For years I have had problems getting even extractions..
I have been watching all the new dose levelers and was thinking of buying one..

I'm now not so sure I have to go this route and I would like to share and get any Dosing/Tamping input I can..
What is the Hot New Best Tamper Shape for 2016?

My Story to share..
Few months ago I bought a new to me Reg Barber Tamper handle and four extra bases..
Three of the bases were (C-Flat: 58.5mm, 58.6mm, & 58.7mm) These have a large radius at the edges and not a curved bottom.. Also one Euro curve: 58.6mm which I have not tried yet..

I am currently using the largest and don't think I could fit the next size larger..
My extractions are much much better than using my old loose fitting flat tamper..

I don't know if it's the tight fit or the C (radii on the edges) of the my new bases but tamping is easy breezy now, compared to a few years of going crazy with a 58.0 mm flat base..

The tamper diameter makes a huge difference. Once I went to VST baskets and a Cafelat tamper made to fit those baskets (58.4mm I think), consistency went way, way up.

58.5 Flat Tampers that come to a point at the edges to avoid suction. Personally I use a 58.4 Eazy Tamp 5Star Pro.

I think the flat, VST-sized with the tapered edge is pretty "hot" right now. i.e. the Pergtamp or Kafatek tamper.

+1 OCD + pergtamp

+ Mahlgut for tapered side walls and sharp circumference edge.

Hi Folks,

Here's an opinion, FWIW. Distribution is important for consistency, tamp not nearly as much. I get consistent shots without my tampers scraping against the walls of the filter basket, and my distribution of grounds with a divot in the middle before tamping seems to take care sufficiently that my flat tampers work well.

Interesting study: http://socraticcoffee.com/2015/08/compa ... er-on-tds/

Interesting study indeed. It seems to point to that the extra 0.5 millimeter or close to that doesn't change as much as some would think.
I gotta agreed with Gary here. I believe a focus on getting an even bed of coffee with as polished a surface as possible is the way to better extraction. And I'm not sure that a fraction of a millimeter is going to make a difference if one already has a well made 58 millimeter tamper.
I believe that a bigger and heavier tamper could however make it easier to make a level tamp, since one would easier feel the the difference in the surface of the coffee, than with a lighter and smaller tamper when using the regular tamping method. The heavier the tamp, the more slow and controlled the tamping will be, which I think produces better results. And since many of the more expensive fitted tampers are also bigger and heavier I believe that they might actually improve the quality of the tamp for a lot of people, but not because of 0.5 millimeters.

Heavy tamper are easier to use. Try the plastic tamper that comes with a machine and that point becomes rather obvious...

But great extraction doesn't come from a good tamp but mainly from a well prepped basket (which in itself is a function of the grinder output).

So IMHO an interesting tamping system is one that combines the prepping and the tamping. IMHO Lyn Weber is the first to think the process of dosing (the "cellar" jar method), grinding (the nice looking EG1 or HG1), the basket prep (the "tumbler"), and I assume, a tamper in the future.

That is the first system of its sort and is therefore applauded (quality seems reasonable - even ample - but the pricing leaves a lot to be desirable...).