Coffee Appreciation

Just watched the whole thing, yes fascinating, even though I have no idea what is happening at all!

What is a light tamp?

I thought a tamp was a tamp, you either do it properly or fuck it right up.

Edit oh I have no idea what's being made there. But it's not espresso. Right?

The weights are all wrong, it's like he's trying to make a single shot espresso.

I think the only point of the exercise was to watch the water go through the puck. In the comments he acknowledges that the portafilter is too deep.

Anyway, don’t shoot the messenger. I only posted it here because it’s interesting. NTDWM etc.

Anyway, don’t shoot the messenger. I only posted it here because it’s interesting. NTDWM etc.

No shooting intended.

Looked like a single shot to me.

I'll get my coat...

Ahem

The opposite of a heavy tamp.

The pressure at which you tamp will determine how compressed the puck is.

My point was you want it as compressed as possible - anything else is not repeatable by a human making a mockery of your careful attempts to get pressure, extraction time, heat and volume consistent.

So there is no scale to tamping - it’s either tamped or it ain’t. ‘light tamp’ is a nonsense - unless you are not trying to make espresso and just pissing about. Which is what the guy was doing, it turns out.

I'd say that a person doing the same motion over and over can be pretty consistent actually and the tamping folklore I've followed says you shouldn't tamp too hard (who knows), but I see the reasoning behind high compression. I'll give it a go.

You can get tampers with a built in spring so they always press at the same pressure. It can help reduce one of the variables.

https://www.amazon.co.uk/Dailyart-Calibrated-Stainless-Rustproof-Ergonomics/dp/B07QG71C6M/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&linkCode=sl1&tag=dailyespresso-21&linkId=64c0fb9be3e58cedf883df06f7e0d04d&language=en_GB

Just do it how you do it, but always do it the same.

This gets really complex really fast. But suffice to say that you’ll never out tamp the machine, 9bar at the puck face is more than you can do.

That said, there is def a limiting point to which the benefit of tamping stops, and this will be different for each grind size and dose, but not that different as it has a small impact. The big issue is over tamping as this causes a high density area in the center of the puck.

I am in the market for a Hario hand grinder. My budget can be stretched to the more expensive models, but in terms of size I would prefer the smallest model.
I have noticed a huge difference in price from smaller to larger sizes so my question is whether there are differences in quality between them? The descriptions don't specify any differences in the inner grinding mechanics so can't see why the bigger ones have an almost 100% price increase.

Any reason for Hario specifically? And not considering a Porlex/Rhino?

Commandante!

Any reason for Hario specifically?

Mostly because Harios seem easy to connect to a drill.
I could be persuaded to go for a small Porlex, but all Porlex+drill hacks I see online look fiddly.

If you want a powered grinder get a powered grinder?

Now where would be the fun in that?

Rhino is a standard hex bit on top too. Can recommend that for filter at least. Doesn't quite go fine enough for espresso.

Also got a stainless steel hex adapter for my Porlex which fits very well. Can dig out a link if you're interested.

Nice hand grinders tend to be a lot better quality than an equivilantly priced motorised one. If you have a drill anyway, may as well make use of it.

Helor 101 is also drill-friendly.

I’ve got a Hario Smart G on the shelf that I ordered in error and isn’t shifting. £43.00 posted.

https://www.hario.co.uk/products/smart-g-coffee-grinder

Commandante!

Aesthetically very pleasing. Can they be operated with a drill?