Hi there,

I have a question about a 7 grams La Marzocco Strada Basket. If I fill it with 7 grams of coffee I'm not able to tamp it with my normal tamper - with absolutely horrific results.

(There are clumps, I don't like them - but if I grind coarser I get more than 30ml/1oz in 20-25 sec. The little specks will be the result of my fiddling around to get just 7gr. -guess I was just to annoyed to pay any attention )
I searched if anyone already had come across this and had a solution, but everybody seems to use the bigger baskets ... any ideas?

Even though 7g is historically considered a single dose my guess it that almost nobody on these forums follows that. Even on my La Pavoni I dose 12g+.

When I want to guess how much to put into a basket I'll either dose it level with the excess swept off and then weigh the dose or even easier I just put in whole beans until they are level to the top, but not above the top - weigh, grind, tamp and test. Those seem to work for me.

I've given up on single baskets for the same reason. They are extremely irritating to dial in a shot because of how they curve inside and I'm not sure if the tamp compresses it correctly. Also the head clearance seems massive if you under dose in the basket and I am not quite sure how that affects the shot

Thanks - I think the complete set (funnel/insert ring and small tamper) is just what I need.

Hmm. A new project!

Depending on the level of roast, 7g of a lighter roast will be a lot less volume than 7g of traditionally darker Italian style roast.

The plastic pushing widget that comes with doser grinders is made for tamping onto single baskets. As mentioned earlier, you can use a smaller tamper...

Alternative to smaller tamping solutions, you can use IMS single baskets, which supposedly are designed to take the same grind as their double basket, and use a standard 58mm tamper.

I also get decent results by doing a dual tamp with the type of basket you show. Again using a smaller tamp for the first stage.

I use and IMS "The Single" (strange designation) with small doses and also use it with a Reg Barber Euro Curved tamper.

Thanks for all the input.

I was in the basement (almost literally my cave ) to make something to tamp. Not finished yet, and then I read the remark about the plastic thingy that came with the grinder. I completely forgot about that, but had not chucked it out 8 years ago. It works ... at least no doughnut extration anymore. Still to fast for my liking, but drinkable. I removed the not tamped "excess" coffee by holding the basket upside down.
The IMS basket is also something I'm going to try - I like the looks and simplicity of it. And yes, the clearance to the showerscreen in this LM Strada 7gr basket is something that has me wondering also.

About the 7gr - yes the volume of a darker roast will be less. My MD ordered me to stop drinking coffee (but I asked if 1 cup of decaf per day was enough punishment and he agreed). I only can get dark roasted decaf, seems to have something to do with the decafprocess: the green beans are brown to start with. The rest of the family still drinks normal coffee - mainly Medellin Secret's Santa Finca SO and that is a light roast.
BTW my grinder works continuous or with a timer so I can make some corrections on the fly. But I'm starting to think about a second grinder.

Though it's wasteful, many cafes in Italy prepare a single by pulling a double with a dual spouted portafilter and letting the drip tray take one of the streams (unless there's an order for two singles). Many people find it easier to dial in and pull doubles, doing a good single can take a change in routine because there's less coffee mass so the grounds will heat up faster. With my levers I'll reduce or eliminate the pre-infusion time on the rare occasion that I pull singles to avoid burning the coffee.

I usually pulled singles when I felt like making multiple shots to be able to experiment with temperature, grind, or technique, or just enjoy pulling shots, I can double the number of shots with singles where I normally only feel like drinking one or two doubles in any one sitting.