I wanted to try more of a 'lungo' type of drink this morning instead of my usual Americano. I heard you usually grind a little coarser and maybe tamp a little less when pulling a longer shot. I didn't want to change my grinder setting so I thought I'd experiment with just the tamp. I used the distribution tool only (it usually makes a tamped looking puck) and did not tamp at all. I usually use a Espro calibrated tamper. I looked at the shot clock and was surprised to find the time was almost the same! Meaning at 25 seconds I had roughly the same output volume. It's much quicker to just use this tool than the extra tamp. Does anyone else use a tool like this and skip actual tamping or could this have just been a quirk?

What grinder and espresso machine do you have?

Profitec Pro 600 with Ceado e6p.

I have seen just a few videos of folks using only a distribution tool (always the palm type) w/o a tamp. I would think that the depth is adjusted to add some down-force while twisting. But most videos show both a distribution tool and some type of tamper being used.

But, like anything else, it comes down to do you like what you're tasting. If the answer is yes, stick with it.

Nowadays I use only the distribution tool. But it does have to be adjusted for enough depth to compress the puck, even if only a little. No way it compresses as much as a tamper at ~30lb.

I normally use an 18g VST basket filled with 17g of coffee. I have the tool extended nearly to the maximum depth and haven't needed to adjust it as long as I don't change the basket size or brand.

With some coffees (primarily some of my home roasts) the puck will fill less of the basket and I can't extend the distribution tool enough to provide enough, if any, compression. In those cases I follow the distribution tool with a light tamp. I use the spring-loaded Kafatek tamper, which guarantees that the puck will be level.

I've never used my distribution tool without tamping, but I could see how it could work. As long as it is compressing the puck "enough", right? I've always tamped just to the point where the tamper stops moving downward, and don't worry so much about XX lbs of force. Once the puck is compressed to the max, is exerting more pressure on it truly going to change anything? As long as it's level and compressed enough, you should be good to go. Most importantly, if it's working and it tastes good, keep it up!

cpro48609 wrote:I wanted to try more of a 'lungo' type of drink this morning instead of my usual Americano. I heard you usually grind a little coarser and maybe tamp a little less when pulling a longer shot. I didn't want to change my grinder setting so I thought I'd experiment with just the tamp. I used the distribution tool only (it usually makes a tamped looking puck) and did not tamp at all. I usually use a Espro calibrated tamper. I looked at the shot clock and was surprised to find the time was almost the same! Meaning at 25 seconds I had roughly the same output volume. It's much quicker to just use this tool than the extra tamp. Does anyone else use a tool like this and skip actual tamping or could this have just been a quirk?

I just visited a La Marzocco machine demo at Counter Culture in Chicago, and the only tool they were encouraging us to use was the St. Anthony BT Wedge Distribution Tool. It is exacty what it sounds like, and they encouraged us to put the tool on the portafilter, give it a few spins and then lock in for a shot. Since it was a demo and there were a lot of people there, I didn't get to experiment much but the coffee was good. Shots seemed to extract in the correct time frame (some longer) and looked pretty even.

They said they use it exclusively behind the bar as a tool to remove one more variable among their many baristas. Makes sense to me. This specific tool is pretty expensive at $150, but I may be convinced to splurge on one down the line.

TLDR: You can use only a distribution tool, although specific coffees and equipment setups may preclude it.

I use this tool to distribute and tamp. https://is.gd/YdtAlQ

Why? Consistency. We have 6 coffee drinkers in the house and not all are 'baristas', lol. And we tend to use the same locally roasted coffee. The tool is adjusted depth wise to give a firm 'tamp' once it is spun down to touch the basket edge.

Routine:
> Measure 18g,
> grind dose in Specialita,
> use tool to gradually/gently spin down grinds until it touches basket. (added bonus: the tamp is perfectly level).
Pull a shot and voila - same results every time, even for beginners. Couldn't be simpler

JerDGold wrote:I just visited a La Marzocco machine demo at Counter Culture in Chicago, and the only tool they were encouraging us to use was the St. Anthony BT Wedge Distribution Tool. It is exacty what it sounds like, and they encouraged us to put the tool on the portafilter, give it a few spins and then lock in for a shot. Since it was a demo and there were a lot of people there, I didn't get to experiment much but the coffee was good. Shots seemed to extract in the correct time frame (some longer) and looked pretty even.

They said they use it exclusively behind the bar as a tool to remove one more variable among their many baristas. Makes sense to me. This specific tool is pretty expensive at $150, but I may be convinced to splurge on one down the line.

TLDR: You can use only a distribution tool, although specific coffees and equipment setups may preclude it.

Learned the same method from the LM Home team. I actually tasted some shots at their US headquarters made with the Mazzer ZM and Linea PB using this method that were incredible. We even pulled a passable shot without tamping on a GS3 MP by adjusting the grind finer (the clean up was... not ideal). Anecdotally, it works really well. Since then I've done this method on a range of grinders and machines all with good results. I mostly used the SAI wedge tool, but I've used the OCD v1 with decent results. I say do what works best for you.

I haven't used a tamper in about 14 months, since discovering by accident (I forgot to tamp) that my grooming tool does the job. I do use line pressure PI for about 30 seconds before every shot, which probably helps too. As stated by others, setting the grooming tool with enough extension to slightly compress the puck is all you need for many coffees. See this thread for more discussion.