BEST WAY TO PREP ESPRESSO?: The Finale (WDT, WW Blind Shaker, Autocomb, NCD)

[@LanceHedrick]

Shameless plug (pun intended)- please give the video a like and channel a subscribe if you appreciate the effort going in! Much love, friends. Data in caption with full explanation by Dr. Keller. EDIT: to be absolutely clear, one does not need a weber shaker. Loads of similar ones on the market. Mine came with my eg1 and was cheapest to use since I owned it. I'd already purchased the other bits. Didn't see a need to purchase another shaker since I had one. Loads of other options people have been discussing in forums online and in comments. Cheers

[@tobiasbouma4071]

Hi Lance, I ordered a ww shaker to test the results too, but for my grinder I am just getting massive clumps after shaking. (The grounds are not clumped before grinding.) My grinder is very unimodal and aligned but I'm kind of stuck at that step. Are you willing to accept clumps before tamping? I'm just a little confused.

[@thmsbsch]

Thanks for doing all this work, Lance!!❤

[@jooger69]

We are not worthy.

[@chrisg1631]

QUESTION: with the blind shaker, are you putting it direct on your portafilter before pulling the plug? or do you have a dosing funnel on your portafilter, and you are holding the blind shaker a few inches above in the air when you pull the inner plug?

[@LanceHedrick]

Ive found better results with collar and pulling plug a few inches above.​@chrisg1631

[@TylerH266]

Your humility by retesting using the critiques of this community truly shows why we loyally support you. Thanks for your commitment and spirit of excellence in everything you do.

[@thekiwisage]

and the speed. he did all this in the past few days since the last video. it would've taken me longer to decide to make this video

[@emmanuelecastiello1955]

Ye we love you Lance!

[@hcr32slider]

He's a perfectionist so I'm not surprised he's so open to the possibility of improvement

[@vivrl]

I wish I had seen both these videos earlier but I agree completely. I honestly feel all of this second video was actually unnecessary, but goes to show that Lance really is just trying to get to the bottom of the question at hand. Reality is, even if your home setup is different, the methods used with higher end equipment would translate with lower end equipment because you're not changing the media that you're working with or the work being done. He could've ended at the intro explaining why he used the equipment he did, but he instead tediously made 3kg of coffee into espresso with home setup limitations , that's a professional🏅🏆

[@paulsutton5713]

This is grounds breaking! I'm all shook up.

[@LanceHedrick]

Ok. I may change the title to this.

[@abcabc-bu9wn]

This is clump breaking

[@h3xag0nal]

Martini. Shaken, not shook.

[@markharrison1404]

Actually it is grounds packing😊

[@ryno4573]

It’s a snake oil

[@fstjeanm]

Your patience to run all these shots for the sake of science and knowledge of coffee must be recognized and respected.

[@guckertott]

Yeh, there's another KZbinr who's channel is all about learning the best and most effective way to pick one's nose. Together him and Lance are real scientists.

[@musicexperiments]

​@@guckertottyes and there is this third KZbinr who, like a troll, sits in the sidelines doing nothing useful himself.. while making snide comments that he thinks are funny.

[@guckertott]

@@musicexperiments Everyone knows the usefulness of the useful, but no one knows the usefulness of the useless.

[@Avruthlelbh]

@@musicexperiments Yeah, just a third. Couldn't think of a fourth or fifth off the top of my head.

[@celstark]

That valid scientific methods are being used in a KZbin hobbyist video to better understand the hobby and prevent us from chasing false positives leaves me smiling from ear to ear. You’re doing such a great job not only doing all the hard work to get the data, but in the design of the experiments (eg your efforts to control for factors like heat) and in your interpretation of the data. I’m a research professor who teaches this to PhD students and does this daily for a living. You’re doing a fantastic job at this Lance!

[@jamescruz8678]

This is the type of stuff that makes me join new hobbies nowadays. The world of portable audio could use more of this.

[@lazzuuu21]

you're a blessing in coffee community

[@Raftylol]

I like that webber workshops blind shaker has a notice on the product about "due to an unforeseen influx of orders"

[@tag243]

Best ad.

[@didxogns1]

Lolll I noticed that too

[@blissrunner]

Weber be like $$$. Just shake at a cup damnit

[@briani812]

I went to buy it 😂

[@jmlaso]

​@@briani812out of stock 😢

[@TheNicolaivlog]

I LOVE that you are clapping all the critiques with propper scientific method and help from statistics! Truly unique and just what I like! GREAT job !

[@Andrew-wp1bz]

Critiques are good though! That’s how we learn and progress. Of course good on Lance to do further testing to answer more questions!

[@TheNicolaivlog]

@@Andrew-wp1bz yea true. He properly adressed the questions/doubt that some people had; which is great. Being on the internet there will always be doubters, so at this stage, for Lance, i’d say he has explained himself, and any further doubters should perhaps try the experiments out themselvea

[@Phil_OG]

Yeah clapp those critiques Lance

[@Areys96]

That's what I love about science. If it's done the right way you reach the point where you reach a very certain truth, but with the respect to be proven wrong by more science.❤

[@ryno4573]

It’s still snake oil… too many variables when pulling shots to say this does anything

[@chriscline6483]

Bro!!! I was considering buying a expensive distribution tool, but I caught your video in a nick of time. Started using the blind Shaker and I have never pulled so many consistent, creamy, even extractions in my life. You completely optimize my espresso game with such a simple technique. I'm in your debt good sir

[@MandySR]

More data? More information? More reason to make espresso? Can’t go wrong!

[@allen.t]

I was one of the people who did have many doubts on the previous video to your method of testing and this was pretty much exactly what I was looking for. I appreciate that you quickly retested this for us to see. Good work Lance

[@Jaroslav.]

Morale boost 😊 I can’t even imagine the amount of work gone into this to educate many, many people basically for free. Thank you!

[@LanceHedrick]

Wow! Huge thank you! Much appreciated, my friend

[@matthewhorne8499]

@Jaroslav So could a blind shaker fit on the super v pro forks if you dropped them or would you need to remove them completely ?? 👍

[@Jaroslav.]

@@matthewhorne8499 The fork consists of three parts. If you remove the lugs and top part of the fork, it will fit 😊

[@Foolsauce]

Very interesting. I do wish you had been able to test shaking in a catch cup vs. the blind shaker. The speculation on why it could be different is useful, but since we are already getting unexpected results and we aren't really sure of the underlying reasons, it could also not follow expectations. It would be cool to see so that I might not feel like I had to buy another tool to get the same results, haha. But I understand there are endless things to test and only one Lance Hedrick, so I appreciate all you've done!

[@thepatwalsh88]

totally agree with this. I was actually surprised he didn't include this as a test variant in this second trial.

[@Foolsauce]

Exactly. And I think it would have helped discern the reason behind the success of the shaker too--is it the shaking or way the blind shaker distributes the bed or something else? I don't see why Lance rushed into making this second video so quickly instead of letting it all simmer for a bit too. :)

[@thepatwalsh88]

@@Foolsauce yes 100%. and it would help quell all the questions on that last bit of speculation about just using a catch cup. (half of which I'm sure have been coming from me lol)

[@crzisme]

He addresses this at 11:41

[@thepatwalsh88]

@@crzisme he speculated about it there, yes. but @Foolsauce was saying it would be nice to see an actual test and comparison of results. as fool said, the whole "shaker vs. WDT" results didn't match initial speculation, so maybe these results wouldn't either. and either way, it would just be good data to have.

[@Phil_OG]

Knudsen diffusion of fine particles inside pores of bigger particles. Didn't expect that in a coffee video. Great job Lance!

[@ianshepherd6476]

I love how 2 years ago in your video you didn’t own a wdt tool and you had one on order and now wdt is out and blind shakers are in! Crazy how these technics change like fashion trends. Very cool test well done once again!

[@Madskills-hw2ox]

Infinite variables only testing can expose. I’ve only started researching 2-3 months ago. I’m glad there’s a channel that feeds my obsessive, compulsive disorder 😂😂😂

[@markhornjr.4092]

This actually does seem to be a huge breakthrough. Specifically that the results are even more evident with a lower end grinder. It makes sense that higher end grinders would produce pretty good shots regardless. But the shaker method elevating a lower end grinder that much, which is closer to what the majority of people are actually dealing with (myself included), is revolutionary. I’m not going to buy a $4K Weber grinder anytime soon but I can buy a $100 shaker. I’m making the switch and can’t wait to see the results. The thoroughness of your method absolutely sold me. Great work.

[@malaeum]

Lance, I find the idea of the fines interacting with the porosity on the larger grounds to be very interesting. The binding force would almost certainly be electrostatic.... Which we all know can definitely Play a role in freshly ground coffee. One way to potentially test this would be to breathe on the dosing cup just after grinding, prior to shaking and distribution. The moisture in your breath is enough to help diminish the static forces. Separately, I'd be quite interested in thinking about how to try to test some of these hypotheses by more observations made with scanning. Electron microscopes. If this is something that interests you, let me know and we can have a discussion.

[@paths1111]

Interesting. This has me wondering about the use of RDT, if densification is due to electrostatic forces on the fines and does demonstrably increase extraction yields. Maybe we should skip RDT (and WDT) and just be shaking the grounds? I'm still curious whether the blind shaker is superior to simply capping the portafilter with a dosing cup and shaking that way, then remove dosing cup and tap to distribute if necessary.

[@malaeum]

@@paths1111 I think that the timing of the static mitigation matters. In this case, if the fines are indeed bound to larger grinds electrostatically, and this improves the shot characteristics, then perhaps a small amount of static leftover is a good thing. I think the process of RDT'ing is primarily about the earlier stages (i.e. during the grind and initial fall into whatever is catching the grinds). Perhaps, as with many things in life, moderation is key: a small amount of static is good while too much is bad. I'd like to try breathing on the grounds after grinding, but before shaking, to see if this changes the results. I am a slow adopter, I just started RDT'ing even though I've known for a long time I should be. I sort of want in ok the experimental phase of the blind tumbler development, but they're backordered until who-knows-when thanks to Lance's last video. I would like to see if we can get some insights from more electron microscopy, I have access to such things if that would be helpful.

[@markharrison1404]

Hey Lance, I think a lot of those folks who responded back asking you to test using different equipment, actually did not want to hear that there just might be a better process, that might not be so gadgety and some looked at using the WDT as a redundancy. When, in this case, the WDT is just used to level the peaks off of the top layer, while not disturbing under layer of the puck. After watching your first video, I immediately put this to test, grinding directly into one of my small metal milk pitchers, shook the grounds and was shocked at how evenly the shot pulled using a bottomless Portafilter. Thank you for what you do for the community. This spurs conversation for us to work in positive ways for more research and development.

[@eric_has_no_idea]

I was kinda one of them. My issue was the grinder. I felt the more uniform grind led to different clumping. My hand grinder and electric grinds are differently fluffy. The settle differently when tapping. After wdt, they seem the same. This shows I was right that it would be different. I didn't know if it would matter post declumping.

[@markosgd]

Thank you for always trying your best, putting your own hypothesis on multiple tests, being ready to change your opinion, and being open to listening to others. That is rare in today's world, and I applaud you for that, sir. I hope I'll be able to sit and have a coffee with such a good person one day.

[@DoussardDoug]

Been meaning to tell you what a difference the Blind Shaker made to my espresso routine. I was blown away how significant it was. Thanks to you I would have never thought is would be such a positive influence on my espresso. Pour over sure I thought it might be useful, but never thought it would affect espresso. I do all the other steps including the WDT... was a big believer in that device... and now it has actually dropped out of my routine. I still use the distributor carefully and lightly to help level before the two tamps. OK, well keep up the great work Lance!

[@TheTesterOfGame]

Did it for the first time today, it seems to work very very well !!

[@hcr32slider]

The blind shaker is a game changer. I can now grind alot finer without clogging the puck. Another huge difference i noticed is the grounds now sit way lower in the portafilter, almost as if there is 2 grams or so less coffee in the basket. Shots are consistent and way tastier now. Ive been struggling for a long time because of grinding directly to the portafilter for the exact reasons you mentioned. Ive ordered the mh2bomber blind shaker amd i the meantime am using a glass with a saucer as a lid to shake. Works perfectly. Thanks and awesome to see your channel has grown so much

[@randrescastaneda]

Dude, each and every one of your videos is sooo informative and pleasant to watch. I literally check how long your video is and then make sure I have uninterrupted time to watch it. Thank you. Keep the good work.

[@thtr1310]

You’ve helped me refine my coffee brewing methodology and latte art so much over the last year. Thanks so much!

[@LanceHedrick]

Omg thank you! Means a lot! Do glad anything I've done has helped you! Appreciate it

[@isocle]

Returning to this video to say what a difference a shaker has made for consistency for me. It's crazy.

[@crazy4chickens]

As a newcomer to the espresso addiction I'm grateful for the scientific "don't waste your money on these" type of videos

[@MikeMastrangelo]

Well in this case he is suggesting to skip a $20 WDT and buy a $100 shaker.

[@crazy4chickens]

@@MikeMastrangelo that's still a 20 dollar savings if I was gonna upgrade eventually anyways

[@milunbosiljcic]

Very good Lance. Thank you. Good fun.

[@mikeontwitie]

This not only improved my workflow a ton, it also improved my espresso. Just grind into the Sculptor 078s cup, place it on my portafilter, little shake and dance, tap to settle the grounds and double tamp. Amazing. I ordered a blind shaker tho, but thats just because they look so nice..

[@MarkusBreindl]

Did you notice any issues at the basket edge as the sculptor cup is rather thick and might leave a kind of gap at the edges of the basket. Wonder how people deal with that without WDT afterwards (or if it is an issue at all).

[@mikeontwitie]

Yeah its thick. I lift the cup halfway up for the last few shakes, so the bottom half is filled 100%. The upper half seems to tamp just fine like that. Didn't try with the cup all the way to the bottom of the portafilter yet tho, so maybe its not necessary?

[@mejasiu]

Thanks @LanceHedrick for being the person who is curious and asks these questions and then actually goes and tests. This is really taking coffee to new heights! Thanks for all that you do!

[@edwardnixon1782]

Speculation: more shaking leads to more static charge from inter-particle friction? Further: if true, increased charge -> fines attracted to grind? Just idle, Saturday morning, post-first-shot brain.

[@Kuchenrolle]

I don't want to go back to check whether they used RDT (and if not I would like them to, I feel like this might change things regardless), but comparing spraying the beans with water vs not would allow to test this theory.

[@edwardnixon1782]

@@Kuchenrolle To be perfectly honest, because I make max 3 drinks a day, one of which is full of milk... all of this is really beyond my pay grade. I've worked with stats and simulation modelling; but they paid me to do that. No one pays me to make my morning coffee so I do my best, take what I can from the experts and fanatics and then take a deep breath of satisfaction when I pull one within the zone of "decent/interesting." Good luck on the quest!

[@hanalsechs2959]

You hold the metal shaker and therefore no static can build up, bc your body acts as a neutralizing potential. Also, most of it would prbly dissipate in heat rather than build up in static. That is of course, if you're using a metal shaker.

[@dpac9579]

Dude, i had the same thought.

[@Gk2003m]

@@hanalsechs2959 but that’s not the case. I have a metal cup that came with my grinder. Yet even though I’m holding it as I shake, there are occasional swaths of grinds stuck to the inside due to static.

[@luccagiannechini2818]

Watching your videos evolve over time is inspiring, I think your might have the most sincere and passionate coffee channel out there! Keep up the great work!

[@raaandym]

I don’t even drink, make, or really enjoy espresso much and this video was fascinating. I’m a pour over guy. But I love the knowledge being shared around coffee. You are absolutely SMASHING it Lance.

[@nicomohler8133]

Thanks for all your effort you put into your videos!

[@xitanul]

Thanks for your time and effort with this and the last video, impressive.

[@iKlalter]

Thank you so much for diving even deeper into this topic! I am amazed by the quality of your videos and the scientific methods employed! On the topic of densification: Wouldn't this be an ideal use case for a particle size analysis? Maybe, this is finally the perfect opportunity for the long-awaited collab with Daddy Hoff ;) I don't know if I'm correct with this assumption, but couldn't the "best in world" grinding tech hinted to in James' recent specialty pod video be explained by densification as well? I'm stoked to find out more about this topic!

[@erik5024]

Gotta say, the blind shaker method has been the one thing that has greatly reduced/eliminated channeling for me. Perhaps is my Mazzer Mini E (new OEM burrs), but always have dealt with clumping, despite wdt. As soon as I started using a dosing cup (normcore, dosed directly into portafilter and used the dosing cup as a blind shaker) my channeling went away. After only a few shakes, the grounds look fluffy and are free from visible clumps, then wdt to even out the bed, tap and tamp. I appreciate your dedication to the scientific method and doing your experiments to seek a result, not to achieve a desired result. I'm not a scientist, so I can't speak to your methods, but what you say seems to make sense and your results also work for me.

[@BorisDesmond]

Amazing, thank you so much for your great quality analysis and videos!

[@alexlazaridisf.7276]

Been trying the shaker method for a week. Seems to improve the taste. Thanks Lance.

[@FreewindSP]

Thanks! Lance! Was planning on getting the moonraker but now will be purchasing the WW Blind shaker! Super appreciate all the effort you put into these videos! Super helpful in my journey!! Cheers, Randy

[@jasonguo6513]

My morning routine is always wdt in the dosing cup, and slightly do it in the basket again to even the surface(same direction). It works really well😊

[@shawnsgear]

Thanks so much Lance! These last two videos about the shaker have made me put mine back to use. I’ve had one for a couple years now and it’s just been sitting in my drawer. Today I’ve already been pulling tastier shots with just the blind shaker and some slight WDT on the top of the puck. I have noticed they pull much quicker too, but still tasty! Your work is much appreciated my friend! Keep it up! I’m sure WW is selling some more shakers now!

[@manuelester3035]

Thanks for repeating with a cheaper grinder, adds some valuable rigor to this experiment! Interesting results... Since by definition using the blind shaker is not direct to portafilter, I suspect a significant contributor to your observed difference is DTP vs non-DTP prep. Definitely a strong argument against doing DTP at home!

[@zeltwood...]

Thank you Lance! You are the sole reason why I am a successful Barista.

[@6Deep6]

So I bought a blind shaker after your previous video on this and have been using it for me 3 daily espressos for one week now. I don't have tools to test extraction but through observation I can say one obvious noticeable difference. My process was to grind directly into portafilter and then WDT, use puck screen, pull shot. My process with the blind shaker is to grind into blind shaker, shake for 1min, empty into portafilter and surface WDT, use puck screen, pull shot. What I notice every time with the blind shaker is that there are all these clumps like snowballs now. I can't seem to break them up with the WDT that is how dense they are. Never existed before using the blind shaker. Possible these are fines clumping into balls? No idea. I have not noticed any issues with the shot being pulled since getting the balls. No channeling, extraction looks even and great in the mirror. Taste does seem slightly more complex but maybe I've developed an unconscious bias towards that just because Lance said it tests better....This is possible I'm a bit concerned about these balls though as I would have thought this is going to create small super dense pockets. My grind setting is about the same as it has been with the same coffee roaster and beans as it has been. I'd be interested to hear if others notice the balls when using the blind shakers.

[@jasiumodrzynski861]

I love how scientific your approach is❤

[@marc-oliviergiguere3290]

Excellent research and video as always Lance. Here is my two cents. I've tried all of the prep methods in the past year and I settled on a method that, for me, is the most direct and simplest method that trumps all of the methods I've tried. I will try to describe it here. While grinding coffee directly into my portafilter, I hold the portafilter with my right hand, I tap the portafilter sideways vigurously against the wrist of my left hand (I put my finders on the side of my grinder (Eureka Specialita) for better stabilization.). Done. The beauty of this technique is that the coffee distributes itself evenly as it falls into the basket. I achieve the same level of extraction with this technique than with the blind shaker technique, in one less step. You can't go simpler than that.

[@Yourbeautyformyashes]

Just wanna say thank you for making coffee research based as of late. I remember 10+ years ago when people were theorizing that using chopsticks to create a channel on grounds before blooming, or vigorously twirling the v60 during blooming was the right way to agitate with no actual evidence. Not that any of those methods are wrong, but seeing data to back up what does or doesn’t work really helps me feel like we’re getting somewhere. Thanks Lance!

[@darrenmontgomery49]

I love your video release timing being in the morning. Start my day off with a smile when I pop back in bed with a fresh cappuccino, turn on the tv and watch a Lance Hedrick coffee video. Thanks Lance! You are an important part of the coffee fanatic community!

[@tylerblack9220]

Same!

[@billeterk]

If you watch after making coffee there’s a significant chance you’re going to feel the need to make another shortly after though…

[@0whitestone]

Thanks for the follow-up so quickly! I want expecting it that fast. Appreciate you!

[@FatNorthernBigot]

I've used a blind shaker for the last month, thanks to this video, and my results are now far more consistent and with less channelling. The shaker cost a mere £15. 👍Thank you for the info, Lance!!!

[@y2kcurran]

Which one did you get?

[@FatNorthernBigot]

@@y2kcurran Just a cheap knock off from Amazon. Works a treat! 😄

[@theismathieu]

Thank you so much Lance for these videos. I talked to Taka about the blind shaker as he used it in comp since many years. He reported to be the most effective by his own experience. Thanks to your videos we have a better grounded evidences for it. I’m now changing my habits and start using the blind shaker. Thanks for helping us being better baristas.

[@Netvyper]

"IMPORTANT: Due to an unforeseen influx of sales, current purchases are pre-orders and will ship from Taipei by end of February when our new inventory arrives. The customer will be responsible for the shipping and potential duties." - I guess a lot of folks are buying up shakers 😂

[@thomprd]

Yup I went to go buy one and...

[@helloweeny]

This is an amazing contribution to the coffee community. Thank you

[@mymusings5948]

You’re killing it, man. Great stuff.

[@greeneggzzz]

This is a generous, meticulous, valuable and surprising vid. What a demystifier! V cool. TY.

[@ForeverLearningAnaes]

Thank Lance, I handgrind my coffee. After watching your vid, I used my handgrinder like a blind shaker, then dumped the powder into my portafilter, skipped wdt and tamped. The espresso tasted slightly better than usual..

[@NickChristo]

turns out I've been kind of doing some densification to improve my shots without even knowing it... I've always used the wdt needles to poke holes in the puck before tamping and i experience a similar phenomenon. thanks lance, you're a saint

[@sandrochiavaro7831]

I love this new controversy. The proof we can’t say anything without people being fragile and get offended lol. You keep doing you man.

[@tomasmampuys]

At this rate I can only imagine all the new things we will know in a year from now. Exciting times for coffee enthousiasts! Thanks for yet another contribution!!

[@PurajitMalalur]

You really are something else! Truly I see your passion bursting through.

[@robertpassaro4089]

Dude - great followup. Your increased hustle is evident and appreciated.

[@quantitativecafe]

This is really great stuff. Thanks for taking the time to repeat the experiment. It's telling that the results are even more dramatic when the intermediate dosing cup is removed from the process.

[@chronicmango]

Truly truly excellent work Lance. Thank you for all your hard work on this and sharing your invaluable data with us. One thought I have is that I’m curious about the influence of static electricity and its presence causing electrical binding of smaller fine particles to the boulders. I’m curious if these results would be consistent with the addition of RDT!

[@Belin-died]

Thanks for this briliant follow up viedeo. Your a gem in the coffee community.

[@gestaltgal]

I thought the previous video did an amazing job with it's methodology. This is even more amazing. Collaboration is awesome 😎 You're a freaking hero.

[@paprikar]

the amount of great centent in the last couple of weeks is insane

[@fuzzyevil2]

Awesome follow up! So cool to see all this data. Thanks for the dedication Lance!

[@LanceHedrick]

Thank you so much! Means a lot

[@MikeMastrangelo]

Thanks for these videos. Super fascinating. I always wondered if wdt moved fines to the bottom of the basket. I would love to see more analysis with other dosing cups. The DF64 has one with a dosing collar that might help see what the final shake did (all on one side or nice and level). It would be nice if there was a technique where I don’t need to buy a $100 shaker.

[@morphmkd]

Everyone was waiting for this after the last video!

[@LivingTheLifeRetired]

You put so much effort into your videos and research. Excellent channel. Well done.

[@bjjazoresrule]

Posting for some morale boosting. I have learned so much from you and your love of coffee. Your love of learning helps a considerable amount as well. The world could use more people of your quality.

[@c.j.c350]

Some of the most comprehensive and interesting testing we've seen out of anyone in a while, thanks for all the effort!

[@philep123]

Sensational Lance! This style of content is excellent and invaluable. Can't wait for more

[@ondrejmitas3325]

Love the curiosity and empirical approach! I feel like every succesive video has more useful ideas and insights.

[@mvadu]

Hats off to your dedication Lance!

[@almaandrade4003]

You’re amazing. Love the deep diving into experiments you do. 🧡

[@miroslavfaist1298]

This is incredible, thank you for the dedication that you put into making these videos. Sounds like I have to adjust my prep according to new findings. Thank you

[@williamolenchenko5772]

This is truly groundbreaking. I now grind into a small glass which happens to fit perfectly into a dosing funnel while extending half way into the portafilter. I can then shake and fill the portafilter without making a mess. I still have to do a very light surface WDT and vertical tap on the mat to be able to remove the dosing funnel. Results are very good without having to purchase another accessory. I no longer use my Asso leveler.

[@cabaretampere]

I found that shaking made a huge difference in shot time too, but I found it lengthened shot time rather than shortening it. I dialed in with grounds to dosing cup then WDT. Then I did another shot shaking the grounds in the dosing cup vigorously and it chokes. Obviously there's other variables (like shaking in a dosing cup rather than a shaker), but shaking is doing something dramatic as you say.

[@HeinshtoffVonvagen]

Amazing video. Thanks so much for putting in all this work Lance! You're awesome

[@tanpreetsingh696]

Since your last video, I started shaking with the cup provided by the sette 270 before transferring the portafilter, did some horizontal tapping before double tamping (so no wdt). 2 things to note : 1. My shots pulled significantly quicker (which I actually thought was a product of channeling, as per the static study, but nothing else pointed to channeling). Had to go 3 full notches finer (8e->5e) 2. I thought it tasted better-rounder and richer, less astringent. BUT my gf actually noticed a difference as well (without me informing her of any differences) and thought the coffee was wayyyyy better and thought I was using a new coffee

[@cegottardi]

Thanks a bunch, Lance! Espresso lovers like me really appreciate what you do!

[@TEDXX123]

Your videos are always masterclasses, watching them make me feel smarter 😅.

[@yonkocommander5531]

Like everyone said, I really appreciate your commitment to the art, even going against your biases.

[@clericneokun]

This is so groundbreaking that I got motivated to pull a 2nd shot this morning just to try out the shaky shake. It really does feel weird to see all that caking but realize later on that it's not actually affecting the shot negatively at all.

[@chen8857]

Real nice quality content. ❤ Love that you took the critics+ advise/help from experts to interpret your experiments data and discussed possible theories on why the results are the way they are. Bringing together these skills with your experience with coffee is really pushing the community forward! Love it, Thank you.

[@MZ-nw7wz]

People who bought all those distribution "tools" without having any evidence that they help are losing their minds. I for one am very happy to have this evidence backed presentation available to me, and to never have jumped on the bandwagon. I will certainly look at the WW blind shaker in the near future. Bravo.

[@JanGoh-jb5ge]

I bought a cheap WDT because it did seem like there was some improvement over doing nothing at all, and it's a little less wasteful to use it rather than a toothpick or two every time. But I didn't see what the point was of using a $100 WDT, so I 100% do not feel bad about spending $12 on it. :D And I grind into a Baratza dosing cup already, so it's actually no problem for me to invert it and shake while it's on the portafilter; I have to imagine it's the same in the end, as long as the coffee has some room and time to move. The simpler the setup the better.

[@coffeecove7058]

Wow - What amazing work. Thank you for putting in the time to do this, and really enjoyed and appreciated it. Looks forward to many other videos.

[@roberth.4072]

Lance, thank you so much for talking about the effect on shot times and theory of densification. Really interesting explanation and it talks to what I observed at home. You clearly put a lot of work into this and in doing so you're helping us all get just a little bit better. You rock man. Thanks again.

[@tylerblack9220]

This is why we love you Lance

[@willweerts1291]

Fantastic! Thankful for continuing to push the boundaries of coffee "common knowledge"

[@pztothez2091]

Lance I admire your passion. Thanks so much for taking this even further. Loved both videos and again I admire your passion and the approach. Big cheers to you. You rock buddy.

[@demmidemmi]

Feel like this really calls for a video doing a closer like at the blind shaker to see more where the effect is coming from. Great video as always.

[@asenn2950]

Lance, your dedication and attention to detail to this craft when it comes to value adding to the community and sharing your knowledge base, is seriously unmatched. I do wonder though, if one already has a magic tumbler as part of their setup with either a KEY or HG2, how is the magic tumbler even become relevant if indeed a blind shaker is the preferred one-step solution? The irony of course, a blind shaker will not fit under a magic tumbler, for a HG2 or KEY setup. In your wisdom, how would you integrate a magic tumbler setup with a blind shaker?

[@Gk2003m]

If densification is occurring by shaking the grounds in a cup, it’s occurring whether there’s a ‘handle’ in the middle of that cup or not. From there: pouring it into the portafilter, tapping it a few times to even it out, then a few seconds of WDT (focused on distributing those grounds into the ‘corners’ of the basket) and then tapping again to even it out would likely get you similar results.

[@Fire4EffectActual]

I'm glad you did this video. I have the DF64 G2 and have been playing around with some of the things you did in the last video. I don't have a blind shaker but have been using the dosing cup and inverting it onto the portafilter and shaking. Sometimes I can get the grinds to settle on the portafilter fairly level and if that happens I just tamp and go. Other times it ends up to one side and I will use my WDT tool to redistribute before tamping. Either using the WDT tool as a rake or more as intended. What I have noticed is that If I can just tamp and go my extraction times are shorter usually around 23 seconds. Using the WDT tool as a rake closer to 27 seconds and if as intended closer to 33 seconds. All of the shots taste similar to me and I seem to have puck issues. I am using a Profitec Pro 600. It would be interesting to know at what ranges can people tell a difference in tasted based upon TDS.

[@V.D.22]

this is what I want to try. Using the dosing cup as a shaker to see how it goes. I also have the DF64 V4 and have been using table tap, WDT and leveling tool until now.

[@universeyt8763]

Lets go!!! ❤ Excellent work Lance, talk about changing the industry!

[@nssomething8370]

Ok, so I watched this video last night and I kept thinking about it. This morning, I tried to replicate the shaker method by just grinding into my Acaia dosing cup, which I never use because my grinder grinds into the portafilter perfectly (Ceado E37s). I macgyvered a cover for the dosing cup and really shook it hard. Then I did the reverse portafilter onto it and spun perfectly depositing the coffee in the centre. Then I tamped. Some observations: Usually, the coffee comes out of the E37s perfectly fluffy, no clumps. A bit of WDT and it is perfect for a shot. Now it was co pressed and clumpy, VERY VERY similar to how coffee would come out of the Rancilio Rocky with Doser. The Rocky makes nice clump free grounds, but when you have the doser, it compresses and clumps it all up as you pull the lever 10-15 times to get your coffee in the portafilter. So, what was the result with shaking and tamping: VERY GOOD no channelling, no spraying, no mess (Profitec Pro 600 + Naked Portafilter + IMS E&B Lab Super Fine Filter Basket), great coffee. But, here is the kicker, I took the Rocky out of retirement this morning. Took it from the basement, cleaned it up ( @LanceHedrick the stuff your videos make me do, I swear) and ground a batch. The results are not as good as the Ceado+Shaking, but damn it's similar with the doser. I'm going to try "shaking" for the next week instead of WDT and see how it goes. This is all with very light single origins from 49th Parallel. Anyway, sorry for the wall of text, thanks for the video!

[@bryguy102]

Love this format of video. My coffee benefits and it keeps it interesting for me to try new things. Aside from the coffee though, I think this format is actually a bigger deal than the results. Doing experiments in public like this is interesting and I’d love to see it get popularized in other fields. This feels distinct from popular science channels which build content on making already published content digestible to the public. Part of me wants to see you explore your other potential reasons why it increases extraction yield, but I know that probably won’t be as interesting for people to watch. Anyway, hope this video does well and hope to see more like it.

[@Thomas_Hogsplitter]

Hey Lance, Thank you for all the info and well-documented research! I have tried replicating this Just with what I have (a fellow opus and a flair neo) by flipping the bottomless portafilter for the neo with the dosing ring over the little cup attachment that came with the opus (I think It is sized for a 58mm basket but the dosing ring fits) and shaking it that way and what I noticed is some of the super fines also come out of the portafilter while shaking! and of course my cups have started getting better since I started doing this. of course the only thing I can't replicate with my setup is the grounds getting well distributed on the portafilter after shaking, I wish there was a tiny weber for flair sizes haha Still this was a great improvement to my workflow and my coffee! thanks