I've had the nickel rule in mind: placing a nickel above the puck to tell whether your basket is overdosed. But I wonder how this test works if you light tamp?

I have a Europiccola, and started light tamping because it seemed that there were proponents of this approach for manual levers. Specifically, I've followed the suggestions of the Orphans who made my tamper, which is 5mm thick. They suggest with a fluffy, Pharos grind, simply leveling with the tamper, and letting the dispersion screen compress the puck for the final 2mm (for a total of 7mm) when the portafilter is inserted into the grouphead.

So if I'm using this technique, wouldn't a nickel, if placed on top of the puck, always leave an impression?

Best wishes, Charles

Yes, the nickel test is designed to make sure there is a small gap between your screen and the top of your puck. Any technique that uses the screen itself as the final tamper will mean there is no gap.

vze26m98 wrote:I've had the nickel rule in mind: placing a nickel above the puck to tell whether your basket is overdosed. But I wonder how this test works if you light tamp?

Ditch the nickel test. Digital scales are ridiculously inexpensive (as little as $5 on fleabay). Buy a 0.1g resolution scale and start weighing your doses. You can't make a better investment in more consistent extractions.

RapidCoffee wrote:Ditch the nickel test. Buy a 0.1g resolution scale and start weighing your doses.

I got one when I bought my first grinder. Is that what the nickel test is supposed to substitute for?

Sortof yeah, but a scale will allow you to accurately dose to whatever level you want as long as its not too much. all the nickel does is tell you if you used too much.


a scale is crucial to making good espresso. I havent made espresso without a scale controlling some portion of the process since.. gosh, probably since I got my first real machine and grinder.

If you want a number, I suggest that dosing over 14g is pushing the limits of the small Pavoni double basket. (Yes, of course you can cram in more coffee. But note that 14g in a 49/51mm basket corresponds to 18-20g in a standard 58mm basket.)

RapidCoffee wrote:If you want a number, I suggest that dosing over 14g is pushing the limits of the small Pavoni double basket.

Yes, I figured this out. When you get to 14gm, it seems that puck expansion greatly constricts water flow. What was an 80% ristretto at a gram less, becomes a 110% and not worth drinking. It seems like 17gm in an MCAL basket is a similar limit.

That was the interest in the nickel test. Just wondering if there was another way to ascertain max dose. It doesn't appear to be the same for every coffee (eg Honey Badger).

Its not the same for every coffee, and to some degree, to every person.

The best way is to dial it in to taste, based on what your machine/basket combination allows.

The max dose for a tasty shot on your Pavoni, is going to be different on my Duetto, same coffee or not.

I use the nickel test when dialing in an unknown coffee or new machine. It just gives me a guideline so I know how much space is between my puck and shower screen with a given weight. Some machines work best with some headspace like Elektra and Bezzera's while others do not make much difference at all.

Thanks for this. It'll be useful as it appears I'll be moving away from the Orphan's "leveling tamp" to a nutating, light tamp.

My day was pretty frustrating, and I finally got to pull an espresso around 4pm. Last night I had read the Matt Perger thread from last summer that discussed nutating tamps, and tried it today.

It rewarded me with the best pour of Hairbender I've tasted, either at home or down on 29th street. Slow, even, additional crema; an extremely tasty shot.

In retrospect, I guess the Orphan approach overdoses the basket much more than I'm doing, and as a result, the pressure of the screen doesn't resolve channels, etc. in the ground coffee.

Also, from the Pharos, I dump to a piece of paper, and had started WDTing in the portafilter, but this seemed to create clumps rather than eliminating them. Today no WDT; it was just onto the paper, into the portafilter via homemade dosing funnel, tap-tap on my hockey puck and a light nutating tamp.

Can't wait to try it again!