Tamping - A gentle guide (kind of)

Dry_bean

Koffee Kosmo wrote:

Having said that, my routine is to swivel the tamper in a sort of canter-lever / flower pattern prior to pressing down This little swivel pushes down the edges of the puck Works a treat KK

Evening KK, You seem to be describing the rarely mentioned nutating tamp discussed here http://www.home-barista.com/tips/nutation-how-to-do-it-right-t12625.html I've tried it in the past but found it a little imprecise, gave me too much variation in my shots.

Kelsey

JamesM - nice to see you over here! I've followed your Giotto rebuild with interest, looked like a great project. Thanks for weighing in - hope you don't feel I was taking a shot at you over the precision tamper thing. FWIW I agree that it's not vital to getting a good shot, but I sure reckon it helps! I got a chance to play with some very nice tampers at the QLD social over the weekend. It was like night and day. Thanks Gary, I'll check that out. Brett, I did note your technique when we were around last - I'm not certain I agree with a compacting tamp or the portafilter bash (ok, tap!) 😉 but since the best coffee I've ever had was at your place I'm re-evaluating that 'stance' (it's too insecure to be a 'stand'. Even 'stance' is too strong a term. Hence the apostrophe's)!

coffeehorse

My 'tamping queen' is Hazel de los Reyes, and I've been fortunate enough to have a fair bit of machine time with her over the last 5 years or so. Not enough to be anywhere near her level, but enough to know they do a few things considered 'wrong' by some. Having said that, the biggest compliment I've had in my coffee-drinking life (at least, regarding coffee) is either when Hazel asked me to hop on the machine @ Coffee Alchemy or when she told me I had good technique. So I learnt: [list]

Collapse in the middle only if it suits the coffee you're using

Hazel doesn't mind a small 'polishing tamp' - not a spin but a gentle twist of the tamper through about 20-30

Brett_H

Dry bean. wrote:

Evening KK, You seem to be describing the rarely mentioned nutating tamp discussed here http://www.home-barista.com/tips/nutation-how-to-do-it-right-t12625.html I've tried it in the past but found it a little imprecise, gave me too much variation in my shots.

My feelings exactly DB. The huge hunk of stainless that is my Pullman Tamper doesn't easily suit this technique anyhow!

Kelsey wrote:

JamesM - nice to see you over here! I've followed your Giotto rebuild with interest, looked like a great project. Thanks for weighing in - hope you don't feel I was taking a shot at you over the precision tamper thing. FWIW I agree that it's not vital to getting a good shot, but I sure reckon it helps! I got a chance to play with some very nice tampers at the QLD social over the weekend. It was like night and day. Thanks Gary, I'll check that out. Brett, I did note your technique when we were around last - I'm not certain I agree with a compacting tamp or the portafilter bash (ok, tap!) 😉 but since the best coffee I've ever had was at your place I'm re-evaluating that 'stance' (it's too insecure to be a 'stand'. Even 'stance' is too strong a term. Hence the apostrophe's)!

BLUSH!!! When you're next over we'll have to drink tea because I'll never live up to that a second time. 😃 Some of these old threads when rejuvenated are absolute gems!

C-man

Having said that, my routine is to swivel the tamper in a sort of canter-lever / flower pattern prior to pressing down This little swivel pushes down the edges of the puck Works a treat KK

thanks for the tip KK Than and carefully watching the dose has made big improvements Cheers! C-man

Dry_bean

Here's a slightly modified blast from the past, it's over 18 months since I posted this and FWIW my opinions are still pretty much the same. [b]"You know I get a little pissed off with self proclaimed experts and retailers trying to tout their products telling me (and anyone else gullible enough to listen) that if I don

hiphipharar

I was demo'ing my previous machine (a VBM Piccolo) to a prospective buyer and thought I should use the bog-standard plastic tamper that came with the machine . It turned out to be one of the best shots I ever poured. He bought the machine. So is the tamp the least important part of the equation?

Dry_bean

hiphipharrar wrote:

So is the tamp the least important part of the equation?

I wouldn't say tamping is the least important part of the process, it's simply another link in the chain, each link is dependant on the previous step being carried out reasonably well to finish up with something like what we are aiming for. 🙂

Kelsey

It's funny this has come up again today, for me at least. Today I've pulled multiple almost-choke shots that have resulted in fairly wonderful, if incredibly short, 10ml ristrettos from a double dose over about 40 secs. I've coarsened the grind once and then twice and am still getting the same result - off the same beans that until yesterday were requiring a super-fine grind just to get a decently timed double espresso out off. And then it hit me. It's a nice day today - first day without rain or humidity in a while. It's incredible the difference that that can make..... Which makes me wonder about the viability of coffee reps who provide machine & grinder to cafes and come in on a regular basis to adjust the grinder - which is left set that way until the next visit....

askthecoffeeguy

Thanks again to AM for repairing my Concept Art Hydraulic tamper - way back when - its still going better that ever! At my work I use three of four tampers on high rotation to avoid RSI - but I keep coming back to the hydraulic one as the pressure is even and consistent, and the puck just seems to be packed that little bit tighter - with less effort - than would perhaps otherwise be the case, leading to a tighter extraction I almost always use the hydraulic tamper for short or long coffees to pack that extra punch and it seems to work a treat Now to mess with your mind: I wonder how many of you wipe out your baskets with a completely dry tea towel (or similar) as opposed to a slightly damp chux multi-cloth (or similar) - I for one have been noticing a darker and more dense extraction with the slightly damp cloth - my hypothesis for this is that it lines the basket with a fine film of moisture, 'trapping' the grinds and leading to a finer extraction. Or perhaps it just liberates a little heat from the sides of the basket providing a 'sticky' surface for the coffee that comes into contact with it - again leading to a tighter extraction Thoughts anyone? P

Kelsey

Oooh interesting! I've always been pedantic about wiping out with a dry cloth... time to try something different!

derrilex

Better try it out. I'm a wiper

RichardM

I do the unholy "wipe out stray grinds with my finger".

Ronin

askthe coffeeguy wrote:

my hypothesis for this is that it lines the basket with a fine film of moisture, 'trapping' the grinds and leading to a finer extraction. Or perhaps it just liberates a little heat from the sides of the basket providing a 'sticky' surface for the coffee that comes into contact with it - again leading to a tighter extraction Thoughts anyone?

Interesting. Perhaps the moisture traps and swells the coffee on the outside puck, but not the inside has something to do with it also.

derrilex

Tried the damp basket approach. Was getting a bit of spray action on the naked then went the wet basket and no more spray ? Who knows, could have just arsed it. One less process though so I might stick to wet wipe/no dry - because its sooooo time consuming to dry the basket 😃

derrilex

Awesome AM - out with the 2 mm shim then 😃 😃

lemoo

i've never actually tried that before to see how much space is between the puck and shower screen what would the best way to determine that space be? 5c test with rice?

derrilex

Just use coffee IMO :thumb:

Koffee_Kosmo

I also use a convex tamper Although both a flat and convex profile tamper face give good results, I find the convex to give better head space when the PF is locked in KK

C-man

why do blonds like tilt steering? Better head space..

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