot to shot that is the most important thing!
I always use both... It's like a peace of mind lol.
Thanks for the video. I love the way the naked portafilter looks. I have a DT at my coffee shop and I don't tamp anymore. This video just confirm my theories. Also , friendly advise, review the way you tamp, My teacher always remind me to use the three finger technic. Greetings from Mexico 🇲🇽, land of coffee.
I never heard of the 3 fingers technic, I’ll investigate so when i’ll go to friends without the distribution tool, i’ll aim to do it “right” with just the tamper. Thanks for sharing your opinion, it’s nice to do things the best way there is !
I owned a DT that comes with the tamping on the other side, so I use my palm to tamp.
Breville Barista Express and purchased a distribution tool as I’m new to pulling shots. Lavazza super crema, grinder #4, tool and soft tamp to play the part.....and it’s really good. The distribution tool helped me. Amazon $25 for 53mm size
I've been seeing more and more people with the Barista express say that using the distribution tool only and no tamp works best. To the point they no longer tamp anymore and the shots taste better and are consistent. I just got my machine so I plan on buying the tool to test this for myself.
If you use Barista express with distribution tool, you dont need to tamp. Just level it and take a shot. That it.
I got the 870 xl and ive been using Lavazza but I have been unable to get a decent shot. I bought a distributing tool today and it still doesnt help. I honestly have no idea what to do. The coffee is underextracted everytime. Hitting 18 -20 sec max even on the finest grind setting. Never in the espresso pressure range.
Does anyone have any pointers? Ive watched so many videos. The grind is painful but Im gonna keep at it.
@@majinraptor So I went thru a bag of beans to try other brands. Beans make a big deal on the shot. People were right. The Lavazza is good coffee. Keep in mind everytime you change the grind the machine only will allow the grinder to change levels while running. So its good practice to clear out the grinder. This is why you lose a lot of beans. Last point to try, you may have too much coffee to smooth out choking the extraction. A few good videos on that....A seattle company, lady online shows under / over extracting. Sounds like you are tamping too fine or too much coffee.
@@vinnyc5300 I have seen a couple of videos Seattle company have put out. I'll check out more. I have tried lowering my dose from 18g to 16g. I still seem to have the same issue but the pressure gauge is even lower now.
Gonna keep trying. Thanks for your input.
I have the exact same coffee bag on my wall😂
Haha small world!
I no longer tamp, I purchased a cheap one on eBay and have adjusted it so I get even consistent pressure each and every time.
Pancakeninja Which one did you get? How are your shots?
If you used a scale, you could stop the pull earlier for a consistent extraction weigh. I guess changing the psi/atmospheres could slow or speed up pull too. 🤔🤯
I just bought my first espresso machine (rancilio Silvia) for Christmas for my girlfriend. I am still not very great at pulling a shot, but distribution tool I got is a HUGE help.
FWIW, I transitioned to cheap distributor only about 6months ago
Here are a few details of my experience added to what was in this excellent video
The distributor has a rim that keeps it absolutely level with the top of the portafilter basket
You can adjust the depth that the leveler goes into the basket
As a result, it is possible to simultaneously level and tamp at the same time by adjusting the variables of depth and coffee dose and grind
I do not weigh my dose, but instead level it to the top of my basket
I Do this using an inexpensive espresso funnel that I drag over the top of the filled basket
Now the depth needs adjustment
I screw out the leveler tool until when I touch the espresso after leveling, it is firm, but not hard
Now I adjust the grind so that this dose extracts in the time that I want
Then it is easy...
I over fill the basket with funnel
I drag the funnel off to level espresso in basket
I apply and spin the leveler
Done
The result is consistent, level, easy, and superior to previous tamping methods
Will try that! Thanks :)
@@DerZaubererFN
Well Paul…. Time goes on, and my approach has changed quite a lot since I wrote this posting
These days I am more into repeatability, removing as many variables as possible to arrive at the best I can do
This is a bit of a challenge… but with this dang virus, I have the time… lol
Anyway, I am much more into scales
So, for example I measure out the beans (for two espresso)
Throw them into an old dosing Gaggia flat burr grinder
Then use a couple of dosing cups to weigh out about 18gm each
Tip the measures espresso into the porta filter
Shake the porta filter holding the cup on top
Tap the portafilter and dosing cup on the counter to settle the grounds
At this point things are pretty level below the top of pf
Maybe a quick finger swipe if it is not quite level
Then my cheap leveler
Then a quick tanmp
And while it sounds involved it all goes fairly quickly with no wasted coffee
Actually…. The biggest challenge is my old rancillio Silvia
Keeping a steady temp during brewing is a challenge
Anyway… take care…
Needle distribution is the best
I've been to a gourmet coffee shop and the barista there just spins the distribution tool for a good 20 seconds and does not tamp it at all. The coffee is insanely good and is better than my Breville Bambino at home. I do use a distribution tool but not for 30 seconds and I tamp it.
I found a good one for $17 on Amazon sold by Apexstone. Still tamping.
Leveller only works best for me. Took some practice, initially. 🙂
My tamp weight seams to go right to left as in weight. May be this distributor may help
One thing that was not mentioned in the video was that the distribution tool can and should be adjusted for depth of tamp.
There should be 4th experiment. Distribution tool only but shorter time to make the same volume of coffee as with DT+T
I feel like he tastes different with the distribution tool and not because of confirmation bias