As I consume larger and larger quantities of caffeine I’ve become imbued with a terrible purpose. I know this road leads to me drinking the espresso of life - at 100% extraction it’s unclear how it’s a liquid at all. 🏜️
Hey Lance, awesome content as always! I know sponsorships are important, and wanting to promote better mental health is great, but Better Help is a very questionable company. Among other things, they had a multi-million dollar settlement for selling the health data of their patients to social media companies, and their work environment is exploitative, pushing therapists to burnout.
Sorry to revive old comments, but it's worth mentioning when I commented this on a different video he said he had a certain amount contracted, and was already aware of their malicious operations.
What I love about this channel and Lance is that he’ll throw in a “You can run the bootstrap at home” as a totally off-the-cuff comment in a detailed video on espresso tamping. Plug-in estimation and extraction; your content rules, Lance.
STOP PUSHING BETTER HELP!! They don't background check their therapists and are insanely harmful for the industry. Please do some research into them. HORRIBLE/DANGEROUS company.
This was really helpful as someone just starting to get into espresso. I had a fear (from where I’m not sure) of over tamping, feel a bit more confident now. The cue “until you feel the table pushing back” was extremely helpful.
Finally an explanation about the double tamping. The mystery in my mind is resolved. Nice to know I can expect my questions to be answered shortly in the future. Thanks!
Wonderful experiment, Lance! I'm particularly impressed with the number of shots you've been using for recent experiments--the repetition must have been really tedious, but it also makes this a data set we can build on with some confidence. It's interesting to see not just the averages, but also that the spread for each data set was about the same--i.e., double tamping doesn't seem to give a more consistent extraction. I would guess that the double-tamped puck is a little denser, hence a slightly longer shot time to get to the same output weight. I find it can be difficult to predict if this will give more or less extraction--it doesn't seem to be a simple linear relationship--so it's great to see experimental results in typical espresso shots. I really like the idea of using density as another variable that we can use to offset some negative effects, e.g., of grinding finer, or to extend contact time with coarse grinds.
Hey Yo Lance!! Really appreciate all this content and just be soaking in as much info as possible. I double tamp because of you and so forth. My only thing ive strayed on is my first machine was a linea mini r ; the wifey wanted the look and design and my gutt wanted a decent or an ecm synchronika….. So lost that battle but oh well at least i got lance videos to keep me informed and entertained
Great work as usual Lance. One small detail to keep in mind other than roast level, the type of grinder and burrs used. Flat burrs and conical burrs commonly give rise to differently shaped particles which will have different packing factors regardless of the pressure or number of tamps used. Sorry for nerding out a bit, it's what I do for a living - material chemist. Still a very good overview that will definately help a lot of people get better espresso.
Yeah I figured that was implied tbh lol I talk about this in so many videos about partcile compression I maybe errantly assumed knowledge in the side of the audience on that basic principle lol Appreciate the watch!
Surprised you didn’t talk about Nutation. It’s not a very consistent method of tamping, however it reminds me a lot about what you discuss towards the end of the video. Great Vid Lance!
Very succinct and easy to understand, good job and thank you! One thing I did notice is my V5 decent tamper doesn’t have those screws so it should no longer be an issue with the latter versions.
Re: the normcore / other spring loaded tampers, what I ended up doing was doing a tamp with a certain spring, then measuring how much headspace there is, then tamping onto a scale until the same headspace is left (ie no headapace = full plunge, 5mm headspace means the tamper stops 5mm short of a full plunge because the level keeper is 5mm elevated compared to the start of the tamper plunger start of travel). Then depending on the result on the scale I swap out the spring to achieve the tamp pressure I want. I really hope someone makes a constant force mechanism tamper or makes a tamper with calibrated springs and markings on the tamper shaft that let you reference a chart to get actual accurate readings on tamp pressure based on what percent you compressed the spring. Or maybe someone could make a digital tamper with a load cell that beeps when you hit your set pressure like digital torque wrenches.
Yeah ive beenn thinking about it a bit lately, I think the digital load cell may be the option that takes off. Im surprised there isnt one in the market already. Who knows maybe we will see a kick starter for one before too long. I think there are a couple like the mh3bomber one that has a calibrated spring that clicks when its fully compressed but the reviews are mixed as to how it actually works. I have the YMWVH version which i really similar to the norm core, in some pics it has markings on the shaft like you say though mine doesn't. Im esentially banking on the max depression always being over the 30lb mark or so. I havent dont much measureing of head space etc yet, - I would think to measure tamp force you could just put it on the scales as normal then record the results as the spring bottoms obviously after that point the readings will be off. Im not sure you need to mess around with measureing head space unless Im missing something. At any rate my machine is a lapavoni pro which is not exactly the best machine to gage consistency, though the spring tamper is definialty a improvment over the plastic one I had before.
I have a Breville Dual Boiler and use a heavy tamper with the same OD as the stock damper. I tamp until I perceive that the tamper is fully seated and no longer moving. 19 g in, 40 g out, 7 second preinfusion. I always double tamp because the tamper leaves a tiny ring of coffee un-compressed at the edge of the portafilter so I tap it away from the edge and re-tamp. However, if I really stand on the tamper it will compress the puck to completely block the flow of coffee. So I maintain that there is still more puck compression possible after you think it is fully tamped.
I’ve had similar observations but I’ve also never kept going coarser to see exactly where that ends. Also, tamping hard, walking away and then tamping again have also yielded very ‘concrete’ outcomes , blocking the flow completely.
Love that you tested against your biases. Great video and great study. I’m curious if the density factor of the puck becomes less relevant as line pressure decreases
Hello, Lance. I have an extremely recommended tamping method for you to test, which can achieve the maximum densification of the coffee bed. This method uses a fin-style distribution tool, like the well-known OCD. First, adjust its stirring depth so that it reaches deep into the puck, then, just like the usual distribution technique, apply downward pressure while rotating the tool. This spinning tamping motion doesn’t seem to have any negative impact on extraction, and it leads to a significant increase in extraction time while also maintaining the integrity of the coffee bed for a longer period.
Hey Lance, can you do a video about setting the optimal pump pressure on a non-pressure profile machine? Aside from pre-brew, the new Linea Mini R encourages playing with the full pressure (e.g., 8 bars instead of 9 bars) and making it easy to adjust. Thanks for doing a great job with these vids!
The important thing is the pressure gradient through the puck , and the absolute pressure in the puck, not the pressure that the group-head is seeing. This is affected by many things that Lance talks about in many of his videos. You can play with this by using high and low flow baskets, filter papers, various screens. As well as adjusting how many fines your grinder produces (slow feeding, burr type), and where they are distributed in the puck (WDT versus shaking). The effects of these varies based upon the coffee you are using. Overall, I would say a 9 bar group-head pressure, a good grinder, and a classical puck prep, as shown by the Wired Gourmet in a recent video should give you acceptable results with minimal fuss.
Hoffman has tried to address that in his videos, and landed on 9 bar. That is not accurate, however, because the manometer reading is different on different machines. It would be more accurate to say that James does not like the machines he reviews set to 10 bar or above. Each coffee is different, which is why Lance goes on about the "dialing in" so much. Also a lot of coffees are forgiving on pressure. In fact a lot of coffees are forgiving on everything, within limits. Watching puck prep in some videos reminds me of Rafael Nadal getting ready to serve. @@dparad22
You clearly never had Chinese gongfu style tea. In fact, tea bags are one of the worse ways to have tea. There is actually no way to actually tell the quality of tea in tea bags. Once you go loose leaf, you never go back. Tea bags just taste weak and bland
I think the Razor tool is a great idea. I created one for my Rancilio Silvia and IMS baskets after seeing my pucks obliterated by being too close to the showerscreen. My puck now stays intact and has a longer extraction time. Also, the dose trimming tool cleans up the sides of the basket, resulting in a cleaner shower screen. I wish more manufacturers would include a dose trimming tool with their machines.
Fantastic videos Thank you. Because of you, my interest in coffee has been awakened. As of now, my setup is a Bambino Plus + DF54 grinder. I also have a Rancilio Silvia V5 (2016) that is on standby for a "Gaggiuino" PID upgrade. My tamping rig is a tamper/leveling tool (so, two in one) from "iKAPE" and I'm happy with it. I usually tap twice anyway. I have a "side question" for you, please. In the video, I see a white scale. Is that an "AKU Varia" ? I'm on the verge of buying a decent scale but don't want to spend crazy amounts of money on what to me is a: "grossly overpriced" Acaia Scales.
Hi Lance! You will want to look see if anyone posted the name of a coffee automation firm that was at NVIDIA GTC. It manually adjusted a Mazzer grinder on the fly and used a manual La Marzocco machine. They had sensors everywhere. They probably have very interesting data. The rep said it could adjust for any variable dynamically.
I ironically found that a spring collar tamper can lead to uneven tamping for me because the collar blocks my view of the tamper as it enters the basket. I like to use my spring tamper while I have a dosing ring on the basket because the ring holds the tamper up off of the coffee nice and level before I finally start the tamp. 8:43 Just like The Wired Gourmet says, coffee volume/headspace is the most important variable for even water distribution through the puck.
Puck thickness and enough headspace are important, sure. But perfecting those without also perfecting prep won’t give you good results with light roasts. Probably the only decent WiredGourmet video out there. He spreads so much misinformation it’s beyond belief.
I agree puck prep is critical. I failed at it for decades. Your comment is amusing to me because I watch many Lance videos where I react negatively, but not Wired Gourmet. I think part of my issue is that Lance's taste buds are not like mine and he likes light roasts, and you can go seriously wrong doing what he says with darker roasts. Anyways if you use a screen, you can overfill a basket but not under fill it (within reason), which Wired Gourmet does not talk about properly.@@RegrinderAlert
one interesting thing that can easily be seen in this video is how the decent tamper which supposedly is self-leveling actually can produce astonishingly un-level tamps (7:13). My guess is it isn't that double tamping improves puck density but on the second tamp the un-levelled spring is resetting and re-levelling the puck in a different way. Try your experiment again with a non-spring tamper.
This is why I tamp with a self-leveling tamper while I still have the dosing ring attached (as long as the ring holds the tamper level above the coffee, and allows the tamper to sink in deep enough).
I'm curious if anyone has checked if the puck particles are finer after multiple tamps? Could increased pressure and or tamps be breaking the grinds into smaller particles which is slowing down the shot and not simply pressing the grinds together? Similar to a fast vs slow feed to the grinder. If we are spending so much on good grinders and the extra time to slow feed to get a consistent particle size, I would be worried that I'm crushing the grinds into finer particles ruining my previous efforts. After a quick google search, I couldn't find any info on how much pressure it takes to break a coffee bean. Which I'm sure would change as the particles get smaller.
The tamping pressure inconsistency is going to be just about the same as the tamping pressure inconsistency of the decent tamper. Don't worry about it. What Lance is pointing out is that a 15lb, 25lb or 30lb spring isn't going to actually hit 15, 25 or 30 pounds of force except for when the compressed puck has a specific amount of headroom. But the reality is that 25 lbs spring is more than enough to get well into the "consistent maximum compression" range unless you're seriously under-dosing your basket. The important part of the normcore tamper is that it tamps level. And if you want to turn it into a decent tamper then I imagine an appropriately sized piece of pipe section could be swapped in for the existing force spring to remove the variability caused by the spring.
Grinding at a pretty grind fine. :D 13:40 I have actually noticed that about tamping. Not because I'm super advanced espresso maker but because I'm stuck for the moment with super cheap gear like a bottomless filter that's not completely flat on the bottom and a simple steel tamper that's not auto-levelling or anything. So I'm not able to make a perfectly level puck from the first tamp every time and I thought I did notice a difference when I've tamped multiple times to get there compared to the shots tamped level after only a single tamp. I guess it's actually true and not just in my head. It might also be much more pronounced in my case as I'm using 19 grams of coffee for my shots and that's a super thick puck in a 51mm portafilter compared to the standard 58mm most of you guys use.
I’m a bit confused about how various springs affect the tamp. Once the puck is compressed and resisting further force, how is the spring rating a factor?
Great video as usual you are a Mad Scientist lol, I have a question what brand is that black porta filter? It looks like it lays flat and doesn’t need to be held when tamping, thanks for the help
On the topic of edge extraction. I’ve gone back to not distributing my grinds and just tamping straight out of the grinder where the mound is in the middle. Not only has my consistency improved but my flavor is noticeably better. I went to Wild Goose in California and noticed they were doing this and they were serving some of the thickest juice bomb espresso I’ve ever had. And it made me think that maybe these baskets were designed before WDT and this is why they operate better without WDT. I think you should re-run this experiment without WDT as the control.
Put simply, I can not get consistent extraction with a Flair 58, using needle distribution and a high quality hand grinder, medium roast, when I tamp to "full compression". I found I get much better flow and consistency if I stop applying pressure when I stop feeling the compression. So this leads me to believe there is a very clear optimum pressure to not exceed when brewing at a consistent 9 bars. This idea that you can not over temp, has been driving me crazy for months until I decided to let up on it.
@@pantac4493 So I was doing this for months, and my conical grinder has somewhere around 240 stepped settings. I found fresh coffee had to be ground at 36 from 0(lowest/finest setting), while towards the end of my canister, I could do 34 without choking it. Still, with these micro adjustments, I wasn't getting good flow, it either ran straight through, or it would choke, leaving me to believe there has to be some amount of space left in the puck for expansion, or something. I was getting very inconsistent results that didn't look good, until I started letting up on the pressure, stopping once I couldn't feel compression.
The only issue with a full pressure tamp using a manual tamper is that any issue with technique (like having a very slight angle when pressing down) can quickly lead to a really uneven puck. Arguably not relevant if you have good technique, but a lot of beginners will do more harm than good by trying to tamp very hard. Really useful video, thanks Lance
Great video lance . Im wondering .... i use the same coffee always... i can do the same things "consistency " and tamp the same way but some times its a squirter or its a small channel. This is aggravating to me because in espresso there is always that small variable that comes out even tho we do the same thing again and again. Is it uneven bed or how you put the beans in the grinder? Its happened to everyone.... anyways thanks for the info as always.
Throwing out a quick content request that no one seems to have covered... Pre-infusion vs extraction yield! Really interested to see if 2ml, 5ml or even 10ml of pre-infusion plays a big role in the overall extraction yield.... Loving this content series 😊
What if double tamp has a lesser extraction, just because it has less of the channels, so the amount of overextracted spots is reduced, thus reducing the extraction, but making it more even? The increase in time may be an indicator of more of the puck resistance, which forces water to disperse more evenly.🤔
auto tampers like the puqpress double tamp and probably their RD already knew about this (they just didn't tell anyone). I started doing it a while back because I noticed a second tamp tended to clean the tamper of any bits stuck to it but I was less concerned about a more even tamp so the second tamp was always a bit lighter
As a philosopher, I absolutely love how you just threw “a priori” in! Next time you could sneak in how there are no a priori synthetic judgments possible in coffee. 😂
You're wrong about Normcore tamper, it has 2 springs one of which is so soft that it doesn't skew the result much if at all and that's the one that is responsible for depth.
I have a question and i really hope you will answer!! So when i grind a very sweet specialty on 12 ( on my grinder ) and tamp as hard as i can which shouldn't make a difference since theres max density after a point, the machine choked and when i continued the extraction and tasted it, it was super sweet but with obvious bitterness because of the long shot. I then coursen the grind to 15 and applied max tamp but even though it had a good flow it was more acidic than the choked shot. (Temperature is not a factor). When i go back to 12 but with a lighter tamp it runs without choking but the shot is sweeter than the 15 grind but still less sweet than the chocked. Seems like i can't get the maximum sweetness without eliminating bitterness. Oh and i tried a longer shot to eliminate sourness but then its not sweet at all. Any ideas?
Wonder what a tool that "hammers" the puck with a high frequency would be able to achieve as it could both press and "shake" the grounds into position. Kind of the same as the pneumatic hammers they use to densify cobble/sand pathways.
Hi Lance, Thanks for sharing the video and greetings from Taiwan. I'd like to ask a few questions about using "The Force Tamper". First, should I tamp twice for better extraction? I've heard that this can help to create a more even distribution of coffee grounds, which can lead to a better cup of coffee. Second, will tamping twice affect the coffee density? I'm concerned that it might make the coffee too dense, which could lead to a bitter or over-extracted cup of coffee. Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, BR Rick
So, if I have a normcore v4 tamper with 15, 25 and 30lbs springs, should I use 30lbs to have more repeatability and be able to grind coarser? The normcore's 30lb spring feels much heavier than the 3bomber's, for example. the 15lbs is comfortable and the 25lbs is OK
I’m leaving this video a little confused. How many pounds of pressure should I tamp at? And is it important to have a tamper that I can change the pressure?
So in short. Extraction happens with water flow, not saturation? So the more water that touches a piece of coffee bean the more likely it is to be able to pull out flavors from it. But which flavors goes where?
I sometimes experiment with zero tamping but leveling flat then seeing the puck fill quicker then drop the pressure to let it bloom out (using a flair classic with the pressure gauge). I do find a more uneven puck at the end (not parallel). So I wonder if proper distribution (WDT or those mechanical ones) and a quick turn off to the flow potentially doing anything? I use a normcore for my main machine and yeah once you keep pushing you will limit the spring and end up pushing more then the spring is rated for. Ive been double tamping (after turning the tamper 90' to help clean off the sides) But I doubt I would double tamp with not a self leveling tamp
I've got to say it. Please TAMP that like and subscribe if you enjoyed the video! Much appreciate all the support and hope you enjoyed!
I usually tamp to avoid channeling..but I don't want to avoid your channel.
Wondering if you’ve seen that fluid tamper? Basically a water bed tamper. Ends up in a puck with even density, although not even depth.
The Idroprep Hydroforming Tamper
I just TAMPER THE $HyT out of it!!!! BOOOOMM LANCE!!
Please a video on head space next.
I exclusively tamp with a dune sand thumper. The spice must flow.
It attracts too many puck worms. You have to tamp without rhythm.
As I consume larger and larger quantities of caffeine I’ve become imbued with a terrible purpose. I know this road leads to me drinking the espresso of life - at 100% extraction it’s unclear how it’s a liquid at all. 🏜️
may thy puck chip and shatter
@@wright.boy_ That one killed me 🤣
As it is written
Hey Lance, awesome content as always!
I know sponsorships are important, and wanting to promote better mental health is great, but Better Help is a very questionable company. Among other things, they had a multi-million dollar settlement for selling the health data of their patients to social media companies, and their work environment is exploitative, pushing therapists to burnout.
Yeah would be nice to see a little more research be done on the sponsors used for the channel
Sorry to revive old comments, but it's worth mentioning when I commented this on a different video he said he had a certain amount contracted, and was already aware of their malicious operations.
What I love about this channel and Lance is that he’ll throw in a “You can run the bootstrap at home” as a totally off-the-cuff comment in a detailed video on espresso tamping. Plug-in estimation and extraction; your content rules, Lance.
It's so good to see someone with some clout acknowledge that volume matters more than mass.
STOP PUSHING BETTER HELP!! They don't background check their therapists and are insanely harmful for the industry. Please do some research into them. HORRIBLE/DANGEROUS company.
Love how that drum fill synced with your lines at 15:15. AND THE TIME STAMP MATCHED WITH WHAT YOU SAID!!! "Tamp with 15 lbs, tamp with 15 lbs." 🤯😂
This was really helpful as someone just starting to get into espresso. I had a fear (from where I’m not sure) of over tamping, feel a bit more confident now. The cue “until you feel the table pushing back” was extremely helpful.
Finally an explanation about the double tamping. The mystery in my mind is resolved. Nice to know I can expect my questions to be answered shortly in the future. Thanks!
Wonderful experiment, Lance! I'm particularly impressed with the number of shots you've been using for recent experiments--the repetition must have been really tedious, but it also makes this a data set we can build on with some confidence.
It's interesting to see not just the averages, but also that the spread for each data set was about the same--i.e., double tamping doesn't seem to give a more consistent extraction. I would guess that the double-tamped puck is a little denser, hence a slightly longer shot time to get to the same output weight. I find it can be difficult to predict if this will give more or less extraction--it doesn't seem to be a simple linear relationship--so it's great to see experimental results in typical espresso shots.
I really like the idea of using density as another variable that we can use to offset some negative effects, e.g., of grinding finer, or to extend contact time with coarse grinds.
Excellent information. You, more than anyone on RUclips,are taking the science of coffee making to a new level. Thanks!
Hey Yo Lance!! Really appreciate all this content and just be soaking in as much info as possible. I double tamp because of you and so forth. My only thing ive strayed on is my first machine was a linea mini r ; the wifey wanted the look and design and my gutt wanted a decent or an ecm synchronika….. So lost that battle but oh well at least i got lance videos to keep me informed and entertained
You're killing it with those videos Lance !
Great work as usual Lance. One small detail to keep in mind other than roast level, the type of grinder and burrs used. Flat burrs and conical burrs commonly give rise to differently shaped particles which will have different packing factors regardless of the pressure or number of tamps used. Sorry for nerding out a bit, it's what I do for a living - material chemist. Still a very good overview that will definately help a lot of people get better espresso.
Yeah I figured that was implied tbh lol
I talk about this in so many videos about partcile compression I maybe errantly assumed knowledge in the side of the audience on that basic principle lol
Appreciate the watch!
Imagine explaining the difference between conical and flat to Lance 😭😅
He literally mentions this in the video when he says "different grinders give different particle distributions" lol
By that point I experience a similar rush of love through my body that I'm getting from coffee just by hearing Lance talking for a split second.
Surprised you didn’t talk about Nutation. It’s not a very consistent method of tamping, however it reminds me a lot about what you discuss towards the end of the video. Great Vid Lance!
Nutation is the best way by far. Maximum density, minimum room for serious errors, zero cost. I've been using it for 10 years and don't look back.
Great video! This is extremely helpful and educational. Will watch it over and over!
Fantastic video. Thanks for all the work you put into your videos. Greatly appreciated. See you in Copenhagen in June ☕️
Didn't expect a cameo from the Breville Razor. Have you thought about examining the effects of dosing by weight versus volume?
Thank you for this. I’ve questioned the importance of the pressure vs grind size and this has really helped.
Very succinct and easy to understand, good job and thank you!
One thing I did notice is my V5 decent tamper doesn’t have those screws so it should no longer be an issue with the latter versions.
Re: the normcore / other spring loaded tampers, what I ended up doing was doing a tamp with a certain spring, then measuring how much headspace there is, then tamping onto a scale until the same headspace is left (ie no headapace = full plunge, 5mm headspace means the tamper stops 5mm short of a full plunge because the level keeper is 5mm elevated compared to the start of the tamper plunger start of travel). Then depending on the result on the scale I swap out the spring to achieve the tamp pressure I want.
I really hope someone makes a constant force mechanism tamper or makes a tamper with calibrated springs and markings on the tamper shaft that let you reference a chart to get actual accurate readings on tamp pressure based on what percent you compressed the spring.
Or maybe someone could make a digital tamper with a load cell that beeps when you hit your set pressure like digital torque wrenches.
Yeah ive beenn thinking about it a bit lately, I think the digital load cell may be the option that takes off. Im surprised there isnt one in the market already. Who knows maybe we will see a kick starter for one before too long.
I think there are a couple like the mh3bomber one that has a calibrated spring that clicks when its fully compressed but the reviews are mixed as to how it actually works. I have the YMWVH version which i really similar to the norm core, in some pics it has markings on the shaft like you say though mine doesn't. Im esentially banking on the max depression always being over the 30lb mark or so. I havent dont much measureing of head space etc yet,
- I would think to measure tamp force you could just put it on the scales as normal then record the results as the spring bottoms obviously after that point the readings will be off. Im not sure you need to mess around with measureing head space unless Im missing something. At any rate my machine is a lapavoni pro which is not exactly the best machine to gage consistency, though the spring tamper is definialty a improvment over the plastic one I had before.
Great video! Not to be needy, but I’d love an in-depth video on pre-infusion 😂
+1 i want Lance's point of view / in-depth analysis of pre-infusion ;-)
I have a Breville Dual Boiler and use a heavy tamper with the same OD as the stock damper. I tamp until I perceive that the tamper is fully seated and no longer moving. 19 g in, 40 g out, 7 second preinfusion. I always double tamp because the tamper leaves a tiny ring of coffee un-compressed at the edge of the portafilter so I tap it away from the edge and re-tamp. However, if I really stand on the tamper it will compress the puck to completely block the flow of coffee. So I maintain that there is still more puck compression possible after you think it is fully tamped.
I’ve had similar observations but I’ve also never kept going coarser to see exactly where that ends. Also, tamping hard, walking away and then tamping again have also yielded very ‘concrete’ outcomes , blocking the flow completely.
Love that you tested against your biases. Great video and great study. I’m curious if the density factor of the puck becomes less relevant as line pressure decreases
Hello, Lance. I have an extremely recommended tamping method for you to test, which can achieve the maximum densification of the coffee bed. This method uses a fin-style distribution tool, like the well-known OCD. First, adjust its stirring depth so that it reaches deep into the puck, then, just like the usual distribution technique, apply downward pressure while rotating the tool. This spinning tamping motion doesn’t seem to have any negative impact on extraction, and it leads to a significant increase in extraction time while also maintaining the integrity of the coffee bed for a longer period.
Hey Lance, can you do a video about setting the optimal pump pressure on a non-pressure profile machine? Aside from pre-brew, the new Linea Mini R encourages playing with the full pressure (e.g., 8 bars instead of 9 bars) and making it easy to adjust. Thanks for doing a great job with these vids!
Id be interested in this too
Same here!
The important thing is the pressure gradient through the puck , and the absolute pressure in the puck, not the pressure that the group-head is seeing. This is affected by many things that Lance talks about in many of his videos. You can play with this by using high and low flow baskets, filter papers, various screens. As well as adjusting how many fines your grinder produces (slow feeding, burr type), and where they are distributed in the puck (WDT versus shaking). The effects of these varies based upon the coffee you are using. Overall, I would say a 9 bar group-head pressure, a good grinder, and a classical puck prep, as shown by the Wired Gourmet in a recent video should give you acceptable results with minimal fuss.
@@TomJones-tx7pb My question is: presuming all other variables are equal, what is the optimal pump pressure in a non-pressure profile EM?
Hoffman has tried to address that in his videos, and landed on 9 bar. That is not accurate, however, because the manometer reading is different on different machines. It would be more accurate to say that James does not like the machines he reviews set to 10 bar or above. Each coffee is different, which is why Lance goes on about the "dialing in" so much. Also a lot of coffees are forgiving on pressure. In fact a lot of coffees are forgiving on everything, within limits. Watching puck prep in some videos reminds me of Rafael Nadal getting ready to serve. @@dparad22
Thank you so much - a very good explanation
Thank you lance for your amazing contribution to my coffee knowledge. I have a really fun idea for how to work with some of these concepts.
tea guys: putting water into a cup. coffee guys:
this is specialty coffee stuff, you would be surprised if you know what specialty tea culture is like especially in china
thats only a joke@@antiwoosh4302
specialty tea is definitely a thing in Asia, and it can definitely be this nerdy
Tea ceremonies: "Am I a joke to you?"
You clearly never had Chinese gongfu style tea. In fact, tea bags are one of the worse ways to have tea. There is actually no way to actually tell the quality of tea in tea bags. Once you go loose leaf, you never go back. Tea bags just taste weak and bland
Lance! You probably won't see this but figured it's worth a shot. I love the cup at 16:03, any chance you could share where you got it? Cheers!
Check Sur la table “Gharyan Mug” ..not 100% sure
Fantastic video Lance and Hugo!!
Perfect timing for watching this on my lunch break 🤠
Amazing video. I have been thinking about this issue a lot lately. Very thorough and tremendously helpful. Thank you!
lovely episode
I think the Razor tool is a great idea. I created one for my Rancilio Silvia and IMS baskets after seeing my pucks obliterated by being too close to the showerscreen. My puck now stays intact and has a longer extraction time. Also, the dose trimming tool cleans up the sides of the basket, resulting in a cleaner shower screen. I wish more manufacturers would include a dose trimming tool with their machines.
Reduce your dose
@@Natalia-f6jhow much?
Fantastic videos Thank you. Because of you, my interest in coffee has been awakened. As of now, my setup is a Bambino Plus + DF54 grinder. I also have a Rancilio Silvia V5 (2016) that is on standby for a "Gaggiuino" PID upgrade. My tamping rig is a tamper/leveling tool (so, two in one) from "iKAPE" and I'm happy with it. I usually tap twice anyway. I have a "side question" for you, please. In the video, I see a white scale. Is that an "AKU Varia" ? I'm on the verge of buying a decent scale but don't want to spend crazy amounts of money on what to me is a: "grossly overpriced" Acaia Scales.
Great video as always!
Thank you professor Lance 😎👍🏽☕️❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Hi Lance! You will want to look see if anyone posted the name of a coffee automation firm that was at NVIDIA GTC. It manually adjusted a Mazzer grinder on the fly and used a manual La Marzocco machine. They had sensors everywhere. They probably have very interesting data. The rep said it could adjust for any variable dynamically.
I ironically found that a spring collar tamper can lead to uneven tamping for me because the collar blocks my view of the tamper as it enters the basket. I like to use my spring tamper while I have a dosing ring on the basket because the ring holds the tamper up off of the coffee nice and level before I finally start the tamp.
8:43 Just like The Wired Gourmet says, coffee volume/headspace is the most important variable for even water distribution through the puck.
Puck thickness and enough headspace are important, sure. But perfecting those without also perfecting prep won’t give you good results with light roasts.
Probably the only decent WiredGourmet video out there. He spreads so much misinformation it’s beyond belief.
I agree puck prep is critical. I failed at it for decades.
Your comment is amusing to me because I watch many Lance videos where I react negatively, but not Wired Gourmet. I think part of my issue is that Lance's taste buds are not like mine and he likes light roasts, and you can go seriously wrong doing what he says with darker roasts. Anyways if you use a screen, you can overfill a basket but not under fill it (within reason), which Wired Gourmet does not talk about properly.@@RegrinderAlert
really great as always. making coffee more evidence based will help everyone in the long run.
Brilliant work Lance. Thank you :-)
Thanks for doing all the test.
one interesting thing that can easily be seen in this video is how the decent tamper which supposedly is self-leveling actually can produce astonishingly un-level tamps (7:13). My guess is it isn't that double tamping improves puck density but on the second tamp the un-levelled spring is resetting and re-levelling the puck in a different way. Try your experiment again with a non-spring tamper.
Yeah it can. That was Hugo tamping, btw. Lol
Any spring tamp can do this. The leveler is a guide
This is why I tamp with a self-leveling tamper while I still have the dosing ring attached (as long as the ring holds the tamper level above the coffee, and allows the tamper to sink in deep enough).
thanks for the tldw 🙂 always apreciate
The whole video is gooood tho
very cool, thanks!! (by the way, love the color filter on this video :) )
thanks master for the advice and knowledge
An honorable mention for the RAZOR TOOL!!! YES!!!
Why did I laugh this hard looking at the thumbnail.. 😅
I kinda knew adjusting tamp pressure instead of grind was wrong and lazy, no excuses now I've had it explained so clearly.
Interesting, when you hear folks suggesting that lighter tamps yield better results with a lever (La Pavoni)
8:09
Why is the force not equal as long as the spring is fully compressed?
I night thee, Legend Lance...
Good stuff as usual Lance! Will you continue double tamping after seeing the results?
@15:16
"🥁Tamp with 15 lbs 🥁Tamp with 15 lbs "🎶🎶🎶
I'm curious if anyone has checked if the puck particles are finer after multiple tamps? Could increased pressure and or tamps be breaking the grinds into smaller particles which is slowing down the shot and not simply pressing the grinds together? Similar to a fast vs slow feed to the grinder. If we are spending so much on good grinders and the extra time to slow feed to get a consistent particle size, I would be worried that I'm crushing the grinds into finer particles ruining my previous efforts. After a quick google search, I couldn't find any info on how much pressure it takes to break a coffee bean. Which I'm sure would change as the particles get smaller.
Thanks lance! Love the videos. Now I'm thinking of returning my normcore tamper I got a couple weeks ago 😂
The tamping pressure inconsistency is going to be just about the same as the tamping pressure inconsistency of the decent tamper.
Don't worry about it.
What Lance is pointing out is that a 15lb, 25lb or 30lb spring isn't going to actually hit 15, 25 or 30 pounds of force except for when the compressed puck has a specific amount of headroom. But the reality is that 25 lbs spring is more than enough to get well into the "consistent maximum compression" range unless you're seriously under-dosing your basket.
The important part of the normcore tamper is that it tamps level. And if you want to turn it into a decent tamper then I imagine an appropriately sized piece of pipe section could be swapped in for the existing force spring to remove the variability caused by the spring.
@@isfiyiywafibc6qaiiiiiiiiii570 oh cool! thanks for pointing that out! That makes me feel better about my purchase. Thank you!
@@isfiyiywafibc6qaiiiiiiiiii570 that’s a great point of removing the spring if it’s not stiff enough and just adding a solid pipe
Grinding at a pretty grind fine. :D 13:40
I have actually noticed that about tamping. Not because I'm super advanced espresso maker but because I'm stuck for the moment with super cheap gear like a bottomless filter that's not completely flat on the bottom and a simple steel tamper that's not auto-levelling or anything. So I'm not able to make a perfectly level puck from the first tamp every time and I thought I did notice a difference when I've tamped multiple times to get there compared to the shots tamped level after only a single tamp. I guess it's actually true and not just in my head. It might also be much more pronounced in my case as I'm using 19 grams of coffee for my shots and that's a super thick puck in a 51mm portafilter compared to the standard 58mm most of you guys use.
I’m a bit confused about how various springs affect the tamp. Once the puck is compressed and resisting further force, how is the spring rating a factor?
Let's do away with those BetterHelp sponsorships. They have a horrible reputation for poor therapy practices.
Love the videos.
Am wondering about the 8-10 „KgF“ at the end. Is that an equivalent to „F = 8-10Kg“?
Great video as usual you are a Mad Scientist lol, I have a question what brand is that black porta filter? It looks like it lays flat and doesn’t need to be held when tamping, thanks for the help
On the topic of edge extraction. I’ve gone back to not distributing my grinds and just tamping straight out of the grinder where the mound is in the middle. Not only has my consistency improved but my flavor is noticeably better. I went to Wild Goose in California and noticed they were doing this and they were serving some of the thickest juice bomb espresso I’ve ever had. And it made me think that maybe these baskets were designed before WDT and this is why they operate better without WDT. I think you should re-run this experiment without WDT as the control.
Put simply, I can not get consistent extraction with a Flair 58, using needle distribution and a high quality hand grinder, medium roast, when I tamp to "full compression". I found I get much better flow and consistency if I stop applying pressure when I stop feeling the compression. So this leads me to believe there is a very clear optimum pressure to not exceed when brewing at a consistent 9 bars.
This idea that you can not over temp, has been driving me crazy for months until I decided to let up on it.
I can fully tamp with my flair pro without issues. Did you try a courser grind?
@@pantac4493 So I was doing this for months, and my conical grinder has somewhere around 240 stepped settings. I found fresh coffee had to be ground at 36 from 0(lowest/finest setting), while towards the end of my canister, I could do 34 without choking it. Still, with these micro adjustments, I wasn't getting good flow, it either ran straight through, or it would choke, leaving me to believe there has to be some amount of space left in the puck for expansion, or something. I was getting very inconsistent results that didn't look good, until I started letting up on the pressure, stopping once I couldn't feel compression.
The only issue with a full pressure tamp using a manual tamper is that any issue with technique (like having a very slight angle when pressing down) can quickly lead to a really uneven puck. Arguably not relevant if you have good technique, but a lot of beginners will do more harm than good by trying to tamp very hard.
Really useful video, thanks Lance
Great video lance . Im wondering .... i use the same coffee always... i can do the same things "consistency " and tamp the same way but some times its a squirter or its a small channel. This is aggravating to me because in espresso there is always that small variable that comes out even tho we do the same thing again and again. Is it uneven bed or how you put the beans in the grinder?
Its happened to everyone.... anyways thanks for the info as always.
good stuff!
Love your videos
Lance the big open question now is.. will you still continue to double tamp?
Throwing out a quick content request that no one seems to have covered... Pre-infusion vs extraction yield! Really interested to see if 2ml, 5ml or even 10ml of pre-infusion plays a big role in the overall extraction yield....
Loving this content series 😊
Sounds like a new horror film - “The Barista Always Tamps Twice”!☕️😱😊😂
4:19 MY 20T hydraulic press might have something to say about that...
so, which tamper is better? with spring or not?
Hope you’re well, Lance.
Thank you my friend.
Should I just switch to a Nespresso?
i have been tamping like mad to avoid variance. i find that to work very well for me
What if double tamp has a lesser extraction, just because it has less of the channels, so the amount of overextracted spots is reduced, thus reducing the extraction, but making it more even?
The increase in time may be an indicator of more of the puck resistance, which forces water to disperse more evenly.🤔
auto tampers like the puqpress double tamp and probably their RD already knew about this (they just didn't tell anyone). I started doing it a while back because I noticed a second tamp tended to clean the tamper of any bits stuck to it but I was less concerned about a more even tamp so the second tamp was always a bit lighter
13:39 we're grinding at a pretty grind find 👀
As a philosopher, I absolutely love how you just threw “a priori” in!
Next time you could sneak in how there are no a priori synthetic judgments possible in coffee. 😂
Tell me you, too, went from analytic to continental? Lol
I see that you have the new CANAL portafilter. Do you like it? Is there a video coming up about that? Have tested the Meticulous version as well?
You're wrong about Normcore tamper, it has 2 springs one of which is so soft that it doesn't skew the result much if at all and that's the one that is responsible for depth.
All this is great but I just want to know how to stop the grounds building up on the bottom of my normcore v4. Driving me nuts.
Grinding at a pretty grind fine
Goated with the sauce
Is it 30 pounds pressure per area of a 58mm portafilter? Or is it 30 pounds per square inch pressure?
I have a question and i really hope you will answer!! So when i grind a very sweet specialty on 12 ( on my grinder ) and tamp as hard as i can which shouldn't make a difference since theres max density after a point, the machine choked and when i continued the extraction and tasted it, it was super sweet but with obvious bitterness because of the long shot. I then coursen the grind to 15 and applied max tamp but even though it had a good flow it was more acidic than the choked shot. (Temperature is not a factor). When i go back to 12 but with a lighter tamp it runs without choking but the shot is sweeter than the 15 grind but still less sweet than the chocked. Seems like i can't get the maximum sweetness without eliminating bitterness. Oh and i tried a longer shot to eliminate sourness but then its not sweet at all. Any ideas?
Great video! Could double tamping aid in mitigating suction caused by lifting the tamper?
Wonder what a tool that "hammers" the puck with a high frequency would be able to achieve as it could both press and "shake" the grounds into position. Kind of the same as the pneumatic hammers they use to densify cobble/sand pathways.
I don't know what to think any more
Hey Lance ,I do a triple tamp with a 20lb hammer 😺I call it the basket breaker
Hi Lance,
Thanks for sharing the video and greetings from Taiwan. I'd like to ask a few questions about using "The Force Tamper".
First, should I tamp twice for better extraction? I've heard that this can help to create a more even distribution of coffee grounds, which can lead to a better cup of coffee.
Second, will tamping twice affect the coffee density? I'm concerned that it might make the coffee too dense, which could lead to a bitter or over-extracted cup of coffee.
Any insights you can provide would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks, BR Rick
So, if I have a normcore v4 tamper with 15, 25 and 30lbs springs, should I use 30lbs to have more repeatability and be able to grind coarser? The normcore's 30lb spring feels much heavier than the 3bomber's, for example. the 15lbs is comfortable and the 25lbs is OK
I’m leaving this video a little confused. How many pounds of pressure should I tamp at? And is it important to have a tamper that I can change the pressure?
Looking at getting a new tamp for my cafe. Any recommendation? Decent?
bro help me make great espresso in my sage barista express. I constantly have problems with dosage, coarseness of grinding, and water flow
So in short. Extraction happens with water flow, not saturation?
So the more water that touches a piece of coffee bean the more likely it is to be able to pull out flavors from it.
But which flavors goes where?
Has anyone produced a tamper with a Torque wrench type application?
I sometimes experiment with zero tamping but leveling flat then seeing the puck fill quicker then drop the pressure to let it bloom out (using a flair classic with the pressure gauge). I do find a more uneven puck at the end (not parallel).
So I wonder if proper distribution (WDT or those mechanical ones) and a quick turn off to the flow potentially doing anything?
I use a normcore for my main machine and yeah once you keep pushing you will limit the spring and end up pushing more then the spring is rated for. Ive been double tamping (after turning the tamper 90' to help clean off the sides) But I doubt I would double tamp with not a self leveling tamp