Virtual Coffee: How to Choose Your Barista (#)

  „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

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Some slightly related:

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

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

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 Espresso Pages from Sweet Maria's: Crema! A Sign of Good Espresso, or a Symptom of Bad Espresso

  „Solutions: Make the grind coarser, back off on the pressure when you tamp the coffee. Did you use too much coffee? The range is 7 to 11 grams per single espresso.  “

http://www.sweetmarias.com/espresso-crema.html - Cached

View topic - CREMA? WHERE'S THE CREMA??? - Coffee Forum

  „How fresh is your coffee...how do you know your tamp and grind are perfect...humidity can affect the grind so it is a constent changing process...I used to go round and round with an assistant manager of mine..I would tell him that the grind was off...he would say no it is on setting number 6. I would then try to tell him that 6 might not be six all the time(did that make sense?) I use the numbers as refernce not as word. If your coffee isn't coming out at the proper extraction time your grind is off..or you are not tamping properly...learn to tamp and once you have that consistant never change your tamp and just adjust your grind.“

http://www.coffeeforums.com/ viewtopic.php?p=5028 - Cached

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