Coffee Hack: No More Static 

*_A little unknown scientific-fact:_*_ Electrons build up more easily in dry places. On humid days, shocks are less common because a thin layer of water molecules coats most surfaces, which allows electrons to flow more freely and makes almost everything conductive and static-free._

@James Hoffmann - thank you for consistently giving credit where credit is due.

I tried a version of this trick where you feed a few drops of water into the grinder and it didn't work. Tried it your way with stirring the wet spoon into the beans. There's barely any static now! Thanks James! You did good!

I guess "they just don't make them like they used to" holds true for this. I have a Solis maestro that I have had for many years and never had any static issues. I needed another coffee grinder for my Idaho cabin. My wife got a used Baratza encore at a killer price. It is basically the same coffee grinder as the Solis. But, the static is crazy. Next time I'm at the cabin I will try this trick. Thank you.

I was grinding coffee this morning and it has been particularly dry and staticky here. When coffee grounds flew all over the place I thought to myself "I bet James has made a video about this...." then low and behold it showed up on my recommended feed on RU-vid! So clearly Google already has an implant in my brain that's reading my thoughts.

Just came across this video nearly three years after its posting, and all I can say is WOW. The difference is mind blowing. I have a Breville Smart Grinder which is pretty bad with static and coffee grounds end up going everywhere. But using this simple trick virtually eliminated all static. Thanks for the tip!

I cannot believe I have gone on for years without this. Thank you James! -Luis

I used the Baratza Virtuoso for a few years and i can tell you that A) some beans are more susceptible to static that others - especially chaffey beans B) a little shake of the grinds back and forth in the bin vs. pour straight after grinding helps tame it too.

All the grinder manufacturers would have to do is make the holder out of metal and ground it to some pins to get rid of the static, it really wouldn’t be difficult

James. Thank you it DOES actually work. After years of putting up with my old small gaga grinder and then more recently the DeLongi -- I was skeptical but it worked like a dream!!!

Another vote here for this technique. It works. I live in an area of the US where the winter air gets very dry: electric spark super-low humidity. We had coffee grounds flying onto every kitchen surface, & clinging to the hopper (Baratza Virtuoso) as if stuck with glue. It needed a tad more water - perhaps 1/8 teaspoon, then thoroughly stirred into the beans with the spoon handle. It did the trick perfectly. Thanks for the tip.

That's life changing. I'm tired of the grinds doing this bs and exploding around the counter.

I tried it today for the very first time and I’m really impressed how well it worked

Worked for my Macap! It was very random the amount of spray between hopper refills and this hack fixed it!

effin BRILLIANT! I’ve just dealt with static for years. Game changer.

Nice hack! Thanks for sharing, will test it soon.

Also works great on my Hario Slim Ceramic Handgrinder. Great tip!

This is a great trick, thanks for sharing! Creating sawdust causes the same problem with static. I run a wire through my collection system that runs to ground, to remove/reduce that static. I had been thinking about trying a similar solution here, with my Encore Baratza, like running a wire from the machine (but might have had to cut into it, to test it) to a ground of some sort, but with this solution, I won't have to worry about that. Cheers!

Tried stirring the ground coffee with a spoon handle before pouring them into my French press, and it worked. No water needed in my case. Thanks for the idea.

definitely works. so simple and yet...mind blown. thanks!

I have to admit static is a main reason I don't use my coffee grinder more often. Messy. I cannot wait to try this. Makes sense though. If I am having a "static day", I mist my skirt and have no more problems.

I use a small syringe(no needle)put a drop in hopper same static free result. Great hack. Cheers Steve. Great channel by the way!

Boom! Mind blown! Great tip.

Thank you, thank you, and thank you! This simple tip saves so much cleanup. Game changer.

Been doing something similar for years, but I drink black drip I don't typically have a spoon out. So I take 2-3 beans, put them under the faucet then drop them in the hopper. Does the same thing.

Wooo life changed, and I just bought a grinder to boot! Thanks James

It's so helpful! Thanks James !

Yes James, I agree. This is also what we would do in a lab 🥼 to avoid statics. It is a cool hack, backed up by science.

So glad I knew about this before my order of my coffee grinder comes. Going to update soon and let everyone know if this technique works!

Wow, I have a mazza mini grinder, notorious for clumping and static, this simple technique makes a huge difference to the grind.

Why am i just learning this!? Thank you James (and Ross)!

Works like a charm! Well done!

I've had a Lido 2 grinder for years (5ish) and what I do is weight my beans in a plasitc measuring cup with several drops of water in it. After weighing I cover the top of the cup with my hand and shake the beans, let them sit for 30-45 seconds shake one more time before grinding. Works a charm.

Works like a charm!

been doing this for quiet sometime now. very simple but works really well.

Used your method and it worked fine. Thankyou

My Encore is pretty good with minimal static, but not perfect. I've been touching my fingers to the just-rinsed paper filter, then running them around the top inside of the grinds bin. It's barely damp. That, plus making sure I wait a few seconds after grinding before I pull the bin, eliminates my daily "wipe the fines off my white kitchen counter" routine :)

Trying this tomorrow for sure

I control static throughout my home by controlling the humidity level. Humidity has a HUGE effect on how much static your environment can hold. I run and repair several computer systems. This is also why I have an interest in internal environment control systems.

This is just brilliant. Works great.

I put a strip of aluminium foil up the inside of the bin leaving a tab on the outside. When you pick up the bin touch the tab to discharge the static charge.

I’ve been doing this for a few years now. It works and so far hasn’t had any effect on my grinder.

I’ll have to give this a try!

My current home grinder is awful for this. Trying this in the morning. Thanks, James!

I fill the hopper with coffee beans, which lasts for a week. Would that be ok to keep the beans slightly wet on the hopper for a week?

every thing that you said is right on. That has been an issue but no longer. Thanks

I have my Niche Zero for a few weeks now and started to use a method that is more effective in my experience: I use the steam wand of my espresso machine to blow off steam and then move the opening of the cup with beans quickly in and out of the steam. Works great for me! (better than the spoon, sorry).

This totally works, no spray bottle needed. Interestingly, the "chaff" only sticks to the metallic burrs of my grinder when I don't use a bit of h2o......epiphany.......one could use said static the remove the chaff from grinds if they wanted to ger all fancypants. In a JH episode, I believe he painstakingly did so in another manner. when I ad a drop of water, to beans pre grind, I get ZEEEERO stickage. Neato.

Came across this after 2 weeks being annoyed by the chaff in my Fellow ODE and voila! I almost couldn’t believe it! Cheers

Bloody wish I'd seen this before I spent hours trying to ground by grinder. Although I did mod it at the same time, now I have no stops.

Damn! RU-vid must be reading my mind. I have been having this problem for a week now. All of a sudden my grounds have been sticking to the top and side causing a big mess when trying to knock them down or poor in my filter.

thanks just heard about this. as i was not going to spray my beans.

I've tried and it almost works good. I found that the coffee bean and the environment (time of year), are also major variables that influence a lot the static. I found that actually adding a couple of drops of water, instead of just the wet spoon, works great. Thanks!

I tried the sprayer, but it was still a little static from the rocky so I shall try this the next shot to see if it's any better. Thanks for the advice as always.

Thank you!

Woww... Thanks james... It works..!!

Thanks a lot. It’s work!

I need to try this ASAP

Does this trick works for hand grinders such as the porlex?

Fantastic.

I spray my beans with static guard

I needed to see this video years ago

this is very useful!

it works :-) thank you james

Thank you, thank you!

Ooh! I seem to have learned something useful.

Holy shit, it actually worked. Cheers!

my grinder came with silica gel packets and the manual for the 1zpresso is pretty clear it's not supposed to get wet but this is so infinitesimally small an amount of water i'm tempted.

Amazing! I will try it with my wilfa (which you so nicely demonstrated the technique on in the video) tomorrow morning! I love it that you had mentioned the static problems in your review of the wilfa, and then now reported a fix/workaround. How did you come upon this? 🙏🏼☕️🔥

Lovely. I have a wilfa that I'm was very close to replacing because of increased static.

This is awesome! I always add a few drops of water but sometimes a few becomes more than a few and I add it in the grinder so I'm a bit worried about rust. This technique will probably solve that!

I've been doing this for years (based on the RDT idea), only I just use my finger rather than a spoon. A spoon is probably a better idea in a commercial setting :-) Anyway, it really does work well. I use hand grinders and they're si messy if you don't do something to combat the static.

Wow? I have no words, it just works.

Very intriguing! There’s a coffee roster brand whos coffee I think is really great except for the crazy static of it that sticks all over the inside of my Armin Trösser. Will give this a try!

look at that datamoshing around James' hair at 0:36

I have a question, hopefully someone can help. What if my beans are all in the hopper, can I just stir all the beans in the hopper? I'm assuming so, but if that's the case - should I do it every time I grind or just once? I guess trial and error will be my friend here.

Thank you^^

just tried it... WOW... so simple, wish i had known about it 5 years ago. How it works is that the water creates a conductive element between the coffee beans and another conductor (the handle of the spoon). The spoon pulls off the extra protons in the coffee grinds that are expelled when grinding which would otherwise cause an electro-static field of attraction to anything insulating (glass or plastic, or anything not a conductor). Think of it like rubbing a balloon on carpet and the balloon becomes attracted to other insulators, but if the balloon is grounded to something conductive (the spoon), the force of attraction disappears.

Thanks for the info James, but I am a bit contradicting with your theory, I know you have the Kinu M47 and the catch jar is stainless with no static, I have the travel version with lots of static, if I do the RDT means all the fines will be in the cups, but if I don't use the all the fines will be stick to the grinder and catch jar...we are talking about v.60 not espresso, do you have any idea which one is better? Tia

Why I wet my spoon and not my beans Sorry, wrong channel

You're a lifesaver

The true way to end static is to store your beans in a conductive container, such as a tin.

Just wondering.... wouldn’t this affect the grinder over time? Part of the wet beans sticking to the burrs, rusting of the burrs etc. etc. :)

you are a genius

Thanks

my main man!

Hi. Will this process cause molds in the coffee grounds if the coffee is not consumed immediately?

if you want to grind 60g instead of 30g, do you have to use double amount of water or also just one spoonhandle?

Gonna have to try this in the morning, My Bunn G1 is a nightmare in the mornings! ^^

Does static in coffee beans affects the espresso extraction and taste?

I’ve read that this only works for single dose grinders (ie not in a barista machine where the beans are held at the top and will go off of wet for too long). Any suggestions for how to reduce static in these kinds of machines?

It works! You saves my breakfast.

Wow! 🙌

This is the simplest way to get rid of static. Also, it keeps the burr grinder heads clean.

O-M-M life changing

I will never manual grind without this hack again m(_ _)m

Its actually not the water that matters, but the spoon. What you are actually doing here is grounding the static buildup in the beans. The charge runs through the steel spoon, your body, and into the ground. I actually am convinced of this because I replicated this process with conductive and non-condutive replacements for the spoon and only conductive materials result in the static being brought under control. It took me nearly a month to figure out what kind of sorcery was at play here and it ended up being the simplest thing ever XD

Any tricks to get rid of clumping (using a Eureka Mignon MCI)? Thanks!

Holy shit. Thank you.

I think it's also used for Wilfa Grinder, is it okay? Summer is coming soon in Korea, so wouldn't the moisture cause problems with the grinder?