Latest Presso This is the current Presso model. Nice handle with a good grip.

Clicker Mat My first time seeing and using the clicker mat in person. Nice concept - it audibly "clicks" when you are pressing roughly 30lbs of pressure on it.

Original Presso I still have my original Presso. Lars should consider redoing this and selling it as a "classic"

So on my first short visit to the Importika Booth, I saw something that made me truly happy.

Sitting off to the side was a shelf dedicated to products from Xpressivo, owned by a fella named Lars. Lars and I go way, way back. He sent me one of his first ever tampers, and it quickly became one of my favourites. I still have it today, what, six years later?

I was very happy to see his latest version of the Presso tamper in the Importika booth, along with another product Lars has been working on for some time - his (still in prototype stage, I believe) Xpressivo clicking tamping mat. It meant that Lars' products would possibly be available in the US again after a rather sour experience he had a few years ago, one I'm actually partially responsible for. Lars was looking for a US importer at the time, and the company I recommended to him ended up not paying him for his shipped wares, so it soured him on doing business over here.

So seeing his products once again on a US importers' shelf was very, very cool.

Importika isn't 100% committed to carrying them yet - they have some limited stock and wanted to gauge interest while at the SCAA show. I hope it goes well. These products that Xpressivo makes are absolutely kick ass, and you should know this: Lars is "one of our own" - a consumer who just got so passionate about espresso that they dove in, and moved to the pro side as a manufacturer / designer.

There's an amazing hand feel to the presso tamper. When I post this, I'll try to snap a pic of my original presso to show that the overall look and feel hasn't changed much; that said, it's definitely one of the most comfortable tampers I've ever used. It is fairly light, being made out of aluminum, though the current model has a lot more weight than my original wood and powdercoated aluminum one does.

Then there's the clicker mat. Lars has been working on it for some time, and I can't wait for this to become available. The way it works is there's an audible "click" (and tactile click too) once you press down with about 30lbs of pressure. I think it's calibrated to allow for the weight of a portafilter. So you put your PF on this, loaded with coffee, and press with your tamper until you hear (and feel) the click. Nice stuff. Innovative, interesting, and great for both the home barista and for the shop training their professional Baristas. It's a heckuva lot smaller than putting a bathroom scale on the counter.

His tampers and other products are a huge hit in Europe, specifically Scandinavia. So much so, the guy has no time, and had to actually shut down his orders through his website for a short time to catch up with demand. I'd love to see them more over here. I still have the original Presso, and still use it frequently.