Choke: What a less powerful espresso machine does when it is unable to force water through grounds (usually due to grounds being too fine for the machine) 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.

This lightweight and balanced tamper is quite revolutionary since it goes against the trend of super-heavy tampers dominating the market in recent years. You don’t need a heavy tamper; you just need the proper tamping technique.What these kinds of espresso machines usually come with, is a plastic thing with a scoop at one end and a flat circular plastic thing at the other end, which is supposed to be a tamper. The Coffeeworks began as a project involving coffee bloggers (coffee blog readers – so that now includes you), in which I ran a series of polls to find out what readers were looking for. 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! For the best results make sure to distribute your coffee evenly before tamping, you can use our coffee distributors and/or WDT tool for this. That way channeling is a thing of the past. When lower-pressure brewing is involved, compacting grounds isn't necessary because of the longer brewing, or steeping, process. Extraction with espresso occurs via pressure, and the only way to achieve proper extraction is with tamping, employing at least 20-30 pounds of pressure.

There are various other similar tools with similar needle size, but this one seems nice and sturdy, it comes with a stand which I find handy, you can change the needle setup (if you want to) and the number of needles/pins used. Smaller sizes like 53 mm and 51 mm are also VERY common, especially, with cheaper models from companies such as Breville and Delonghi. So when I say this is amazing coffee, I'm not just saying that as a business person who wants you to buy his products. Loads of people have developed the technique and made it their own, and the majority of people these days use some form of multi-pronged pointy implement, and these are generally known as “WDT tools”. Depending on the style of tamper you choose, our tampers have a specific weight. Although the weight does not impact results, you might have a personal preference:This is the 58mm version of the Diguo Elegance tamper I mentioned earlier, with its adjustable height handle which is done by adding or removing the metal washer. Quite a nice looking tamper I think and looks good for the money.

The most important things about tamping, are a level surface, and consistency. So just tamping in a way that you're able to do consistently each time, just applying pressure until you can tell that the tamper has stopped compressing the grounds, while ensuring that the tamper is completely level, is fine. This is completely down to the individual. I personally prefer handled tampers to flat tampers, and I prefer heavier weight bases with wooden handles. I'm not a big fan of the all-metal tampers, as I just find wood is a bit nicer to hold than metal, but each to their own. The Luxhaus is about as bare-bones as the best espresso tampers get without skimping on quality metal or meticulous construction, as evidenced by its perfectly balanced handle and base. The handle's conical shape accommodates a range of hand sizes and grips, and at just shy of 14 ounces, this tamper is hefty enough to get the job done with or without a leveler. The tamper is also equipped with an auto-level disc and includes 3 calibrated springs (15lb/25lb/30lb) , so you can achieve a consistent tamp with just the right pressure every time. It also comes with a surprisingly “premium” carry case and two extra springs, each calibrated to a different pressure.

Another Lelit tamper, and this one is all stainless steel, yet at 250g apparently lighter than the one above which has an Aluminium handle, which amplifies my suspicions that this tamper does not have an auto shut off… 😉 One of which is the simple and inexpensive action of improving their tamper and some of the others are equally as easy and similar in terms of cost! Tamping is a key part of the espresso-making process, and the “tampers” with which a lot of domestic espresso machines are shipped are a joke! Well, they're not tampers at all.

Not only will it help, but I believe that improving your tamper and therefore your tamping, is one of the low-hanging fruit where espresso making is concerned. This is the WDT tool I usually use in conjunction with the above if I'm using a two-tooled approach.

Attributes of a Great Coffee Tamper

Anyway, these particles can gather in clumps, and this is especially true with certain grinders, even more so with grinders towards the entry-level. Distributing the coffee essentially means to break up the clumps and more evenly distributing the ground coffee. An uneven and sloppily tamped filter will have less dense regions. What many non-professional baristas don’t realize is that this creates a phenomenon known as channeling. What I do believe however is that any WDT is better than none, for reducing the chances of channeling, and that while a two tooled approach might not actually be any better than one, I don't believe it can do any harm. This started out as a technique involving a pointy implement, like a needle, and stirring up the grounds in the basket, in concentric circles. You can have the best grinder and the best coffee machine but unless you're using great coffee, you won't get great espresso.