Espresso Tamping - Espresso & Coffee Machines
Before brewing should not be neglected proper tamping or pressing the fine ground coffee in espresso machine filter basket. To make the authentic espresso ground coffee must be tamped hard and evenly otherwise water from espresso machine which is under major pressure will easily and naturally find the loose channels through the coffee and espresso will be unevenly extracted, bitter and astringent.
However, coffee must not be too much tamped otherwise it will prevent water flowing through the coffee. Besides that tamping level also depends on espresso machine. Steam-powered machines requires a leveling tamp, while piston-driven and pump-driven espresso machines more compact tamp. Either way the tamper must be applied to ground coffee straight without an angel.
As well as proper tamping is essential also proper espresso tamper, a tool for pressing the ground coffee in the espresso machine filter basket (porta-filter). The proper espresso tamper must be made of aluminum or other light metal but under any condition it must not be plastic. Besides that tamper must be proper size and to fit firmly into the filter basket. Majority of espresso machines acquires tamper of 58 mm size, however, common sizes are also 49 mm, 53 mm and 57 mm.
After tamping all that is left to do is to latch the filter basket into the espresso machine and wait for 25 to 30 seconds and your espresso is finished. However, before latching the filter basket into the espresso machine it is important to check if the ground coffee is even. If one side is deeper than another shook out the grounds and start all over again.