Spoiler, its RDT
In case people do nto know what RDT is, which they really should if they have been into coffee for a little while as it makes a big difference:
RDT is Ross Droplet Technique, which is very much adding water to beans. Named after David Ross who came up with it back in 2005
And that’s a perfectly valid choice.
Beans and water quality >>>>> technique >>> grinder >>>>> espresso or pour over gear, for coffee quality anyway. You’ll get most of the way there just getting the first two right
Personally an extra minute a day isn’t going to kill me and I like tasty coffee. Modern home grinders are trending towards single dose anyway, so it becomes closer to the norm than hoppers that are better suited to commercial grinders due to the throughput of coffee beans they need.
I drink about 5 coffees a day, so the beans only stay in my hopper a little while. But yeah, my setup doesn’t make fantastic coffee but I know how to make it not terrible - and it’s a cost and convenience compromise I am happy with.
Whatever works for you.
I am too focused on getting the exact weight of grounds out to make my recipes exactly repeatable (and pretty much essential for espresso anyway), which is so much harder to do with the majority of affordable grinders, to even entertain using a hopper. Then the retention caused by not being able to use bellows and RDT shudders
I am only going through about a kilo of espresso and a touch less than that of pour over beans a month, so its not like I am high volume.