Coffee Data Science
Changing Water Diffuser for Espresso
In January of 2022, I bought a Decent Espresso machine. While I thought there was huge potential, I saw aftermarket parts were made, specifically the water diffuser by Sworks. After months of testing, I found the water input was the source of my issues, so I tried this new diffuser.
The original one required more coffee in the basket, and I knew it had some issues from prior tests people had done.
The Sworks Diffuser has 6 sets of 9 holes instead of 6 of 6 holes. The holes are slightly smaller, but the aim is for better water diffusion.
This is both parts flipped:
One improvement was lowering my dose from 22 or 23 grams to 18 to 20 grams. It also leaves the basket much cleaner as seen below which indicates that the original design allowed coffee grounds to get pushed up the sides. There was a slight taper to the original design. This is messer and a waste of coffee.
I normally would have done some side-by-side comparison before and after, but the Sworks diffuse accentuated the water dispenser problem which actually started in the water dispenser that sits above it. So I went to focus on debugging the water dispenser and understanding the design. The impact of the water dispenser is so large that it dwarfs the water diffuser.
More shall be revealed…
If you like, follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram where I post videos of espresso shots on different machines and espresso related stuff. You can also find me on LinkedIn. You can also follow me on Medium and Subscribe.
