I just got my first Silvia and she is great. I have pulled about a dozen shots and its pretty neat to see how different things effect the final cup

Question is which tamper have you folks found to work? I know it says a 58mm portafilter, but with the double basket in the portafilter and a 58mm tamper, it seems to hit the small ridge in the basket. This prevent a full tamp on the puck. Is a tamper available with a rounded bottom corner to clear this? Or is a different basket needed, or a 57mm tamper, or..? I have used a 58mm tamper, and then the small plastic one that is included with the Silvia. Any suggestion here are more than welcome!

Zach,

If the ridge is hitting your tamper and you already have a 58mm tamper, just buy a new double ridgeless basket. It'll set you back $10 - $12 with shipping. Remember, that's a double, not a triple. You'll need a bottomless portafilter for a triple.

Welcome to HB!

Try using more coffee. Loosely fill the basket fully, or nearly so. Level off straight across the top of the basket, then tamp. See my "How-To" #12 on my website (right-hand column).

A good old 58mm tamper should work, no need to get a tamper milled to a 58.xx diameter. I have seen some generic eBay tampers run large/small before but the big makers have tend to have better QC. The only baskets I have had issues with are the LM doubles, they are almost always undersized and need a 57mm tamper.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0016CBO74/ works fine for me with the stock double basket, though I second the comment of the person who thinks your dose is too small. You really want to get a scale and weigh your doses for consistency anyway...

I have the Intelligentsia 58mm convex tamper, which not only has great feel to it, but also great-looking. But it'll set you back almost a hundred bucks.

If aesthetics and heft aren't major factors for you, there are far more affordable convex tampers. And I highly recommend a convex tamper for the Silvia, because of the nut on the shower screen that fractures the puck on contact. Convex tampers depresses the center of the puck, so it clears a bit more space to avoid the nut.

With a convex tamper and underdosing, you can get some pretty good extractions.

Great guys! thanks for the help here. I think a convex tamper and some new ridgeless baskets are in order. Thanks for you suggestions!