1 model

Espresso Tampers

The one part that decides whether the puck is level

A tamper is a flat disc on a handle, and almost all of them are the wrong diameter for the basket they are used with. That is the first thing to settle: 51 mm, 53 mm, 54 mm and 58 mm baskets need matching bases, and a 58 mm tamper in a 58 mm basket still leaves a ring of grounds it never touches. The second is depth control. A fixed tamper relies on your wrist staying square; a spring-loaded one bottoms out at a set force, so the puck is the same on the twentieth shot as on the first. Everything else — wood, steel, weight — is how it feels in the hand.

• Base diameter must match the basket, not the machine brand
• Fixed, spring-loaded or calibrated — how the pressure is set
• Weight and handle shape for the number of shots you pull a day