Everything You Need to Know
Tamping is integral to making fine espresso. The purpose of tamping your grounds in the portafilter is to create a uniform surface through which brew water can flow evenly. When your grounds are in the portafilter basket, lightly shake the portafilter from side-to-side to evenly distribute the grounds, and level off by brushing your finger across the surface. When tamping, you want to apply a strong but measured amount of pressure to the grounds on a level surface for an even tamp. A good starting point would be about 30 lbs of pressure.
Depending on your shot times, you will want to adjust your grind size to make adjustments to get ideal extraction times. Keep your tamp pressure consistent. If you are using pre-ground, then you will want to adjust the amount of coffee you put in the filter basket and the tamp pressure. Be sure not to over-tamp or exert too much pressure on the puck of coffee or you can cause channeling. Channeling causes a channel or fracture to open in the puck through which all of your brew water will try to flow, making for a very uneven or poor extraction. Ideally, you also want your tamped grounds to be level so that water flows evenly throughout the puck. If tamped unevenly, water will flow to one side of the puck.
Tamper Types
- Flat - This type of tamper features a completely flat bottom for a tight puck and even extraction. This kind of tamper is very common and widely used.
- Convex - This type of tamper features a rounded bottom for compressing the puck down and outward to seal against the walls of the portafilter basket. Convex tampers can be a little more forgiving when it comes to imperfections in tamping technique. Those who prefer convex tampers find more consistency in their tamps and reduced channeling around the puck.
- Calibrated - These tampers also come in flat or convex varieties, but their key feature is in the spring-loaded handle. As you tamp, the pressure you exert forces the handle downward until the handle hits a stop or a click is heard, depending on the brand of tamper. This tells you that you’ve exerted the recommended and, more importantly, consistent amount of pressure for an ideal tamp.
Tamper Diameter
The correct tamper diameter is typically determined by the machine you’re using. Semi-automatics tend to have a varying range of sizes depending on the basket size of their respective portafilters, but Prosumers and higher end single boiler home machines will opt for the commercial standard of 58mm. You always want to match your tamper diameter with the diameter of your portafilter. Too small and you won’t tamp all of your grounds, leading to channeling on the outside of the coffee puck. Too large and the tamper won’t fit in the basket at all.
