The problem comes with #2 in my previous post. We might as well do the same test and circulate: - underwear - reading glasses - blood pressure medication (well, honestly, that would be illegal) - spouses (I am quite sure my wife would not go for that. She would be glad to send me off, but she is not big on travel.) - cars (anyone have a Lambo with which they want to get this ball rolling?) Seriously, because a tamper has to fit your hand and method of holding it, a tamper is something that is too subjective to create any sort of useful review database.
And if tampers were that important, wouldn't Rancilio include one that actually fits with each Silvia? ;-)
Posted Wed Sep 26, 2012, 9:05am Subject: Re: Is there a good tamper for the masses?
Randy, here is a tamper for the masses (the ignorant masses as we say in Politics).
Multipurpose, fits every hand, can be used for tamping pressures up to and over 75 lbs., can be used to modify small baskets and group heads without too much banging.
You can use it numerous times without breaking; in fact it should last a lifetime if you get it with the optional fiberglass reinforced handle.
I call it the "Redneck Tamper".
The best thing about it: You don't have to go to your local Starbucks to get it. Available at most NAPA and Pepboy auto stores.
Len
(Click for larger image)
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
Posted Wed Sep 26, 2012, 9:20am Subject: Re: Is there a good tamper for the masses?
Great thought. And up to a certain depth that end can also be used to descale some boilers.
Len
"Coffee leads men to trifle away their time, scald their chops, and spend their money, all for a little base, black, thick, nasty, bitter, stinking nauseous puddle water." ~The Women's Petition Against Coffee, 1674
Posted Thu Sep 27, 2012, 2:50pm Subject: Re: Is there a good tamper for the masses?
re: tamper bottom shape..
The only reasonable explanation I have read concerning tampers surface contour is that if you have a particularly contoured shower screen get a convex tamper to mirror that. Still, I would recommend getting a flat tamper. Using a convex tamper, you create a tamped coffee mass that is thinner in cross section in the center, that is were most of the extraction will take place; water flow and least resistance and all that science sort of stuff. if clearance is a problem, you would be better off getting (or creating) a bottomless portafilter and getting a deeper basket into which to dose. But still, that is only a problem IF you have severe clearance issues.
marlap Senior Member Joined: 5 May 2012 Posts: 49 Location: Montreal Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Starbucks Barista Athena Grinder: Braun KM 30 (modded)
Posted Thu Sep 27, 2012, 3:35pm Subject: Re: Is there a good tamper for the masses?
frcn Said:
re: tamper bottom shape..
The only reasonable explanation I have read concerning tampers surface contour is that if you have a particularly contoured shower screen get a convex tamper to mirror that. Still, I would recommend getting a flat tamper. Using a convex tamper, you create a tamped coffee mass that is thinner in cross section in the center, that is were most of the extraction will take place; water flow and least resistance and all that science sort of stuff. if clearance is a problem, you would be better off getting (or creating) a bottomless portafilter and getting a deeper basket into which to dose. But still, that is only a problem IF you have severe clearance issues.
I tend to agree with you on this. Having a greater compaction in the center of the puck would probably force more of the water out toward the sides of the portafilter, resulting in an uneven extraction.
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