Espresso & Coffee

Tamper

Compacts the dose into a level, even puck

Grind stage
Tamper — illustrated reference plate
Specification
What it doesCompacts the dose so water has to travel through the whole bed rather than finding a channel through it.
DiameterMust be a close fit in the basket — 58.4–58.5 mm for a 58 mm basket. A loose tamper leaves an un-tamped ring at the edge, which is exactly where channelling starts.
Base shapeFlat is the default. Convex bases suit some traditional baskets; a rippled or grooved base is a preference, not an improvement.
WeightA heavier tamper lets you stop pressing hard. Beyond about 10 kg of force the puck stops compacting, so extra pressure adds nothing but wrist strain.
Self-levellingA tamper with a collar or a spring-loaded face helps keep the piston square to the basket. Useful, but not a substitute for a level tamp.
The real variableLevelness. A puck that is a degree or two off-axis extracts unevenly no matter how hard it was pressed.

Overview

A flat-faced piston that presses the loose dose into a compact bed. Its real job is not force — it is making the surface flat and the bed evenly dense.

Espresso
Safety

Tamping puts load through the wrist and forearm. Keep the wrist straight, press with the shoulder, and use a tamping mat rather than the counter edge.

Technical parameters

At a glance
Diameter58.4–58.5 mm for a 58 mm basket
BaseFlat (default) · convex · rippled
Effective force~10–15 kg; more adds nothing
MaterialStainless steel base, wood or metal handle
LevellingCollar-guided or spring-loaded options

What actually goes wrong

  • Level the bed with a distribution tool or a light shake before tamping — tamping cannot fix a mound.
  • Press until the puck stops moving, then stop. Grinding finer and tamping harder is not a fix for a fast shot.
  • A tamper that rattles in the basket is the wrong size.

What it has to match up with

  • Basket of the same nominal diameter
  • A tamping mat or stand

This guide is an independent educational reference. It is not a substitute for the instructions supplied with your own equipment, and nothing here is sold, sponsored or endorsed by any brand.

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