This one is has a similar shaped handle to the Edesia tamper above, but a slightly more standard shaped base – and comes with a tamper mat, for the tamper to sit in. I'm only including a few WDT tools here, as there are so many hitting the market at the moment, and many of them are very similar. Watch this space, as I'll create a separate review post for WDT tools in the future and link to it from here. Best all-round WDT tool The small diameter of the mat misuses no extra space on the tabletop. So, it doesn’t matter where you want to tamp coffee grounds or the size of your countertop. And that means tamping. However, you don’t want that pressure traveling through to the workstation beneath your portafilter basket. That’s an easy way to damage your furniture over time, whether you’re at home or on the job.

Very strange looking sea-dwelling critter which is allegedly a fish, although I've often wondered if they're actually lobsters in disguise, and which I suspect are possibly capable of bike riding. Please bear in mind that not all manufacturers provide correct imagery and we may put a similar or alternative image to the actual product for illustration purposes only.The actual item you receive may differ from that which is displayed, for example the box may have changed or a model may have been upgraded or changed after we have added the product online. But all of the major decisions were made with reader's opinions in mind, including seemingly unimportant decisions like which pouches to go for, and delivery options. If you're constantly changing tamping pressure (because you're using a daft plastic scoopy tamper thing, or a fish, which would probably work just as well) you'll never fully appreciate the impact of the changes you're making.Portafilter simply means filter holder, by the way – and if you're asking “well why don't you refer to it as a filter holder?” the answer to that is that calling it a portafilter makes me feel more clever ;-). Basically, if you press it until it stops, there's a stiff spring that is designed to help your temp to be more consistent, but whether we can actually call this calibrated – not sure, but they do. If you run a coffee shop or are a professional barista, this tamping mat is the exact thing you are looking for. 7. Yolococa Espresso Tamper

If you want to use a leveler, no problem – but I'd use one as well as a WDT tool, not instead of one, as they do a different job. Remember, you could also brush your hair with your toothbrush, but you probably wouldn't? Each to their own! ;-). Some of the Best WDT Tools It's worth keeping in mind too, that while in most cases, the tamper is the same size as the portafilter, this isn't always the case.Not a great deal to say about this really, a fairly standard looking tamper with a wooden handle and stainless steel base. I'm not sure if the weight is correct, it says 399g which would make it particularly heavy weight! There are also leveler tools, which I believe started out with the OCD leveler, and now there are lots of similar devices to this, but I think it's important to point out that these kinds of tools don't quite do the same as WDT. Best Burr Coffee Grinders Best Home Barista Machine & Grinder Setups Best manual coffee grinders review Tamping mats and stations are meant to stand as a barrier between the metal of the portafilter you’d be tamping into and the surface of your work stations below.

What you'll find is that you just can't get a proper grip on these plastic scoop tamper things, which doesn't make them at all conducive to a level tamp. If you're already grinding your own, but you're using a grinder that belongs in the same chocolate teapot category as the plastic scoop tamper, improving your coffee grinder is often the best way to improve results. If you are going to hold and tamp, keep your wrist straight and your elbow bent at a 90-degree angle. Otherwise place your portafilter on a tamping mat or stand and ensure that the top of the portafilter is sitting perpendicular to the benchtop. I really like Sage Sage coffee machines and one of the great things about them, apart from the fact that they're usually really clever machines and punch way above their weight in terms of value for money, is that they usually come with proper tampers.

If you're looking for bigger jumps in your home espresso game, though, once you've got yourself a better tamper, the next thing I'd consider is the grinder situation. Since it is a small tamping mat, you will not have sufficient space to keep your accessories organized. I really like the look of these tampers – again I quite like the flared shape of the top of the base, the bit where you'll rest your thumb and forefinger. Yes, I'm sad, we've already ascertained that – but there's quite a big difference between this tamper and most others, which is that the rosewood handle flares out. It's apparently only 20g of being half a Kilo, flipping Nora! That's what you call a heavyweight tamper.

You can even roll the tamping mat up since it is unimaginably flexible. Due to the elasticity, it also lasts longer than other mats. Its unique design beautifies any tabletop. This pad is a good option if you are looking for a compact tamping mat that takes less space. A lot of this included what flavour profiles people were looking for, as I didn't want to only end up with a range of coffees that I love, I need customers to love them too. These are height adjustable which simply means that you can remove the silver ring to make the handle slightly shorter. It weighs 354g, and it seems like quite a lot of tamper for the money. If you weren't aware, tamping is what you need to do with the coffee in the basket before inserting it into your espresso machine.The Rhino Pro Corner Tamping Mat takes it a step further, offering a larger area and additional support, catering to the needs of professional baristas and passionate coffee aficionados alike. Perfectly Tamped Coffee with Rhino Pro Coffee Tamper The cheapest and easiest solution? Buy a tamping mat or stand. For an extremely low cost, you can apply a much more effective tamp and ensure that you have an even distribution of force applied to each tamp. Simply rest your portafilter on either a silicon mat or stand and witness how much easier this is than holding it in your hands. How to manual tamp like a pro As with all Concept-Art products, it is well designed and professionally crafted, and one of the most important aspects of the product is its aesthetic.