[lfuller]

As I've seen several comments on this here - people have used spritzes of water to reduce static when grinding coffee for years, but the interesting part of this study was the finding that beyond reducing static, adding enough water prior to grinding actually reduces flow rate and increases extraction by preventing the creation of coffee clumps / aggregates.

So it confirms the anti-static properties that everyone already knew, but has interesting implications for increasing extraction without changing any other variables.

[c0pium]

It also bears pointing out that the amount of water needed to achieve these anti-clumping effects is probably twice what people are using following existing RDT (water spraying) methods.

[searealist]

WDT was already super popular, so the declumping properties aren't very useful. And the static issue is mostly limited to non-traditional light roasts.

[stouset]

The clumps in question are electrically bound, so WDT likely won’t do much to break them up.

[checkyoursudo]

I am not a coffee historian or even very knowledgable, but I thought that light roasting is the more traditional (even ancient) way of making coffee and that the roasting has gotten darker over time. Not so?

[xethos]

> For instance, lighter roasts have more internal moisture than darker roasts, and the latter is more prone to clumping

I suspect you might have it backwards regarding the issue being limited to non-traditional light roasts.

[laweijfmvo]

I imagine that the clumps being discussed here are much smaller and much more electrostaticly attached than a NDT can deal with.