double tamping

Comments

• FreshCoffee2

  March 2004

  Hi DCBC, I cant see anything wrong with it if you employ a consistent coffee making technique in toto. Presumably if a double tamp resulted in your packing the grinds more than you would otherwise have done, you would readjust the grind /drop to compensate. As usual, finish off with the taste test...no point in doing something if it results in a crappy brew. FC.

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• dcbc

  March 2004

  the grind drop has been an issue but I am resolute in my approach to ensure consistency

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• mininova

  March 2004

  Yeah I do the same for the following reason. Basically, due the dose amount from the grinder I require 3 clicks to fill a double basket properly  so I usually click twice, tamp then click one more time (is click the technical term :D) I then sweep off excess grounds and perform the final tamp. This process minimises excess grounds spilling over my benchtop as it keeps the grounds level in the basket instead of the forming a peak keeping my work area much cleaner. Cheers Doug.

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• The_Chicksta

  May 2004

  Hi all, I have been trained with the traditional metal tamp and as a choice refuse to use anything else.  I dose by the cup, this allows the freshest cup of coffee.  When dosing to the cup, i turn the grinder on and start to dose immmediately or using the technical term 'clicking' hehe.  I fill the filter basket all the way to the top and then turn the grinder off.  Using one finger, i wipe away the excess coffee into the knock box, as once the coffee is ground it starts to oxidise right away.     Using my metal hand tamp, I tamp once, remove the tamp and tap the side of the group handle twice.  This removes any excess grind stuck on the inside of the filter that hasnt been tamped, i then tamp again and twist my  wrist twice to polish off the top of the cake.  And hey presto!!! Perfect espresso. The one thing that you need to careful of when hand tamping is that the coffee grind is always set correctly

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• mimmo124

  May 2004

  I double tamp no create a better cup and a cleaner group. If you make a coffee with a substandard tamp, the loose coffee grinds can swirl around and get flushed around the top of the shower, this results in a dirt machine that much be constantly backflushed to prevent stale coffee from contaminating the next cup. I know if i am tamping well enough by the state of the spent grounds before i empty them. If the surface is devoid of many loose grinds then I know i have tamped well enough, also the drip of the coffee is a signal of too hard to too soft (keeping the grind as constant, I dont like to adjust all night). I tamp once, tap the group to expose any lose grinds and them tamp again to produce a smooth 'cake'. I dont like to twist as chicksta just said, as my plastic tamp doesnt polish the coffee. The twisting action seems to loosen the particles :-/ Throughout the night I can add more or less grinds, backflush less often, spend less time cleaning all through the use of a proper tamping proceedure. The end result is happy customers, happy boss, and hopefully a noticeable increase in profits....all this from the double tamp!   :P regards Mimmo

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