I've been using mine at our shop now for a couple weeks and my thoughts mirror Mike's.

I believe Matt said it was designed to be used with ridgeless as that's his preference.

I have noticed that it's a little harder to achieve a level tamp. I think it's because there's more finger manipulation as I dive the tamper into the coffee than there would be with the base heavy Cafelat tamper. I think it's also easier to correct the levelness of the puck - if you get what I mean - with a base heavy tamper.

Having said that, I'm getting better at using the tamper. I needed to change my approach since the weight distribution is so different to what's common. I've reminded myself that the level is what matters. I regularly tamp like a gorilla.

I'm indifferent about the product. I mainly got it cause of it's flat base... this isn't something I've noticed making any difference in my shots so... blah.

I took the tamper to work and it really seems to work better with ridgeless baskets, I've worked with the VST 15 g ridgeless and IMS 26,5h 18 g ridged, the tamper seems to pick up some grinds from the ridge cavity into its flange so I had to clean it more after tamping, the other tamper I use is an IMS 58,4mm base with wooden handle, I prefer that with the ridged basket. The Barista Hustle tamper has sharper edge and I like to use it at home with ridgeless baskets I've got, I am getting nice and even extractions.

Without a doubt this tamper is meant to use with a ridgeless basket, otherwise dealing with the grounds becomes simply tiresome.

I think I can sum up my feelings on this tamper pretty quick after having used it for a few weeks:
- Price is right.
- Best fit/seal I've seen to any basket.
- Handle ergonomics make achieving a level tamp challenging.

It has replaced my RB 54.3mm for the moment, and I really liked that tamper!

Spitz.me wrote:I just got mine... FINALLY. The tracking for the package is absurd. Tracks the package until it leaves HK and then the updates just stop until you find the tamper in your mailbox eventually. That was my experience, anyway.

Canada Post removed publicly accessible tracking data for inbound international registered mail in 2015 because of the influx of cheap packages from China. You will see tracking updates until it leaves the origin country/area and then nothing else.

http://forums.redflagdeals.com/canada-p ... g-1819377/

Thanks for that Chris, I didn't know that.

While I'm liking the BH Tamper I do find that I much prefer the base heavy traditional tamper feel. I think the best way to describe the difference is that the BH Tamper is to a traditional tamper as a software keyboard is to a real one. You can get the same outcome from both, but it feels better to have the feedback or feel that you're used to.