Tamping Tips
Pullman Tampers are engineered provide optimum results for a lifetime and we hope you get many years of satisfaction from your new tamper. Below are a few technique suggestions to help you get the best results from your tamper, but whatever method you use, it needs to be exactly the same every time to ensure consistency and to help you quickly and easily diagnose any problem areas if they arise.Having purchased your new tamper, here are a few tips to help you get to get the most out of it.
Grinding and Dosing
Best results always come from fresh coffee correctly ground just before use. We therefore recommend the use of freshly roasted coffee beans and the purchase of a good quality burr grinder to ensure the coffee you use is the best it can be. To achieve an equal distribution of coffee throughout the basket, we recommend you fill your filter basket with ground coffee until it is over full with coffee right to the edges. Tap the portafilter gently three times to settle the ground coffee at which point all parts of the filter basket should still be slightly over full. Finally, using the back of a knife or some other straight edge, scrape off the excess coffee to give you an evenly filled basket with a flat coffee surface.
Using the Tamper
Everyone's grip is different, however these are a couple of common ways of holding the tamper. Whatever you choose, make sure the grip is comfortable and that you can control the tamper easily.
Once you are happy with your grip, rest the portafilter on a tamping mat, stand or with its edge on the edge of a bench, and position your body as close to the tamper as possible. Rest the tamper in the filter basket and, using the TrueTamp rings as a guide, adjust the angle of the tamper as required so it is exactly level. Then, keeping your wrist straight, apply firm even pressure from your shoulder through your elbow and into the tamper to compress the ground coffee while watching the TrueTamp rings to ensure the tamper stays level. To start with, do this slowly while you get used to the feel of the tamper and keeping it level, and aim to use about 10-15kg of force. A good way to measure this force is by tamping onto a set of bathroom scales. Once you've done it a few times, it's normally quite easy to be consistent, especially if you note the depth of the TrueTamp rings at the desired force and aim for the same depth each time.
Once you have completed the tamp, release the pressure on the tamper and spin the tamper about 90 degrees. This 'polish' helps give the puck a clean smooth surface and unsticks any coffee grounds that may have stuck to the tamper. The tamper should spin freely; if it scrapes on the side of the basket it means the tamp wasn't level, so watch out for that next time. Note that with a tamper fitted to your filter basket, there is no need to knock the side of the portafilter with the tamper, and we do not recommend this method as it both damages the tamper and has the potential to fracture the coffee puck which can lead to channelling.
You can now load the portafilter into your coffee machine and brew a shot of espresso. To start with, aim for about 30ml of espresso per cup (i.e. 30ml total from a single basket and 60ml total from a double basket) in about 25 seconds, timed from when you activate the brew switch. If it takes longer than this, make your grind a bit coarser; if it's faster, adjust the grind a bit finer.
Care and Maintenance
The tamper's wooden handle comes pre-treated with Danish Oil and will absorb skin oils during normal use so it should not need any re-oiling. If the handle needs to be cleaned, a quick wipe with a damp cloth is adequate, but avoid getting the handle overly wet. If you find the wood is getting dry, a coat of wood oil, boiled linseed oil or even Canola oil can be beneficial to the wood, but make sure you wipe it all off after a few minutes to ensure a dry, dust-free surface. These oils are not as good as Danish Oil but they should work. The base can be unscrewed for cleaning if you wish, however once again a wipe with a damp cloth will remove any dried coffee residue. If you find the surface of either the base or handle has become damaged through hard use, we can arrange to have these restored for you.
