The fracturing and friction of coffee beans during grinding generates electricity that causes coffee particles to clump together and stick to the grinder. Researchers report Dec. 6 in the journal Matter that coffee beans with higher internal moisture produce less static electricity, which means less coffee is wasted and there is less mess to clean up.
It’s literally a drop. Some grinders need it more than others because they’ll make a mess of grounds everywhere without it.
Ideally you use a spray bottle. Just give it 1 or 2 pumps, tops, then shake it about. The surface of the beans will still look and feel essentially dry.
Been normal to do this in coffee circles for a long time. It does not affect the burrs enough to detect.
You don’t do this in a coffee shop or if you’re grinding dozens of times a day, but most people are only doing 1-2 a day tops and that’s just not enough moisture to matter.
I started using James Hoffman’s tip of rinsing off a spoon, shaking the water off, and then stirring your beans before grinding them.
Then I started taking a single bean and quick passing it under the faucet before tossing it in with the rest and shaking it around.
Now I just have a small spray bottle I repurposed. All methods are equally simple and get the job done to keep grinds from sticking to my Encore’s hopper.
Like others have said, it’s more subtle then slightest touch of humidity rather than actually getting anything wet.
Yeah I do the spoon. It helps!