Jared wrote:Too many fancy tampers coming out lately. I think the best type that recently hit the market are the auto leveling tampers that guarantee a perfect tamp. I still struggle at times to get my tamp even so I may have to invest in one someday.

I stopped thinking about this and kept practicing. Those gadgets are nice but you'll never master the skill of tamping. Just give it some time and you'll learn to tamp the right way and can make coffee at someone else too instead of being dependent on a gizmo for making coffee. Tamping isn't rocket science.

Ahh. Wish I had the money to afford some of those toys.

Interesting - adding a few drops of water to the beans before grinding? It least that's what I assume it was, although my first impression was something else..

Jared wrote:Too many fancy tampers coming out lately. I think the best type that recently hit the market are the auto leveling tampers that guarantee a perfect tamp. I still struggle at times to get my tamp even so I may have to invest in one someday.

I was thinking the same thing a few years ago...if only there was a foolproof tamper that told you when you were level. I decided to give it some serious thought and so, I started by analyzing my hands and my tamper. Well, I have short stubby fingers and they just don't reach very far down the standard tamper handles. So...I decided to try a short handled one. It's now very easy for me to feel around the tamper base to the basket rim and tell if the tamp is level or not. Sure, I can hold it up to eye level and see if the tamper is tilted, but now I don't have to do that, because whenever I do, it's just right.