# Two Stage Grinding?



## antinwales (Jan 16, 2021)

Hi All

I'm a newbie with a Mignon Specialita.

My grinds are piling up nicely in the basket, and a few taps brings them down level. I find tapping removes the need for Weiss.

But by the last few grams, my little mountain of grinds is starting to lose some over the edge. This makes my maximum dose around 17g and it looks a little low when tamped.

So I thought about splitting the grinding and doing it in two stages. Rather than grinding for 10seconds, how about grinding for 8, giving the PF a few taps, then grinding another 2.5 seconds?

Of course, I could just give it a trial, but I wondered if anyone thought it was an actively bad idea.


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## lake_m (Feb 4, 2017)

To avoid this scenario I use a Decent funnel when grinding into the PF. It sits on the outer edge therefore doesn't create a channel in the coffee. There are cheaper knock-offs available on Amazon and EBay.


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## antinwales (Jan 16, 2021)

lake_m said:


> To avoid this scenario I use a Decent funnel when grinding into the PF. It sits on the outer edge therefore doesn't create a channel in the coffee.


 Good point. The Black Cat seems fluffier with more volume, but worth it for the better taste.


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## lake_m (Feb 4, 2017)

Yes, the darker Twilight Blend is very 'voluminous' and would easily spill over. Benefit of the Decent funnel is you can keep the funnel on whilst WDT and tapping. I remove it for tamping, and don't bother with a leveller at all.


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## antinwales (Jan 16, 2021)

OK, two-stage trial completed, and strong results.

8 + 2½ gave me 19g.

The espresso machine felt the extra 1½g - pressure sat 11-12bar and in 30s I got about 36g

But it was delicious! Interesting spotty appearance - what's that all about?


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