Puck Prep Workshop: assembling your setup
Your coffee corner, your routine
Dosing, distributing, levelling, tamping, puck screen: for each step, pick the tool that suits you — from Normcore and Weber Workshops, in the size of your portafilter. As you go, you see how the coffee puck gets more even with every step, and you get your setup with links to the cart.
The controls: No sliders — you first choose the size of your portafilter (51, 54 or 58 mm) and then one tool per step, or you skip the step.
The results: The evenness index from 0 to 100 is an indicator from our weighting, not a measurement — good for comparing two setups, not as a grade for your espresso.
The basis: That uneven compaction leads to channeling is well supported; how much each tool helps is our assessment. No guarantee — details right below the tool.
In more detail: selection, index, animation and sources
The selection in detail: Six blocks — dosing, distributing (WDT), levelling, tamping, puck screen or paper, workspace. Five of them go into the index; the sixth, workspace, is pure equipment and deliberately counts 0 %. The portafilter size determines which variant lands in the cart: 54 mm selects the 53.3 mm version for tampers and levelers (fitting the baskets of Sage and Breville), 58 mm the 58.5 mm version. Tools without a matching variant don't appear for that size.
The index in detail: The “evenness index out of 100” is an indicator from 0 to 100, not a measurement and not a lab result. We defined it ourselves. It weights the five steps like this: dosing 12 %, distributing (WDT) 30 %, levelling 18 %, tamping 30 %, puck screen 10 % — 100 % together; workspace counts 0 %. Within each step, every tool gets a share of these points (guided WDT paths and self-levelling or clicking tampers the full share, the others somewhat less). The calculation is 38 plus 58 times the weighted sum — so without any tool the index sits at 38, with everything at 96.
Honest about the weighting: These five numbers are not supported by evidence. There is no study that quantifies the contribution of each individual puck prep step to even extraction in this way. The weighting is our assessment from course work: that WDT and tamping make the biggest difference in practice, levelling a bit less, dosing and puck screen the least. Set the weights differently and you get a different number. That's why the index is useful for comparing two setups against each other — not as an absolute value, and certainly not as a grade for your espresso.
What you see in the animation: A 58 mm portafilter basket in cross-section with 480 individual coffee particles inside. At the top right, a number counts the clumps: when dosing there are eight, the needles visibly break them up when distributing, leveler and tamper press the particles into a level layer, and during the shot the water runs through from above. The 480 particles and the eight clumps are schematic: estimated numbers so you can actually see the breaking-up. A real puck holds many times more particles, and nobody has counted them. The six buttons under the picture — dose, distribute, level, tamp, screen, shot — are tappable: you can look at each phase on its own. The big number below is the evenness index of your current selection. The picture always shows a 58 mm basket, even if you chose 51 or 54 mm — the process is the same.
Prices and availability: Titles, variants and prices are taken from the shop (as of 16.10.2026). When you open it, the tool re-reads prices and availability fresh from the shop; if that fails, you see the state as of 16.10.2026. The price on the product page is always what counts. The “Popular” order is based on units sold from 16.10.2025 to 16.10.2026.
The basis in detail: That uneven compaction leads to channeling and that channeling worsens extraction is well supported — Cameron, Hendon et al. 2020, “Systematically Improving Espresso: Insights from Mathematical Modeling and Experiment”, Matter 2(3), 631–648, doi:10.1016/j.matt.2019.12.019. How much each individual tool helps against it is not. We keep that distinction clear here. That tamping force hardly matters once the puck is compacted is shown by a measurement series from Kaffeemacher (2025, 150 shots at 10, 15 and 20 kg, no detectable difference in flow time and TDS) — community measurement, not re-measured by us.
Correction note (16.10.2026): The earlier version of this tool put the first shop variant in the cart for several tools — for some, that was the 51 or 45.5 mm version, even though the picture shows a 58 mm basket. Now you choose the size, and every part lands in the matching variant. One price was out of date (Weber Blind Shaker, black: CHF 99.95 instead of 94.95), and the product list was extended with tools released since then.
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This is a simulator. It works with a simplified model and shows you relationships — not measurements and not an assurance of any kind. What ends up in your cup depends on your machine, your water, your beans and the way you work.
Our recommendations are based on experience from consultations, courses and the showroom. They are non-binding and provided without guarantee. We accept no liability for damage arising from their use. When in doubt, what your manufacturer writes in the instruction manual applies.
EstimateStraight to the result: The evenness index is an indicator from 0 to 100 from our model — not a measurement. It rests on a weighting that we estimated and did not measure. Use it to compare two setups against each other — not as a grade for your espresso.
Why clean puck prep matters
The goal is an even extraction: if the water flows through the puck equally everywhere, the cup often turns out sweeter and clearer. Uneven distribution or a crooked tamp lead to channeling — the water finds channels, and the espresso tastes sour and bitter at the same time. Every step in this workshop works towards the same thing: an even puck, an even flow. No right or wrong — more even is simply cleaner. And after that, the cup decides: dose in and yield out in grams, not by the clock; if you like it, you're right.
You can play through the physics behind it in the Channeling Simulator; how over- and under-extraction feel in the cup is explored in the sensory basics. With a bottomless portafilter, you make channeling visible straight away. Which accessories make sense for which step is explained in the guide puck prep accessories.
The five steps
- Dosing: Consistent dose by weight and clean filling (dosing cup or funnel).
- Distributing (WDT): Fine needles break up clumps — the biggest lever against channeling.
- Levelling: Flatten the surface and distribute roughly.
- Tamping: Straight and even. How hard hardly matters once the puck is compacted — easiest with a pressure-regulating or self-levelling tamper.
- Puck screen: Distributes the water more evenly at the top and keeps the shower screen clean.
Community measurementOn tamping pressure: Kaffeemacher, “Welchen Einfluss hat der Anpressdruck beim Tampen?” (19.08.2025), kaffeemacher.ch, accessed 16.10.2026 — 150 shots, 10/15/20 kg, no detectable difference in flow time and TDS; below 10 kg not measured. Not re-measured by us.
You'll find all interactive tools bundled in our Coffee Tools. Questions about your setup are answered by Jackson, our AI advisor.
