Coffland Corp: The Truth about Coffee Tamping

For most coffee brewers, the tamping process is a vital step.

Baristas are professionals for a reason: they know the techniques to make each cup taste like heaven. They are prepared to take simple beans and transform them into unique brews, according to the choice of the customer. And when their customers look for the espresso preparation, there’s a whole new set of challenges. One of the least known parts of this process is the tamping: the pressure applied to the ground beans into the reservoir of the espresso machine before locking it in and allowing pressurized water to go through it. What’s the real reason for this? Why do baristas and coffee lovers do it?

The tamping process is not taken lightly: it’s necessary to ensure the best cup possible. Once the coffee beans are ground to the measure of the filter of the coffee machine, in the right amount per basket, you’ll have to consider the process of tamping a vital step. Tamping is applying pressure to the basket full of ground beans to allow the coffee to compact. This removes air bubbles and creates a uniform surface for the pressurized water to flow through, creating an even extraction.

While some say that this step does not change the flavor, it's easy to see how this process actually affects how the coffee tastes. The tamping process ensures that the flavor is correctly extracted out of the ground beans. When done, you can be sure that all flavor characteristics of the coffee beans will be fully extracted. The extraction of flavor comes out of the contact of hot water with the exposed surface of the ground beans, and when they are evened out in the container, this flow is steady. This ensures that every part of the basket contents in the portafilter is touched by water, allowing uniformity in the profile flavor that will come out into your cup.

The tamping process requires skill to ensure that every part of the basket has the correct amount of coffee, resulting the best flavor possible. While tutorials to tamper are easy to come by, you’ll have to try it for yourself, and practice it several times, to have the necessary skill to do them. If done with body pressure, you need to take care of how you put pressure into the tamper to avoid a lesion by a repetitive action, or that you don’t tamper correctly allowing air pockets. Practice is the key to have the grip on tamping.

If you want to have a great cup of coffee, you need to know what lies behind the counter of your preferred coffee shop. Coffland Corp can inform you, and help you find the right choice of roasted beans for your business. Besides, if you want unique flavors, they can help you prepare private brands that will be done just for you! Check their social media and contact them to start to create unique products for your coffee business!