What is a tamper on a coffee machine?
What is a Tamper? Tampers are tools used to pack (or “tamp”) espresso grounds into the basket of an espresso machine. The purpose of a tamper is to pack the grounds evenly for a quality shot. Essentially, you’re taking it from a loose pile of ‘dosed’ grounds to a tightly compressed cake inside the basket.
Do I need a tamper for espresso machine?
Espresso machines rely on pressure to extract the flavor from coffee grounds, and both the pressurized water that comes from your machine and the resistance from the packed coffee grounds come into play. To pack the grounds into any espresso machine just right, you’ll need to use a tamper.
Do you need a coffee tamper?
If you want to make the best espresso, you’ll need to pack the perfect puck. A good tamp creates resistance (with evenly compacted coffee) that makes the brewing water work hard to saturate the grounds and extract all of that great coffee flavor.
What is a tamper good for?
A tamper is a tool with a long handle and a heavy, square base used for leveling and firmly packing materials such as dirt, clay, sand, and gravel.
Why do baristas compress coffee?
Why We Tamp Once the coffee grounds get wet they’ll naturally swell a bit, which can cause a sludgy mess without a proper gap. The other main reason for tamping is that water is lazy. It doesn’t want to have to do the hard work of pushing through that coffee to extract all the deliciousness inside.
Why do we tamp coffee?
So by tamping, we minimise the empty spaces by creating a more dense mass of coffee. This forces the water to flow through and extract via contact and agitation with all of the available compounds contained in all of the coffee grounds. This reduces the chance of Channelling and subsequent under-extraction.
How much do tampers weigh?
around 1-2 pounds
Weight Of The Tamper To apply the right amount of pressure your tamper needs to weight around 1-2 pounds. Avoid tampers made of plastic and opt for one made with heavy material such as stainless steel. According to professional baristas, tampers around 1 pound seem to be the best.
How do you tamp down dirt?
Soil can be mechanically compacted by applying force with a roller, hoe or rammer. A roller looks like a drum aerator, minus the spikes. Pulling this weighted metal drum over the lawn crushes the soil. In a pinch, a heavily loaded wheelbarrow can do the same job.
