-Curved tampers? Everything I've learned about tamping makes the idea of a curved tamper pretty ridiculous yet you can find them everywhere. What's the purpose behind these?
-Roasting. I know very little about it and can't find anywhere to really learn in depth anything about it. Are there any good websites or books where I could learn in more detail the roasting process?
-Leveling/distrubuting evenly the grounds before tamping. I understand the concept of channeling, and I have always practiced this but it seems to me that, well, say you have a pile of grounds in the portafilter, as you tamp them down, wouldn't they be distributed evenly on their own as they are pressed down? With 30+lbs of pressure into one small area, the grounds will go to any open spots as they are compressed, won't they?
-(off topic) Tea. I've done a little searching and can't find many good tea resources online. I am going to try to find some resources in my city, but I haven't had to time to talk to many people yet and look around for tea shops and whatnot.
-Certifications. It seems most legitimate shops/roasting companies are doing Direct Trade. I've heard from people that 'Fair Trade' and 'Organic' don't mean a whole lot, but I've also heard the opposite. Where can I learn more about this?
Thanks for any help!
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