Puck Prep Workshop: assembling your setup
Assemble your puck prep setup. From dosing to WDT and leveling to tamping and Puck Screen: for each step, choose the tool that suits you — from Normcore and Weber Workshops. Watch live as the coffee puck becomes more even with each step, and get your setup with direct links.
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Why clean puck prep matters
The goal is a consistent extraction: if the water flows through the puck evenly everywhere, the cup turns out sweet and clear. Uneven distribution or a crooked tamp leads to channeling — the water finds its own channels, and the espresso tastes sour and bitter at the same time. Every step in this workshop works toward the same thing: a more even puck, a more even flow. There's no right or wrong — more even is simply cleaner.
Explore the physics behind this in the Channeling Simulator and see how over- and under-extraction feel in the cup in the Sensory 1×1. With a bottomless portafilter you can make channeling immediately visible.
The five steps
- Dosing: Consistent dose and clean filling (dosing cup or funnel).
- Distribution (WDT): Fine needles break up clumps — the biggest lever against channeling.
- Leveling: Even out the surface and distribute roughly.
- Tamping: Consistent, even pressure — easiest with a pressure-regulating tamper.
- Puck Screen: Distributes the water more evenly on top and keeps the shower screen clean.
All interactive tools are bundled in our Coffee Tools.
