Realized I was tamping at the wrong angle after watching a barista at Blue Bottle last Saturday

I'd been tilting the tamper slightly forward for three years and wondering why my shots always channeled, then I saw the guy level it perfectly and it clicked - has anyone else had a simple fix like that change their whole routine?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_river1mo ago

Three years with a tilted tamper? Man, that's rough but I totally get it. For me it was realizing my portafilter was still wet when I started tamping, the moisture was making the coffee stick to the sides and causing gaps. Drying the basket with a towel before dosing fixed my channeling overnight. Another thing that helped was using a mirror on the counter to check my wrist angle, sounds silly but it trains your muscle memory fast. Also make sure your counter is perfectly level, mine was off by a hair and I didn't notice until I put a bubble level on it. Little things like that add up quick when you're fighting for consistency.

daniel_rivera1mo ago

Read something the other day about how even a few degrees off can mess with water flow, apparently it's super common with home setups. Your mileage may vary but leveling the tamper was a game changer for my pours too.