A coffee tamper, you ask? Why do I need to spend money on of those? If you’re espresso came with a decent one, you can probably get away with using it. But if you’re a serious coffee fanatic, barista, and artist all rolled into one, and you’re investing in the ultimate coffee setup for your home or office, it’s worth investing in the best coffee tamper you can find.
Why? It’s actually very important to get your espresso properly tamped and compressed, at exactly the right pressure and evenness, to pull off a perfectly pulled shot. If the coffee isn’t properly tamped, there will be too much air in the shot, leading to too little pressure and a weak shot. Too much pressure, and the reverse; the coffee will be overextracted, and pull very slowly. In fact, there’s a fine art to getting the right tamp, worth studying and practicing.
So what’s the perfect tamper? It should be balanced, not too heavy or too light, and match the size of your portafilter (usually 51mm or 58mm). Look for a weight around 200 grams, with a quality, heavy stainless-steel tamper head. If you value precision and speed, you can even purchase a spring-loaded tamper, calibrated to the perfect pressure.
Our Choice? This LuxHaus Calibrated Tamper. It comes in all the standard sizes you need, such as 49mm, 51mm, 58mm, and even 57mm. The base is a food-safe stainless steel, and the internal spring is calibrated to 30 lbs. – the standard tamp.
It looks great and goes with all the best espresso machines, gets the perfect tamp every time, and very reasonably priced. Not much else you can ask for. Grab one and bring some precision to your espresso ritual, every time.
