WDT Tool Espresso, Espresso Distribution Tool Compatible with Breville Espresso Machine 51MM Bottomless Portafilter Baskets, Spinning Espresso Needle Stirrer, Espresso Machine Accessories

This is a well-thought-out WDT. When you place it on top of your portafilter, twist it and see the gears move, which is entertaining. You can decide how many times you want to stir your grounds, they recommend 2 to 8 turns.PROS:Steampunk-ish designPlanetary gear entertainment when using itLove the checkered top designAdjustable hightsStirs my grounds greatCONS:Lightweight material construction and feelOEM advice:Add 1/2 an ounce or more weight to have a better feel experienceKeep and expand on the steampunk-ish theme, make a partial or full metal product

This required height adjustment to fit in my portafilter perfectly. I usually have a magnetic dosing funnel on my filter and would have to take it off for this to fit which is an extra step. However, it fits great and spins without much issues. It distributes the coffee bed evenly and I get a consistent extraction!

Getting it adjusted isn't super easy- it's hard to know when you've gotten it JUST right, so that the needles are barely above the bottom of your basket. You might get close, but fine adjustments aren't easy, so getting it perfect is a bit of a challenge. If you only use one basket, it's a set it & forget it sort of thing, and that doesn't matter. Unfortunately, I switch fairly regularly between baskets, each of which has a different depth, which means this really only gets used with one of my baskets- as I don't want to go through the depth adjustment procedure all the time. I just use a regular manual spike WDT tool for my other baskets... but those are not nearly as fun as this spinny geared tool, which is just really fun to twist and watch the gears interact with each other.

I got this item because I thought I needed it, based on the marketing aspect of the product. Turns out, I don't think I needed it at all, and I'm pretty sure I don't like it at all. Normally I will fresh grind my beans and put a fairly specific amount into the portafilter with the assistance of a "dosing funnel", which I find essential in reducing the mess. With the funnel, all my coffee goes directly into the portafilter. I grab my spring loaded coffee press, and push it down to compress the grinds, and that's about it. When adding this espresso distribution tool to the routine, I end up with coffee all over the place because as these little metal tines spin around, they just don't keep the coffee in the basket. Maybe it is because I do not have a Breville espresso maker. Perhaps that's the key to this item not working for me. For that reason, I can only give it two stars. It does seem to work well as far as randomly spinning around, and the design is clever. Perhaps I'll look into trying it some more in the future, but for now, it's been retired. The quality seems good enough, the materials seem durable, and the price seems fair. If you have a Breville espresso maker and think you could benefit from one of these, I would recommend it, but, as I said, it didn't work for me.

Coffee tools are almost always priced at a premium since it's considered a "luxury" hobby. And since my tools all live on my coffee bench, out in the open, I'd prefer something that's not a 3D-printed eyesore. And this very much is.To be fair, for a 3D-printed tool, this is probably about as refined as you can make it. But I think it should be required for sellers to disclose when an item was 3D-printed. And the seller does try very hard to hide that fact in the photos and marketing materials.As for functionality...Unfortunately, this WDT tool didn't fit my portafilter (see photo). I was able to modify it to make it work. It was a pain, but oddly enough, it having been 3D-printed actually made the modification easier.When I did get it fitted onto my portafilter, it worked exactly as expected. The magnets held onto the basket and kept the grounds from spilling out. I've used some more high end rotary WDT tools and I'd say this did just as good a job.So, all that having been said...At the time I'm writing this review, this tool sells for $32. And I think that's pretty fair (if you don't care about aesthetics or the possible need for modifications). It ain't pretty, but it definitely gets the job done.Removed a stars based on my own individual experience. One because of the undisclosed 3D-printing and another for it not fitting my portafilter. Depending on your set up, ymmv.

This WDT tool is great for distributing grounds evenly in the portafilter, improving my espresso shots' consistency. The needle stirrer works smoothly, and it fits exceptionally well with Breville 54mm baskets and the dosing funnel I am using. The footprint is relatively small. The reason for 4 stars is due to small design flaws and the build quality. The height adjustment feature is great but the problem is there isn't a way to lock it in place, so it's pretty loose and easily adjusted by accident. Wrap a rubber band around the space in between the adjustment thread give it some friction will fix it. For the price, this is decent.

If it was printed with higher quality material and or printer it would possibly be more useful. It’s not smooth at all. Clumsy and bulky. Returned item.