Barista buddy said my tamp was too light for 3 years

I always tamped my espresso with just enough pressure to level it out. Then a friend who works at a shop in Austin watched me pull a shot and said I was leaving a ton of headroom. He told me to push down until the coffee feels like packed sand, no wiggle room. I changed to a 30 pound tamp and my extraction time went from 18 seconds to 27 seconds. The flavor got way more balanced, less sour. Has anyone else had a simple fix like that totally change their morning routine?

3 comments

3 Comments

price.tyler4d ago

A buddy of mine had the exact same thing happen with his pour-over technique. He was pouring too fast and his coffee always came out weak until a roaster friend made him slow down to a trickle. @harper_murphy is right that leveling matters more than brute force, but sometimes a small mechanical change can open your eyes to what you were missing.

dylan4134d ago

Funny enough, I did the same thing when I first got a real espresso machine. I was cranking down on that tamper like I was trying to crush a rock, thinking more force meant better coffee. Turned out I was tamping at about 35 pounds but at a slight angle, and my shots were all over the place. A buddy of mine who works at a local shop watched me do it once and just laughed. He showed me how to keep my wrist straight and go for a light, even press instead of trying to muscle it. Now I aim for maybe 25 pounds and my crema is way more consistent.

harper_murphy4d ago

Actually a 30 pound tamp is a good goal but most people overestimate how hard they're pushing. You might actually be at 20-25 pounds which is still fine for most setups. The bigger thing is making sure the tamp is level and even, not just how much force you use. If you're pushing crooked, even 30 pounds leaves gaps. Also check your grinder setting because that 9 second jump means your grind probably went from too coarse to actually right for your machine. A solid level tamp with consistent pressure matters way more than hitting exactly 30 pounds every time.