(Nearly) Everyone ships a tamper with their machines. The real question is: does anyone ship a tamper that's actually worth a damn???

Well, since it's possible to pull decent shots without a tamper, any tamper should do.

FWIW, my fancy custom fit tampers are on the shelf and I've gone back to a generic 57.5mm flat.
[Fine grind, low dose and very light tamp.]

the shipped tamper is identical to the "RSVP Terrys Tamper" as found on amazon.com

56mm I think. It stinks - not quite as bad as the plastic ones - but with (some) respect to the positive reviews on amazon, it does stink. You can make espresso with it but it has no heft or balance, and you cannot really polish the puck with it.

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OK. Forget that respect part.

Excerpt from the amazon reviews.... "...I guess Terry's tamper does just that. It was a great price, I mean come on, who's the numbskull who would pay $20 for an item to tamp his grounds?..."

-bruce

'puck polishing' is a n00b feel good. ZERO cup

Obviously tamping is not the most important thing, but you seriously should buy a heftier tamper than the one that ships with the machine. You don't need to go nuts and spend $80, but you will want a better tamper than the included one.

My first external tamper was similar the RSVP. I got it because it was easier to keep clean and make a level tamp than the built-in on the Solis SL-90. For a few years, I used the 50mm end until I 'learned' about polishing, close fit, tippy-tapping, etc. So then I machined the 55mm end down to 53mm for a very close fit. Improvement ZERO.

A tamper that fits closer than 0.5mm is a PITA and 1mm clearance is probably ideal.

Other than aesthetics, and there are some truly beautiful works of tamper art, anything of the appropriate shape will suffice when it comes to clearing a little space.

For those new to the site, see Ian's poll How important is tamping? and subsequent discussion. Currently the "not at all important" adherents are in the minority at 6%.

Yeah... I thought the "coin roll" was the best thing that ever happened to me! Wait, maybe I've confused that with how fun it was to say "nutate." Hmmmm...

HB wrote:For those new to the site, see Ian's poll How important is tamping? and subsequent discussion. Currently the "not at all important" adherents are in the minority at 6%.

The poll is not science. It's akin to asking people who only eat chocolate ice cream what's the best ice cream.

Tamping maybe important in support of other impedimenta. Parameter change can make it irrelevant.

Most people who drive on the right refuse to hire a car in Britain, Australia, Indonesia maintaining "they'd be afraid to try it." 'nuff said.

shadowfax wrote:Yeah... I thought the "coin roll" was the best thing that ever happened to me! Wait, maybe I've confused that with how fun it was to say "nutate." Hmmmm...

I also cannot pass up the opportunity to say "nutate."

cafeIKE wrote:It's akin to asking people who only eat chocolate ice cream what's the best ice cream.

Not to belabor the point more than we already have, the full question was "Relative to other contributors to exceptional espresso, how important is tamping?" The equivalent would be more along the lines of "What is your favorite dessert?" where the pollster assumes the respondent has sampled more than one dessert in their lifetime.