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Permalink Reply by Denise Smith on August 18, 2008 at 2:22pm

Sounds better then the other shop here in town who use a small bathroom scale with a temping mat on top.
I would like to know about these too. I will need that sort of feedback to make sure I do things right when we open.
Anyone know more?

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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 18, 2008 at 2:54pm

First, I have no info on this. BUT I dunno... as an occasionally-used training aid, ye old bathroom scale sounds pretty good. Or maybe ye brand-new bathroom scale... ewww. Cheap, easy to get ahold of, rugged yet easy to replace if it breaks. I mean its not like you are going to tamp every shot on this thing, right?

As many others have pointed out here, it seems like once you get it into the right tamp pressure ballpark, consistent dosing is far more critical. Are you going to weigh your doses as well?

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Permalink Reply by Lauren Rue on August 19, 2008 at 7:11am

Well, we're going through some changes at the shop I just started working in...right now they just use the tamper attached to the grinder which is obviously pretty inconsistent. They're a 20+ year old shop so some "advances" in the industry have never applied but the new manager is trying to bring things a little more up to date. I think mats like that would help everyone learn to be more consistent... I just wish I could find them.

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Permalink Reply by Glenn Watson on August 19, 2008 at 7:18am

Are you referring to these?

http://morecoffeehit.blogspot.com/2008/07/attento-click-mat.html

I'm not affiliated to this company but hope others find the link useful

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Permalink Reply by Brady on August 19, 2008 at 10:59am

OK, so no bathroom scale. How about a "clicker"?

http://www.espressoparts.com/product/3006CL/The_Clicker_Tamp__Press...

Though looks like the mat is only $50... so might be the cheaper option.

Again, never saw the need, never seen one in action, but I guess they sell them to somebody. Maybe one of our trainer-guru-types can jump in with something useful to shut me up?

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Permalink Reply by Lauren Rue on August 19, 2008 at 5:08pm

I guess that clicker mat is similar that review makes it sound a little gimicky to me though. I have used the clicker tampers and hated them, we could never get them to stay correctly calibrated and therefore ended up with burnt tasting espresso. I guess I must have made up the color changing thing or they were just being demoed and not an actual product, i don't know.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Dominy on August 19, 2008 at 6:21pm

I haven't heard of this, but keep an analog scale with a mouse pad on it for learning how to consistently tamp with the right pressure. Scale=$8 at Target. Mouse Pad=$2, Target, as well. It's great in a shot with lots of baristas, and will keep you from constantly adjusting the grind.

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Permalink Reply by Jason Calhoon on August 27, 2008 at 4:30pm

Sounds interesting would love to here how well they work and if anyone has one.

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Permalink Reply by Charles Lampard on August 28, 2008 at 11:15am

Brady has it right. Tamping though important it isn't as important as doesing and proper grinding. The "clicking" tampers fail because as the temperature changes so does the tension of their internal spring: greater perssure required when they are cold less when warm.

Teach your baristas and yourself. The bathroom scale is a great teaching tool...but don't rely upon it learn to feel. This is another area where our passion for espresso should be demonstrated. Proper extraction times, water temp and pressure, proper grind these are skills of our trade. Don't circumvent learn. Short cuts lead to the lack of attention.

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Permalink Reply by Sandy Hon on August 29, 2008 at 10:21am

Be careful with the "clicker tamper". I have reason to believe that the compression during the tamping process can cause long term problems in the arm/elbow area. It feels very similar to hitting a tennis ball with a racket. (ie: tennis elbow)


also, in my opinion, don't waste your money on an expensive pressurized scale. use a cheap ten dollar bathroom scale for training purposes. (though the mat is very cool and part of me would like to see that in my own tool bag....)
I think having the visual of the pound scale telling you what exact pressure you are excerting is very helpful.

I also recommend a small gram scale for when it is time to start training on consistent dosing.

have your folks dose and level into the portafilter. don't tamp but dump the PF grounds into a cup and weigh. do this 10-20 or more times until consistent.

not a bad idea to use this technique for calibrating yourself as well.

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Permalink Reply by Sam Jones on August 30, 2008 at 11:54am

The clicker tamper does feel like your are developing tennis elbow. For training and some accounts I buy them the Espro tamper. The click is softer and feels more like a soft depression than a click. I like the Espro for long term training but the bathroom scale is a better way to spot check yourself and employees. The pressure mat sounds good, I would like to try it out. Is anyone bringing one to Coffee Fest?

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Permalink Reply by Mike McGinness on August 30, 2008 at 8:21pm

Sandy Hon said:

I also recommend a small gram scale for when it is time to start training on consistent dosing.

have your folks dose and level into the portafilter. don't tamp but dump the PF grounds into a cup and weigh. do this 10-20 or more times until consistent.

not a bad idea to use this technique for calibrating yourself as well.

I use a 0.1gm resolution scale and bottomless PF which allows popping the basket out and weighing. (Obviously scale tared with empty basket) This way you can actually pull a shot after weighing. Was working with a new girl on shot dosing today. She doesn't work the front yet and said she had her shots down and wanted to practice steaming. (My lead barista has worked with her a bit but I hadn't checked her out yet) Way inconsistent dosing and tamp pressure. She was surprised how much difference a single gm off in dosing made, ~5sec. (20gm target dose using Synesso slope walled triple basket.) Also out came the bathroom scale. She spent an hour practicing dosing, tamping and pulling then off to the back of house closing duties, no steaming practice today. Also needed to re-enphasize how important level tamp was since even though a build might weigh right and tamp to correct pressure with grind dialed in then but run fast. (and pull visually lopsided, all pulls bottomless my shop.) It was do to unlevel tamp and shot running fast through the thin side of the puck. I'll be working with her some more Monday which anticipate being slow...

Yeah, the mat looks cool. Won't be buying one anytime soon. I too believe bathroom scale works just fine for training and learning the feel of the grinds being tamped is what's important. She was surprised how I could often tell fairly accurately from looking at the depth of her tamp how it'd weigh. Towards the end of the hour she was getting the hang of judging the dose much better and tamping more consistently.

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