Mcgee wrote:
.............My question is how do I know what is better, what should I look for in determining which is the better way to go? i.e courser grind with more tamp pressure or finer grind with less tamp pressure?...
Cup the coffee made one way and then the next, and let your palate tell you which way you like it best. WRT your technique, the idea as others have said is then to be as consistent as you can from coffee to coffee, ie in the end it doesnt matter whether you tamp harder or softer, as long as you do it the same all the time. FWIW I like to grind slightly more coarse and I tamp perhaps a little heavier than the "specified" figure.... If you dont have consistency in your technique, you cant compare one coffee to the next. Hope that helps.
