WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 2008

[yeeza]

http://www.worldbaristachampionship.com/videos/2008_morrissey.html


Just goes to show you dont have to have a fancy distributing technique to get the best pours.... and still beat the best in the business.

[roknee]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

VERY interesting dan
good pick up

[luca]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

Just goes to show you dont have to have a fancy distributing technique to get the best pours.... and still beat the best in the business.

A while ago, people were saying that the Anfim doser is somehow special in that it doesnt require distribution. I suspect that it might simply be that distribution and dosing are usually an entwined process - the coffee is moved around in order to create a bed of coffee from which excess can be struck off to achieve a consistent dose. The Anfims have timers built in, so, in theory at least, you dont need to worry about striking off to dose. As a consequence, you can just tamp and thats it. Whether or not other grinders require distribution is pretty much a moot point if your dosing technique requires you to strike off coffee - you will have to strike off, regardless. If you put a timer on your grinder, like the ones that Dave Seng has knocked up, you can experiment with simply tamping and not doing anything else.

I suspect that the truth may be that many grinders out there actually dont need any sort of complicated distribution technique - as is often the case, its the dose that is the important variable that must be controlled. Its easy to pick up nonsense rituals online that add absolutely nothing to the cup. Doing them might not hurt, but, personally, Id only add something to my grind/dose/tamp regime if I felt it was adding something to the cup. I strike off because thats how I get a constant dose. Because the coffee falls more or less into the centre of the basket, this requires a sweep towards me and a sweep away to fill in the front and strike off. Thats it.

So I guess that the question shouldnt be whats Morrisey doing that enables him to get away with such a simple technique, but, rather, what do complicated distribution techniques actually deliver in the cup?

Cheers,

Luca

[Senator]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

I watched the whole thing and couldnt see any consistency in his dosing technique at all. 10 thwacks then tap then 4, 12 thwacks tap and 5 etc, yet the proof I guess in in the result.

Do home baristas obsess more than the pros, or is it that at home you simply have more time?

Sen

[luca]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

I watched the whole thing and couldnt see any consistency in his dosing technique at all. 10 thwacks then tap then 4, 12 thwacks tap and 5 etc, yet the proof I guess in in the result.

Do home baristas obsess more than the pros, or is it that at home you simply have more time?

Sen

The number of thwacks and taps probably didnt make any difference to Stephens performance because he was dosing by timer, not by volume. As long as he got all of the coffee that the timer ground into the portafilter, the dosing technique probably wouldnt matter that much. If he were dosing by volume, the number of taps and the amount of coffee in the portafilter when tapping would change the volume of coffee in the basket, the weight, the espresso flow rate and the flavour of the resultant cup. But he was not dosing by volume; he was using the timer ... wasnt he?

I do think that home baristas tend to obsess more than professionals. However, some of the obsessive tendencies of home baristas might be justified as a work around for less swish equipment.

Cheers,

Luca

[roknee]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

still interesting that i would assume that with stephens, no-distribute technique, there would be an uneven density of coffee in the pf before and after tamping (with a higher density in the middle of the puck)...

[Senator]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

I must admit, I have watched some of the videos on youtube / google and thought it seemed overkill with so much fluffing around with the coffee (there is one in particular with some guy that has a special funel that he uses several times with his tamper and on top of the PF - set to some spanish music IIRC).

Keep
It
Simple &
Succeed

Guess this is what makes the whole obsession so fun, there is more than one way to get to "your" perfect shot, and what works for one might not work for another.

Sen

[luca]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

still interesting that i would assume that with stephens, no-distribute technique, there would be an uneven density of coffee in the pf before and after tamping (with a higher density in the middle of the puck)...

Contents of cup > assumptions.

Cheers,

Luca

[GregWormald]

Re: WBC Stephen Morrissey Finals at Copenhagen 200

Ill have to do some more experimenting, but:
I tried the Morrissey no-distribute dose for my last cup today, and it was awesome, with lots of colour for the whole draw.

Hmmmm.

Greg