The pursuit of extracting the “perfect” espresso has been an obsession for many baristas and avid home brewers for some time now. Variables like dose, yield, time, and grind size are now often considered the basics, with factors such as pressure profiling and temperature becoming increasingly prioritised.
Competitions – especially the World Barista Championship – have undoubtedly played a huge role in the wider industry’s fascination with espresso preparation. One of the most notable competition trends in recent years has been distribution tools, specifically the Weiss Distribution Technique. At the 2022 edition, winner Anthony Douglas debuted the Barista Hustle Autocomb on the WBC stage, which certainly caught the attention of the specialty coffee community.
Since then, many other competitors have followed in Anthony’s footsteps and used the Autocomb in their routines, including 2024 World Barista Champion Mikael Jasin. Simultaneously, we have seen several advanced distribution tools launched on the market that have also been widely embraced by the industry – indicating that specialty coffee’s obsession with WDT remains strong.
To find out more, I spoke to Dr. Robert McKeon Aloe, independent coffee researcher and author, and Anthony Douglas, 2022 World Barista Champion and Research & Development lead at Axil Coffee Roasters.
You may also likeour article on why the Weiss Distribution Technique is used before tamping espresso.
Why distribution is important for excellent espresso
Before we explore the recent string of new Weiss Distribution Technique tools on the market, it’s important to clarify what it is exactly. Developed by John Weiss in 2005, the method involves stirring ground coffee in a portafilter basket using a fine needle or similar utensil.
There are also a number of other distribution techniques, including:
- Side tap and settle – simply tap the portafilter repeatedly with your hand to break up any clumps and then gently tap on an even surface or your hand to flatten the grounds
- NSEW – place your finger across the top of the basket and push the grounds away from your body before pushing them back towards you
- Stockfleth– similar to the NSEW method, but you also need to rotate the portafilter and your hand in opposite directions
- Dosing cup – grind coffee into a dosing cup, shake, and then pour into the portafilter basket
So why is distribution so important for great espresso extraction? Dr. Robert McKeon Aloe, independent coffee researcher and author of Engineering Better Espresso and Advanced Espresso, explains why.
“When you grind coffee, the particle distribution changes, as does the shape of the coffee grounds,” he tells me. “This creates several different layers in the basket, which may not always be ideal for even coffee extraction.
“Using an espresso distribution tool helps homogenise the ground coffee throughout the portafilter basket, and in theory, should help extract a better shot,” he adds. “Available data from tests carried out with and without distribution vary based on the distribution tool used. The only tool that seems to help extraction efficiency is a WDT tool, and most have been home-made until recently.”
The recent trend of advanced WDT tools
At the 2022 World Barista Championship, we watched as Australian competitor Anthony Douglas used a manual espresso distribution tool we had never seen before – the Barista Hustle Autocomb.
The device consists of a mount, 12 thin needles, and a handle that you spin to move the needles around. Simply put, the specialty coffee industry had never encountered such an advanced WDT tool.
“The Autocomb was a big entry into the market,” Robert says. “It’s a tool specifically designed for commercial use and quick distribution. In the same year, the Weber Workshops’ Moonraker launched, which is more focused on design and is largely targeted at home baristas.”
Inspired by Swiss watch design, the Moonraker is indeed a very visually appealing WDT tool, with “perfectly calculated spirographic movement” according to Weber’s website. Most recently, automated tamping solution PUQPress launched the Navigator tool. While we don’t know much information about the new product, the company says it “utilises randomness” to evenly distribute grounds, and appears to be the first automated WDT tool available on the market.
Fascination with espresso distribution tools won’t stop anytime soon
Espresso distribution certainly isn’t a new concept, but it’s clear that the market for more advanced tools and equipment is growing.
In addition to being the 2022 World Barista Champion, Anthony Douglas is the Research & Development lead at Axil Coffee Roasters.
“We’re definitely seeing a lot more interest in WDT tools,” he says. “Manual WDT tools have always been popular in the home coffee community, but not quite so much on the competition stage or in coffee shops, largely because using them is more time-consuming.”
At the 2024 World Barista Championship, five of the seven finalists used the Autocomb in their routines. The two remaining competitors also used a different type of distribution tool, so espresso distribution has clearly made its mark at the competition.
“More competitors will look to previous finalists for inspiration or new techniques and innovations they can use in their own routines,” Anthony tells me. “After showcasing an earlier iteration of Barista Hustle’s Autocomb in my winning 2022 WBC performance, it was really exciting to see it used by a number of competitors the following year, and even more so this year.
“I think using the Autocomb to win the 2022 World Barista Championship certainly helped peak interest in WDT tools,” he adds. “But ultimately, the success of these products lies in the fact that they simply make better espresso, whilst also maximising workflow and repeatability.”
But will interest extend beyond competitions?
WDT tools have become a staple of the WBC, and we’re likely to see more and more competitors use them. But like other emerging trends at the event – think showcasing rare coffee species or using freeze-distilled milk – will they also take off in the wider industry?
“Many coffee shops already use some kind of distribution technique,” Robert says. “Other distribution tools are also very common, not just WDT. I suspect these will slowly replace what is already on bar, especially if they can be easily integrated like the PUQ Navigator tool.”
He adds that the more people who use these devices, the more we can improve our understanding of extraction.
“The fun part is that more people can gather data about their espresso preparation techniques,” Robert says. “Lance Hedrick collected a lot of data using many different tools, including Weber Workshops’ Blind Shaker. In his tests, he found that the Blind Shaker outperformed all other tools, while most didn’t improve extraction yield.
“This study didn’t include taste as a deciding factor, which everyone will point to as being king, but taste does have a loose correlation to extraction yield,” he adds.
Trends often come and go in specialty coffee, but espresso distribution tools are here to stay. In fact, we can expect to see even more of them in high-end coffee shops and competitions in the coming years.
While consistency is vital for excellent espresso, efficiency and workflow are also important. Looking ahead, it’s likely that WDT tool manufacturers will keep this in mind when designing their products.
Enjoyed this? Then readour article on why distribution and tamping are important for quality espresso.
Photo credits: Specialty Coffee Association, World Coffee Events
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