# Espresso - a 'thought-dump' study of grinder distribution



## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

One of the great leaps in my espresso taste success has come from moving from a (relatively fault-laden) doserless grinder to Roy with his monsterous clunking old-school doser. (Yes there are better doserless grinders than the mini, but most fail when it come to single-dosing)

THE Mazzer Mini-E as cute and sexy as she was, she just clumped and clumped and clumped , bless her. WDT, finger swipes, NSEW, brushing the grinds/cubes/rocks as they slowly tumbled out bah , now distant memories. Like looking back at an ex and shuddering. The shots were mostly overly acidic, unbalanced, poorly extracted and the amount of effort involved to get a good shot was bordering on soul-destroying. The problem in the cup, as I now recognise, was grind distribution.

Then came Roy, double the size, triple the weight and a motor with power akin to a dyson, huge gold-coloured burrs which chomp through 18-19g of beans in half the time it took the Mini to do 15. the grinds fly out of the chute with virtually no clumps, one single pulse of the motor and the chute is clear. Yes im still single-dosing and yes im still using a brush but the workflow time is cut in half. However the main benefit has been realised through the result in the portafilter - The doser produces a fairly uniform pile of clump free grinds. Until yesterday I would tap down 2-3 times to 'colapse' the pile before tamping, 9 times out of 10 beautiful extractions to the eye & approx 17 out of 20 shots being very very good. Then yesterday, with a blend I was struggling with, I decided to omit the tapping down, and literally tamp the mound directly after thwacking, using the weight of the convex tamper to push the grinds flat, no need to check level (unless gravity isnt pulling straight down lol) and tamp. The result has been 4 out of 4 superb extractions to the eye and 4 out of 4 semi God-shots, regardless of grind setting, which I only felt the need to change once.

Conclusion - Dosers are great.

Anyone else care to share any thoughts?


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## vintagecigarman (Aug 10, 2009)

I totally agree. I went from a Mini - e to a SJ Doser and the improvement was astonishing. I wouldn't go back to a doser-less.

Sent via Tapatalk


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

I'm actually not such a huge fan of the doser on my SJ. After various mods I've reverted to non-sweeper but with bottom washer removed and a cone to stop grinds collecting in centre of bottom sweeper vane.

After sweeping chute and thwacking like a ninja there can still be 0.5g to 1g of grounds still left in the doser and its this sweeping out that really annoys me.

I'm using my Preciso for espresso at the moment, as I'm not at home, and I know the grind isn't as good as SJ but grinding straight into the PF is absolutely genius.

I'd say the Preciso doesn't clump too much on my current setting but I know if I go finer we're in clump town. Currently not much more WDT than SJ needs.

The big question is, would roy clump if you made him doserless? Is it the big burrs or the doser that is giving you such great distribution with minimal clumps?

Really want to make SJ doserless...


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## tribs (Feb 21, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> Then yesterday, with a blend I was struggling with, I decided to omit the tapping down, and literally tamp the mound directly after thwacking, using the weight of the convex tamper to push the grinds flat, no need to check level (unless gravity isnt pulling straight down lol) and tamp. The result has been 4 out of 4 superb extractions to the eye and 4 out of 4 semi God-shots, regardless of grind setting, which I only felt the need to change once.


Maybe not tapping down is the way to go, but often in this pursuit of coffee perfection, I find a technique I am certain that works, only to discover that it was something else I had done or pure luck. Personally, I think tapping down reduces some of the clumps which I still get with the SJ doser. Also, sometimes the dose won't fit in the 18g VST (before tamping) without it begin tapped down a little.

The thing I like about the doser is it gives me the time to be able to direct the grinds to where I want them in the portafilter. Which in turn, reduces the need for further distribution. I generally thwack away until the PF is nearly full and then slow down and aim the grinds into a nice uniform pile.

It is a bit of a pain to clean, especially the 2 screws under the chute, but it's not that bad. Single dosing with the SJ, the things that annoy me more is having to sweep the throat and, the biggest bugbear, the retained grinds in the chute that need to be swept out.


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

I should mention that my doser is heavily modded. There are further improvements which I think would all be provided by Anfim's doser on the Super Caimano - it is superior to the Mazzer antique

''retained grinds in the chute that need to be swept out'' Yep the pastry brush is just part of the routne now





 This was pretty much a couple of days after I got the Royal (at my old flat)

''especially the 2 screws under the chute'' - clear epoxy resin smoothed with a wet finger, just dont expect to get it out easily

''having to sweep the throat '' try a 900w motor ; )


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

fatboyslim said:


> Is it the big burrs or the doser that is giving you such great distribution with minimal clumps?
> 
> Really want to make SJ doserless...


I think its the combo, yes there are clumps which the doser breaks up, however the grind quality would mean those clumps are not really an issue in the first place. Any attempt to make an SJ doserless (which Ive witnessed) has been clump-ville


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

garydyke1 said:


> I think its the combo, yes there are clumps which the doser breaks up, however the grind quality would mean those clumps are not really an issue in the first place. Any attempt to make an SJ doserless (which Ive witnessed) has been clump-ville


I might just buy an Anfim doser and stick it to my SJ with duck tape


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

fatboyslim said:


> The big question is, would roy clump if you made him doserless?


Here is your answer


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

fatboyslim said:


> I might just buy an Anfim doser and stick it to my SJ with duck tape


I have considered this after seeing them in action on the WBC 2012 stage to great effect


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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

garydyke1 said:


> Here is your answer


I love how many times he says 'kaab'. You know lady boys get their own ending (kaab being the male one).


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

You are well-versed in the ways of the lady-boys it seems?


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## garydyke1 (Mar 9, 2011)

http://www.espressoparts.com/MW_37C ouch


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## tribs (Feb 21, 2012)

garydyke1 said:


> ''especially the 2 screws under the chute'' - clear epoxy resin smoothed with a wet finger, just dont expect to get it out easily


I had thought of this, but I weighed it up against it being a pain to remove (for deep cleaning, re-greasing the "thwacker"







) and it's only a couple extra sweeps of the brush for each dose.


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