Fresh Cup Magazine (#)

  „   In most cases, baristas do not grind coffee fine enough nor tamp it with sufficient force, thus allowing water to gush through the ground coffee in less than 15 seconds and often as quickly as seven seconds. Coffee so produced is watery and no oil is emulsified. Worse yet, if shots are made that quickly, all blends, regardless of their quality, yield equally undrinkable "espresso."“

http://www.freshcup.com/anatomy.htm - Cached

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Some slightly related:

Virtual Coffee: How to Choose Your Barista

  „How do they tamp the coffee in the portafilter basket? Probably the skill that is most important for making good coffee (assuming the grind adjustment is right) is the art of the tamp; the act of flattening and compressing the coffee in the portafilter basket before fastening the handle into the machine to brew. A qualified barista uses a hand tamper and leans significant body weight (about 30 to 40 pounds) into the basket on top of the counter. If you see the operator just barely flattening the top surface of the coffee, he or she is an amateur.“

http://www.virtualcoffee.com/aug/choose.html - Cached

CoffeeGeek - Capresso Espresso Machines - Other - Lisa's Review

  „Still experimenting with the expresso shots - I seem to get a pretty good shot using expresso-grind coffee with a very light tamp (the manufacturer recommends a coarser-than-usual grind for the expresso maker.)  Lots of crema, not bitter.  Going to experiment with a slightly coarser grind and a tighter tamp.“

http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/consumer/capresso_espresso_machines/lisa/ 43 - Cached

CoffeeGeek - Tampers - Andrew Mal's Review

  „Used many tampers before and own 5 different types. This is the one i love. At times when i am busy i dont get time to change the grind so i vary my tamp.“

http://www.coffeegeek.com/reviews/accessories/tampers/mal305/ 2434 - Cached

The Coffee Review - the world's leading coffee buying guide

  „Brewing Principles. There are two requirements for making good espresso. First, you must grind the coffee just fine enough, and tamp it down in the filter basket just firmly and uniformly enough, so that the barrier of ground coffee resists the pressure of the hot water sufficiently to produce a slow dribble of dark, rich liquid. Second, you need to stop the dribble at just the right moment, before the oils in the coffee are exhausted and the dark, rich dribble turns into a tasteless brown torrent.“

http://www.coffeereview.com/article.cfm?id=55 - Cached

The Coffee Review - the world's leading coffee buying guide

  „There are two requirements for making good espresso. First, you must grind the coffee just fine enough, and tamp it down in the filter basket just firmly and uniformly enough, so that the barrier of ground coffee resists the pressure of the hot water sufficiently to produce a slow dribble of dark, rich liquid. Second, you need to stop the dribble at just the right moment, before the oils in the coffee are exhausted and the dark, rich dribble turns into a tasteless brown torrent.“

http://www.coffeereview.com/ reference.cfm?id=218 - Cached

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