Barista Tamper
Overview | Handles | Bases | Usage Information | Order Now!
Anodized aluminium handles come in a wide range of colours with a choice of a white or black acetal knocking insert. The Hardwood handles are only available with a black insert. The Acetal plastic handle is a solid unit and does not have an insert. A comparison table is available below these photos to help you decide which handle is best for you.
Note: These photos are a guide only. While we take every effort to ensure these photos are a fair representation of the product, due to limitations of manufacturing and differences in computer monitor settings, actual product colours may differ from the pictures shown on this site. Read the disclaimer for more details.
Leather-wrapped
Leather-wrapped
Leather-wrapped
Leather-wrapped
Burgundy
Burgundy
Tiger
Tiger
Malabar
Malabar
Forest
Forest
Cobalt
Cobalt
Grape
Grape
Amaranth
Amaranth
Russet
Russet
Argent
Argent
Stealth
Stealth
Black Acetal
White Acetal
Australian Oak
Checkerboard
Jarrah
Overview
Interactive Tour of the Barista Tamper
The Barista Tamper is the result of three years' research, over 25 prototype tampers and hundreds of hours of testing by commercial coffee perfectionists throughout Australia. It builds on the highly successful foundation of the Deluxe Tamper and introduces a tamper to the Pullman range designed particularly with high-volume, high-speed and high-quality commercial operators. The result is an ergonomic tamper, perfectly balanced and weighted for the discerning espresso professional, described by SCAA judge and espresso afficionado Corey Diamond as "the best man made tamper ever".
The Barista is an ergonomic unit with a comfortable curve running throughout all its components. It start with a handle made of either anodized aluminium, high-impact Acetal plastic or classic oiled hardwood. The handle is inlaid with a high-impact acetal knocking cap (except acetal handle which is solid) to protect the handle and to cater for those who like to dislodge any loose coffee grounds by tapping the portafilter with the top of the tamper handle.
Between the base and the handle there's also the option to add one of the three height adjustment spacers supplied with each tamper. New to 2011, the spacers now have vertical sides allowing up to 15mm of height adjustment across eight steps without compromising the tamper's ergonomics. In keeping with the quality of the rest of the unit, are precision-machined from stainless steel.
The lower part of the tamper consists of the precision-machined stainless steel base in a choice of flat or convex bases (U.S./1.5mm curve), complete with the iconic TrueTamp rings. One of the challenges with tamping by hand is getting the tamper level, and each Barista Tamper comes with TrueTamp guide rings engraved into its side to assist you in this regard. These enable you to line the top of your filter basket up with one of the guide rings to ensure the tamper is level and to help you tamp to exactly the same point each time to assist you in gaining greater repeatability in your brews. Repeatability is of the utmost importance in consistently improving the quality of your brews, so this tamper is a must for anyone serious about producing consistently better coffee.
To ensure the correct weight and balance parameters, the Barista base is thinner and lighter than the Deluxe base, and the TrueTamp rings have been realigned to suit modern updosing techniques. This means the bottom TrueTamp ring sits 2mm closer to the bottom of the tamper base so you can start using the rings sooner; and for compatability with Deluxe users, the upper two rings line up perfectly with the lower two rings on the Deluxe tamper so you can still compare notes! The Barista base is also inlaid with an ergonomic rubber compression zone to maximise comfort and to minimise fatigue for high-volume users. The compression zone runs almost to the outer extremity of the tamper base to provide a wide range of grip options without compromising the operator's tactile experience.
There's more to the Barista than meets the eye, and a lot of the research has been in areas which aren't seen in photos. Many Barista tampers will be used in rough cafe environments, so for this reason it was primarily designed to be used with an anodized aluminium handle; extensive effort was taken to ensure that in this configuration the Barista is perfectly balanced top to bottom. The common cafe practice is to do a light tamp, invert the tamper, knock the portafilter to dislodge any loose grounds and follow with a heavy tamp. Unlike many commercial tampers which are very bottom-heavy, the perfect balance in the Barista makes this rotation an effortless exercise for the operator - just another way the Barista provides the ultimate tamping experience for the discerning espresso professional.
All the design in the world has no value if the parts aren't up to the task. In an industry first for coffee tampers, the Barista is held together with a 10mm stainless steel stud embedded deep within the base and handle to ensure it can withstand the most brutal of treatment. This is in contrast to some other tampers which use thinner screws, often made from non-stainless components which rust over time.
The Barista Tamper can be purchased through our online shopping facility, otherwise a select range is available through our reseller network.
Handles
The Barista has a range of handle materials as shown above, and each have their own pros and cons. Which is right for you will depend a lot on your intended working environment and personal aesthetic preferences. Here is a quick list of pros and cons:
| Handle | Key Features | Assembled Weight (with medium spacer) |
|---|---|---|
 Anodized Aluminium |
| 375g |
 Acetal Plastic |
| 315g |
 Hardwood |
| 275g |
 Leather |
| 360g |
- Anodized Aluminium
- The Barista was primarily designed for use with an anodized aluminium handle and in this combination will provide a balanced tamper. While aluminium doesn't feel as warm to touch as wood or plastic, it's the most resilient of the three materials and with a choice of seven colours it has the widest and arguably the most striking aesthetic spectrum. The strength and balance of this handle would make it an ideal choice for a commercial outfit or for a home barista looking for a tamper with a contemporary look. Aluminium is an inherently soft material, however unlike powder-coating which simply applies a layer of colour over the top (like paint) which eventually chips off, anodizing is a process that affects the surface of the aluminium itself, making it harder and allowing the application of colour at the same time. So what you touch is not paint but metal with a hardened surface to make it more resistant to dents. Pullman Barista Tampers do not come in powder-coated finishes. The tamper's impervious materials mean it can be easily washed or wiped to get it clean in a flash, and the intense colours provide a great contrast for custom engraving.
- Acetal Plastic
- Acetal is the material used for the knocking insert on the top of all other handles, and was chosen for that purpose because it is a resilient, high-impact material that is resistant to fracturing. Having a whole handle made from this material makes it particularly well suited to those who may like to knock the portafilter with the side of the handle rather than the top. The surface has been bead-blasted to provide a semi-soft tactile feel with a visually similar effect to the rubber in the base. Being warm to the touch and lighter than aluminium, Acetal provides a tamper with the balance and tactile benefits of hardwood (warm to the touch and bottom-heavy) but with the strength and durability of aluminium, so it is ideally suited to a commercial operator who prefers a bottom-heavy tamper. As with the aluminium handled tamper, it can be washed or wiped as required; custom engraving shows up gloss black against the matte black surface finish.
- Hardwood
- The three hardwood handles available (Australian Oak, Checkerboard and Jarrah) provide a very warm, natural surface to touch and have proven very successful in the Deluxe Tamper for a number of years. While the hardwood handles have been designed for the same commercial purpose as the other types, since even hard woods such as these are softer and more porous than the other types of handle we would generally recommmend the other types of handle for commercial use before the hardwood handles. We have full confidence in the durability of the hardwood handles, but ultimately wood will fail before metal or high-impact plastic and it's harder to remove the day's accumulation of espresso and coffee grounds from a porous handle! However these are always popular for the discerning home barista who favours a bottom-heavy tamper. The varied surface colour means custom engraving is typically a little less obvious than on the other handle types.
- Leather
- Leather is undoubtedly one of the most luxurious-feeling materials available so we decided to offer it in the Barista range. The leather we use is a furtniture-grade European hide and is very soft to the touch. As a result it's not recommended for commercial use and like all leather must be kept as dry as possible; but it might just be the perfect product for the ultimate home barista! Each handle is made to order so you have full choice of leather and stitching colours, but allow an extra few weeks for delivery.
Bases
The Barista base is available in a flat or convex (U.S./1.5mm curve) surface in a choice of 304 or 316 grade stainless steel. All Pullman Barista Tamper parts are made in Australia from premium grade materials, so you can be assured of the highest quality results. Material for a number of other tampers are made in developing Asian countries such as China or India, where the steel quality is poorer than that available in Australia. This means 'stainless' steel that isn't quite so stainless with the potential to corrode or rust over time; it also normally results in a poorer surface finish than on higher quality steels.
We also offer flat tamper bases in Aluminium Bronze. We've had a number of requests for tamper bases in brass but we've always refused this because brass tarnishes very easily (it's easy to get it looking good for a photo but in real life it degrades very quickly). However we eventually settled on Aluminium Bronze, because it has a similar appearance to brass but resists tarnishing and fingerprinting. Unlike brass, Aluminium Bronze also has almost exactly the same density as stainless steel, meaning the weight and balance characteristics of the Barista Tamper are preserved. Being an alloy, Aluminium Bronze is harder than aluminium on its own, meaning it's more resistant to dents and scratches.
Stainless steel is a better functional choice than aluminium bronze, but aesthetically aluminium bronze may be the ideal choice for some users.
Usage Information
Pullman Tampers are engineered to provide optimum results for a lifetime and we hope you get many years of satisfaction from your new tamper. This quick-start sheet provides a few tips to help get the best results from your tamper, however whatever process you use make sure every operation is easily repeatable. This is important so you can analyse the results of any changes you make, without worrying that other processes may be introducing variables of their own.
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.
Your Barista tamper comes with three height-adjustment spacers which provide four different handle heights. Simply unscrew the handle to install or swap the spacers. Generally speaking, people with larger hands will prefer a thicker spacer while people with smaller hands may prefer a thinner spacer or no spacer at all. However this will be affected by the grip you use so we would recommend trying all the spacers to work out which one best suits your grip. Keep the other spacers in a safe place in case you ever want to experiment with a different height. We recommend using only one spacer at a time to maintain the tamper’s smooth ergonomics.
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 while the acetal insert in the handle can be used to tap the portafilter, we do not recommend this as it has the potential to fracture the coffee puck which can lead to channelling. In any case this is unnecessary if your tamper has been fitted to your filter basket as there should be no loose coffee grounds to dislodge.
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
Tampers with acetal plastic or anodized aluminium handles are all impervious to boiling water and common cleaning agents so can be washed or wiped as required. Do not clean in commercial dishwashers or any harsh or caustic chemical cleaners such as bleach or caustic soda, and do not allow any chemicals to dry on the tamper. Tampers with wooden handles are pre-treated with Danish Oil and will absorb skin oils during normal use so it should not need any re-oiling. If the handle gets dirty, a quick wipe with a damp cloth is adequate, but do not allow wooden handles to get 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.
