Why use tamper for coffee

For commercial espresso machines used only in the summer or winter months in beach ski resort towns, we recommend that you remove this gasket and lubricate it with olive oil or Vaseline, and leave it in an airtight plastic bag during the off-season.

This will prevent the gasket from drying out. Coffee grounds are very hard - almost but not quite like grains of sand. Following the dosing and tamping steps outlined above, there still might be just a few coffee grounds still sitting on the rim of the group handle - even if you don't see them with a quick glance.

If you insert the group handle into the grouphead, and twist it to lock it in, these few coffee grounds will act just like sandpaper. They will scratch the gasket badly. Hundreds of such insertions over the course of a week will put an enormous amount of completely avoidable wear and tear on this gasket.

While holding the group handle in your dominant hand, brush the palm of your other hand across the filter-end of the group handle to remove any coffee grounds that may remain on the rim of the filter basket. This will save the gasket in the grouphead.

You can now insert the group handle into the grouphead, and give it a twist to lock it in. You're ready to go. About Customer Service Blog. Even-handed pressure is as important as the strength of force. Apply pounds of pressure, and polish Once the puck is formed, push down harder to form a compact and sturdy puck.

Inspect the puck and clean the portafilter Make sure there are no gaps or loose spots in and around the coffee. Keep at it, and soon it will be second nature!

Our Products. Share This. Recent Posts. Popular Posts. Therefore, to get a good extraction repeatedly we want to be consistent with our tamping. Getting an even tamp is much more important than a forceful one.

Tamp twice. For the first tamp, apply a light amount of pressure to form a puck shape and for the second use give it a bit more force and press heavily down to remove any obvious spaces between the grinds. If you ever make your own brew at home and find that it lacks the characteristic bold flavor and richness of a properly made espresso, improper tamping may be the culprit.

Push down using firm and consistent pressure — think of even pushing rather than how hard you push down.