Tampers are important.

[ericnorby]

You guys already knew it, and I already knew it. But I recently was forced to realize, truly, how important a good tamper is. Not even a great tamper, but a good one, will make your job easier and more consistent.

I work at a place where the shots can range anywhere from mediocre to great. The training is, to put it bluntly, inconsistent. People dose high, people dose low, people rarely dose *right*. The grinder is rarely changed, and before I came, the tamper was one of those two-sided aluminum clusterf***s. After my first shift, I brought in a $15 lava tamp that I bought at another shop in town, and instantly, my coworkers fell in love with me/it. I don't know which came first, but love anyway.

It was abused. Aluminum based, the thing had no choice but to dent and scratch and just get in miserable shape. And the plastic handle was begging for a crack.

Knowing that the tamper was eventually going to break, I ordered an Xpressivo Presso last Wednesday or Thursday. When I came in to work on Saturday, the handle was cracked, and on Sunday, the handle and the base separated.

I had to work two shifts with that two-sided aluminum doo-dad. Let me tell you, it is impossible to be consistent with one of those. You have to tamp 4 times with the exact same amount of pressure, or it's not right. It's harder to judge the amount of pressure you're tamping with when you have a "base" jabbing into your palm.

Sometimes, getting a new accessory (like a tamper, or grouphead brush) really can change the way you picture espresso. At least for me, it seems you have the two major building blocks down: espresso machine and grinder. The tamper acts as the conduit between the two. It translates the beans to an extractable mass. And every time I get a new tamper, I realize how important the tamper is, truly, to a good extraction. It's more important than the machine, but less important than a good grinder.

Try it sometime. Work for, say, a week with one of those double-sided aluminum things, then go back to your regular tamper.




I just had the nerve to lay out the most simplistic thing ever. But really, the tamper is more important than most people give it credit for. We're spoiled.

[jesawdy]

Knowing that the tamper was eventually going to break, I ordered an Xpressivo Presso last Wednesday or Thursday. When I came in to work on Saturday, the handle was cracked, and on Sunday, the handle and the base separated.

OK, at first when I read this I thought you meant the Xpressivo broke within a few days , but now I'm guessing you meant the abused aluminum Lava tamp, right?

I was thinking that if this bunch of baristas is that murderous to tampers that you might consider a solid stainless steel tamper. One that is a solid chunk of steel.... that will break toes or bones before it's even going to get a dent.

[Randy G.]

.........I was thinking that if this bunch of baristas is that murderous to tampers that you might consider a solid stainless steel tamper. One that is a solid chunk of steel.... that will break toes or bones before it's even going to get a dent.

I thought the same- a 58mm, ten inch long cylinder of solid stainless steel! Let them try to break THAT!

[HB]

You guys already knew it, and I already knew it. But I recently was forced to realize, truly, how important a good tamper is. Not even a great tamper, but a good one, will make your job easier and more consistent... It's more important than the machine, but less important than a good grinder.

Try it sometime. Work for, say, a week with one of those double-sided aluminum things, then go back to your regular tamper.

OK, when it comes to tamper choices, I'm spoiled. But my predilection for collecting them is as much tied to my admiration of their craftsmanship and the "feel" they lend to the process as the purported results. I think that I could make do with a cheap tamper, even a plastic freebie if need be, though I doubt I would enjoy it. It'd be a completely different story in a cafe where repetitive stress syndrome comes into play. I work long hours on a computer and messed up my wrists for years because I ignored ergonomics. The same goes for a pro barista.

You claim the tamper is more important than the espresso machine? Sorry, love 'em as I do, the tamper is way down on my list of critical success factors for preparing exceptional espresso in a home environment. But thanks for sharing your experience at the shop. If I can find one, I may try a plastic throwaway tamper or the grinder appendage, just to remind myself how much it bothers me.

[Psyd]

you might consider a solid stainless steel tamper. One that is a solid chunk of steel.... that will break toes or bones before it's even going to get a dent.

I'm pretty happy with the one that is stainless based, with a solid (well, better than 500g, anyways, 'cause it Errors my scale) handle. The brass is going to show some more wear than if it were stainless, but it sure is purdy. It's got heft, so I wouldn't want to have to use it in an all day environment, but it feels pretty sexy for my two or three doppio a day. Dropping it suggests that something will break, and that it won't be the tamper, so it inspires confidence.