Originally published at: https://boingboing.net/2024/07/02/static-electricity-is-ruining-your-morning-cup-of-espresso-heres-how-to-fix-it.html
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James Hoffmann did a video on this paper a few months ago:
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The most reliable way to get rid of static electricity in your grinds is to let it dissipate. Which it will do in a couple of minutes.
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Glad to see that someone beat me to linking this 
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When it comes to coffee we need it now, not minutes later 
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I use a hand grinder and find if I slow the grind speed by 20-30% the static charge is much lower. I also have a spritzer to lightly spray certain whole beans I know will have a big static charge regardless.
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Some people want all the electricity.
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I have a hand grinder and had all sorts of static cling to the collector until I started doing two spritzes on my 15-30g of beans (depends on how I’m making my coffee) before grinding. Now, nothing stays behind and it all slides out gloriously.
It is minor, but an entirely positive change to my morning routine.
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Of all the first world problems out there… though I don’t drink coffee, so maybe this is a big deal.
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Folks are out there with a materials scientist and a volcanologist telling them how to make static-free coffee, and I’m back here with my grandmother’s Mr. Coffee and a can of Giant Eagle store brand grounds.
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I learned the ‘stir the beans with a wet spoon handle’ technique recently and it works great! Less hassle than keeping a little spritzer handy.
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And also the Lance Hedrick deep dive video on the paper:
So, it’s not really a big deal, no (and if static electricity is actually “ruining your morning cup” it sounds like you’ve got bigger problems). But can be a nice and cheap (free, essentially) solution to a little daily annoyance for people with staticky coffee coming out of their grinder (which is annoying and messy).
I think the interesting thing from the paper was that it also happens to improve performance (grind uniformity and extraction yield, etc). In my opinion, that part is mostly relevant to enthusiasts who are chasing those little improvements, but it’s at least nice that it doesn’t have any big downsides (as long as you’re not putting in enough water to rust your burrs).
Anyway - coffee’s a joy.
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And here was I thinking they studied lava, when all along it was java.
Although
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This finding alone more than justifies all the funding going to volcanology.
Meanwhile, UK scientists have worked out that hippos can fly (sort of):
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[Edit: as pointed out by @boonspender] The way I learned this was with a particular grinder with a rep for static cling in the finished product, it was suggested to rinse a spoon and use it to stir the beans immediately prior to grinding. I am not so great at the science here. I wondered if it had to do with the water itself or the fact that it had just been flowing and coming through an aerating screen.
Could something be attached or pressing against the container that is itself grounded to the coffee maker’s ground plug (which, most are only two prong so maybe not)?
I tend to grind several days worth of coffee when I set up the grinder (yes I know I’m a heathen), so a mild static charge dissipating in the refrigerator isn’t an issue for me. Even less so when I use my antique hand coffee grinder.
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