Learning Espresso - Tamping

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One element of espresso puck preparation is tamping. This is the act of compressing the puck in the portafilter. It turns out that it’s less complicated than many believe it to be.

Purpose

The goal of tamping is to compress the puck. It eliminates air pockets that allow channeling and uneven extraction.

If the coffee grinds are loose, it’s much easier to get inconsistencies. By packing them, we get more even flow of water through the puck.

Getting a consistent puck prepared removes yet another variable when it comes to espresso. It turns out that tamping doesn’t matter too much, compared to other variables, as long as it is done.

How Much Force

It’s typically taught to tamp from 10-30 lb of force. As it turns, many have success with 10-15 lb of force.

A 9 bar (890 kPa) machine will exert 400 lb of force on a 54 mm portafilter. So it stands to reason that you won’t be compressing the puck as hard as the machine will.

We just need enough force to ensure the grinds stay intact. Beyond that is a waste of energy to tamp any harder.

This article has a chart to demonstrate that you just need to tamp to a minimum force. Putting more into it doesn’t do much but can run the risk of wrist strains.

Alternative to Tamping

It turns out you don’t even need to tamp. Using a leveling tool can be enough to avoid initial channeling.

This reddit thread has discussion about tamping just enough to get even extraction. But beyond that, there was little difference in additional pressure.

  • goal is to compress coffee into a puck, eliminating air pockets
    • this removes this variable of inconsistency, introduced by grind setting
  • 10-30 lb is sufficient
    • 30 lb was traditionally taught
    • people have anecdotally said 10-15 LBJ
    • there’s a ceiling, no further advantage to more pressure
    • once taken care of, there’s little difference between higher pressure used
  • espresso machine is 9 bar(130 psi, 890 kPa)
    • a 54 mm portafilter will experience 400 lb from water
  • we tamp only so that the puck doesn’t immediately channel or kick up. It’s only prep for success