Operation Manual

to use a scale to measure the amount of force it takes to accomplish that. If you are new to this process, the

amount of force needed to achieve a ten pound tamp is probably a lot less than you might think! For most

people, ten pounds can be achieved with two ﬁngers (but don’t attempt that). When tamping, grip the tamper

comfortably and tamp in a way that leaves the top surface of the coffee level. You can judge that by keeping

an eye on the tamper and compare its position to the top edge of the ﬁlter basket.

Remove the tamper and inspect the coffee to see if the coffee is mostly level in the basket. A level surface

is one indication of good coffee distribution and level tamping. A level surface gives a better chance of the

water passing evenly through the entire mass of coffee during the extraction process.

Tamp once again with about 30 to 35 pounds (13 to 16 kg) of force. That’s it. Twisting of the tamper to

“polish” the surface, tapping on the side of the portaﬁlter, and other such steps are not necessary, and in some

cases will do more harm than good if quality espresso is your goal. To reiterate, keep things simple and elimi-

nate unnecessary steps whenever possible.

Place the tamper off to the side and use your hand to wipe off the loose coffee from the top edge of the

basket where it will seat up against the brewhead gasket. Many baristas will invert the portaﬁlter over the

grinder’s doser to clear it of loose coffee (if you have a doserless model, do this over a small bowl). This is a

good test to assure that you have properly tamped the coffee. Do this carefully because, every once in a while,

all the coffee will fall out of the basket!

Move the portaﬁlter over to the brewhead and carefully lock it into place so as not to disturb the ﬁne work

you have done during preparation. Bumping the portaﬁlter can dislodge the coffee in the portaﬁlter and cause

a poor shot.

Place a cup under the portaﬁlter’s spout (or cups, or spouts as the case may be), and fully lift the brew

lever.

Here comes the espresso!