What is the Normcore Magnetic Dosing Funnel?
A ring that turns a portafilter into a funnel, held on by magnets.
Normcore publishes anodized aluminium construction, nine neodymium magnets lining the ring, a knurled side edge for grip, an 18mm height, and a fit for 58mm portafilters including Breville. It is also sold in 54mm and in a taller 28mm version of the 58mm.
What it saves, and it is more than tidiness
Grind that lands on the counter is dose you did not put in the basket.
Espresso is a ratio. If you weigh 18g into the grinder and a gram ends up on the worktop, you brewed a 17g dose at the ratio you set for 18, and the shot runs faster and tastes thinner. That is invisible unless you weigh the basket rather than the beans, which most people do not.
A funnel keeps the whole dose in. It also makes WDT stirring possible without flicking grounds everywhere, which is the reason the two tools are nearly always bought together.
Pressed magnets, not glued
A detail worth checking on any magnetic coffee tool.
Magnets in cheap accessories are glued into recesses. Glue in a warm, damp, oily environment eventually lets go, and a neodymium magnet coming loose over an open portafilter ends up in the coffee or in the group head.
Normcore publishes the magnets as pressed directly into the ring with no glue used. That is a manufacturing choice with a cost attached, and it is the kind of thing that separates a tool from a trinket.
Normcore funnel vs the taller 28mm version
Same product, two heights, and the choice is about your grinder.
This is the 18mm ring. Normcore also sells a 28mm version of the same 58mm funnel, and the difference matters if you grind directly into the basket from a chute: a taller wall catches more of the spray from a grinder that throws grounds.
If you dose from a cup rather than under the grinder, 18mm is enough and sits lower on the counter. Buying the wrong height is the main way people are disappointed by this product.
Is it worth it?
Worth it if you grind into the basket, which most home espresso setups do.
It costs about what a bag of beans does, and it stops you throwing away a fraction of every dose. Against the generic magnetic funnels it costs more, and what you pay for is the pressed magnets and a brand that sells the matching sizes.
Normcore publishes no weight and no warranty for it, and it is aluminium rather than steel, which our build scoring ranks below stainless.
Who should buy it (and who should not)
Buy it if you own a 58mm machine and a grinder.
It suits anybody grinding directly into the portafilter, and it is close to essential if you use a WDT tool. Breville owners with 58mm machines are explicitly covered.
Do not buy this one for a 54mm Breville or a 51mm machine; Normcore sells those sizes separately and the magnets will not hold on the wrong diameter. And it does nothing at all for filter brewing.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is a dosing funnel for?
It sits on the portafilter basket and stops ground coffee spilling over the rim while you dose or stir, so the whole dose ends up in the shot.
Will it fit my machine?
This is the 58mm version and fits 58mm portafilters including Breville. Normcore sells a 54mm version separately.
Are the magnets safe?
Normcore publishes them as pressed into the ring rather than glued, which is the failure mode to worry about on cheaper magnetic funnels.
Should I get the 18mm or the 28mm?
18mm if you dose from a cup, 28mm if you grind straight into the basket and your grinder throws grounds around.
