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Static can be a big problem when grinding coffee. No matter the grinder, whether it’s brew coffee or espresso, static that sends coffee chaff all over your kitchen bench is just a fact of coffee life that plagues us all (unless you want to fork out $150 for this gadget that sounds like it’s straight from Star Wars).
Enter the Ross Droplet Technique (RDT). By adding water droplets to coffee beans before grinding you can reduce the static significantly!
The origins of this method are shrouded in mystery. Who is Ross? Where is he today? And most importantly, what was he doing sticking his wet fingers into the coffee beans? Well, the technique was originally proposed by a David Ross on a little-known coffee blog alt.coffee in 2005. Unfortunately for us, that blog has since been shut down. Fortunately for us - the idea resurfaced many years later on the home-barista.com blog for home brewing enthusiasts and has become a well-known method for reducing static when grinding coffee.
There are 3 main techniques for the RDT that we will explore today. They are the spray method, the finger method, and the spoon method.
🍾 The Spray Method
The Spray method is likely the most common way the RDT is implemented. Take a small spray bottle and spray the coffee beans before grinding. This works especially well when single-dosing coffee. Make sure you only use a light mist - too much water can damage your grinder.
☝️ The Finger Method
To do the Finger Method of the RTD, take your finger and either dip in it water or run it under a stream of water to wet your finger. Then dip your finger into the coffee beans and stir around so they get damp. For you baristas out there, I would avoid doing this at work - no one wants to get a mouthful of barista finger in their coffee.
Quick note: Do NOT stick your fingers into an electric grinder. Get a little tin for single dosing and apply the finger method before dosing into the grinder.
🥄 The Spoon Method
Finally the spoon method. Similar to the finger method, wet a spoon with water and stir the spoon into the coffee beans. This method is the least practical since the water doesn’t get evenly spread across the beans. Doing this also risks putting too much water into the hopper and damaging the burrs of the grinder, which can be a costly repair…
Well Mr. Ross, whoever you are, we at The Brew Journal HQ thank you for your wonderful contribution. This is a simple way to reduce static when brewing coffee. No more coffee mess all over the counter!
-P.T.
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