The Pullman Tamper

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 three height adjustment spacers, giving a total of four different height combinations over an 8mm range. The spacers are curved to match the continuous curve profile of the tamper and, 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.

Pullman Barista Tamper and competitor with rusty stud

Prices start at $AUD129.95 (plus postage and handling). More information below on the range of handles and bases available.

Barista Tamper Photo Gallery

The anodized aluminium handles come 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.

Anodized Aluminium - white insert

Burgundy
Grape
Cobalt
Malabar
Russet
Argent
Stealth

Anodized Aluminium - black insert

Burgundy
Grape
Cobalt
Malabar
Russet
Argent
Stealth

Acetal

Acetal

Hardwood

Australian Oak
Checkerboard
Jarrah

Which handle?

The Barista has a range of handle materials, 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	Provides balanced tamper Wide range of colours Easily cleaned Cold and smooth to the touch Custom engraving contrasts well	375g
Acetal Plastic	Provides bottom-heavy tamper Idea for portafilter knocking all over Easily cleaned Warm and textured to the touch Custom engraving contrasts well	315g
Hardwood	Provides bottom-heavy tamper Choice of three timbers Warm and natural to the touch Less easily cleaned than other handles Custom engraves with lower contrast than other handles	275g

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.