Have you heard about the coffee tool known as OCD? it was developed by Sasa Sestic, the 2015 World Barista Champion and he is Australian! The Ona Coffee Distributor (shortened to OCD) is a round 500g chunk of metal with fins on the underside that contacts with the coffee grounds and is designed so that a correctly dosed coffee basket will have its coffee grounds distributed in the basket perfectly, evenly and consistently, every singe time. That repeatably allows you to concentrate on other areas of your coffee technique, and will reduce the effects of water channelling where presurised water will take the path of least resistance through the coffee puck. This tool does not replace a coffee tamp, though I have seen baristas completely omit the tamp and rely solely on the OCD tool as a combination distribution and tamping tool. I bought my first OCD late 2016 at around $160 and was very pleased with the purchase. The only problem I had with the device was that while it was adjustable, it required plates (or shims) to be inserted to raise and lower the head.
Can the original OCD be improved?
It is ironic that the Chinese knockoffs that appeared on eBay of the original design, were in fact improved (some of them were, some were a direct copy). These replicas had an internal adjustment so that the height could be changed on the fly, without the need for adjusting shims. They also weighed in at the same heft of around 500g. I had to buy one of these as well, of course. While the quality doesn't compare to the original, it is a nice spin on the original.
So, the OCD tool is rebuilt, better than the original.
Thats right, in 2017 the original OCD tool is revised to now include that on-demand adjustability that the knock-offs used. I have not purchased the V2 OCD- at an extra $40-$50 on the original, I might leave that for Santa, or the Easter Bunny, or the Tooth Fairy.