You like espresso? Well, yeah, otherwise how did you get here? Espresso is where it’s at! Yes, a straightup cup of black coffee has its merits, but most days? Most times? Most instances? Espresso will be the solution to what ails ya. A cureall? Nottttt entirely, but mostly it will provide a good time, or at the least get you so jacked up you can work through any problem you might be having.
An espresso buzz is the great enlightener. And if it doesn’t solve the problem you’re having? Well…it might at least make the situation bearable. So, you’re in front of your espresso machine, raring to go. Coffee all ground up, and dispersed into your portafilter and…record scratch…wait a moment. How. To. Tamp?
One of the fundamentals (or zen of espresso) is to tamp correctly. Correctly: i.e. with the right amount of force. This…this is a verrrrrry delicate operation. It is entirely easy to under tamp, or over tamp. Both will lead to tears, and neither will lead to a satisfying espresso. In fact over or under tamping is the main culprit of a baaaaaad demitasse full of just plain yuck. The kind of acrid liquid that most people associate with espresso.
But that is NOT what espresso should taste like, and upon getting one of these? Yeah, you’ll be turned off to the beverage for life. Like a young boy receiving a sip of his father’s beer and making that “yuck!” face. That same face? Totally possible with a badly prepared espresso. How to properly achieve zen with your espresso tamp? Let’s begin…
It’s first thing in the morning, you’re bleary-eyed and you needa coffee. Bad. The last thing you want is to mess up your espresso before you even know what’s what. Do you even have the SAME socks on? Yeah, time for coffee.
Grind it up, grab the portafilter, dispense, grab the tamper…wait…HOW much pressure to use!? If you totally compress it too much, it’ll make your espresso come out in little dribbulets of sour-tasting black-as-night grossness. Yes, you can still drink it (duh), but it’ll just be a bad time. Tamp it too lightly? The opposite happens. So much for the perfect 25-30 second shot…you’ll be grabbing a towel because it’ll fountain all over the place and THAT is just. Plain. Sad. There is no drinking that mess because it’ll end up everywhere except in your cup. Tragic. Bad. Depressing. Just go back to bed.
However, once you get it all down, the zen of tamping, it becomes second nature, one of the main components of any successful espresso extraction, and that’s just nice. The first thing to do is grasp your tamper. There should be a clearly defined handle, if you can see the flat part of the tamp…well…it’s upside down. Yeah, definitely time for a coffee.
So what is the “real” pressure to use when tamping espresso? 20-30 lbs. What’s it all mean? Meh, nevermind them digits, just go by feel. The more you do it, the more you hone your technique, the better your espresso (and thus your life!) will be. The key is to feeeeeeel like you’re pressing allllmost too hard, but not trying to fracture your countertop. You don’t want sweat to break out on your forehead, or to strain your wrist either. But if the opposite happens? The lack of pressure? Bummer. Your espresso will be too loose in the basket, and that is why the sad-making volcano-fountain of too quickly extracted espresso happens.
You see, in between all the precious grounds is air. And through tamping, you are compressing the air and creating an espresso “puck”. If you tamp too tightly? The water barely flows, certainly not consistently, hence the bitterness. Over extracted. If you compress too little? Under extracted. The water finds the path of least resistance and you get the dreaded enemy of espresso: “channeling”. Your puck ends up being a gloopy, soupy mess. That emoji with the single tear? Yeah, that perfectly describes this feeling.
Nutshell: if your espresso extraction takes 15 seconds? Bad awful terrible things are happening. Proper tamp, proper grind, proper amount in the basket, proper timing of extraction. These are the hallmarks of espresso. Intimidating? Only in the beginning. Practice and experience. And then a lifetime of expertly made drinks. Proudly made by you.
So, whaddaya gonna do? Freak out? Sell your espresso machine to the person down the way? Regress to…GASP!…drip coffee? No. Espresso is the source. The provider. The enabler of many things. Stick with it. Mistakes, like throughout life, are ok. They’re ok. With every mistake? The process of learning.
So live and learn.