Auto Tampers Are Changing The Espresso Game

Auto Tampers Increase Consistency in Coffee Shops

One of the biggest problems that coffee professionals face is consistency. Enter auto tampers. Without them, is it possible to get consistent 20-30 second shots of espresso every single time? Probably not. Let’s review why.

Baristas have to be consistent on many variables, including:

Grind setting
Coffee dose weight
Tamping pressure
Angle of the tamper when tamping

That’s a lot to control. You can always use a scale to weigh your coffee dose in the portafilter and use a bathroom scale to achieve relatively consistent tamping pressure, but is this really the best way to eliminate variables and create consistency barista-to-barista?

Finally, there is a solution to that problem that also speeds up transaction times considerably: auto tampers. An example is The PuQ Press (No, this is not a paid endorsement, and we did not get one for free.) Think of it like a hybrid of a tamper and an automatic stapler. You insert the portafilter underneath, and then the coffee will be automatically and evenly tamped with 30lbs of pressure (or whatever you set it to) without any harsh angle in the bed of coffee.

Once again, machines are changing the game.

Texas Coffee School offers the most comprehensive, state-of-the-art barista training in the industry. Register for our next Barista Training Course here. Or, check out our other classes. Barista training is included in our best-selling 3-Day Coffee Business Master Class.

The Benefits of Auto Tampers

There are several amazing things that come by the use of this machine.

Consistent Results

Every time it will automatically tamp to 30lbs of pressure, or whatever number you set it to. As humans, we cannot promise the same results. Why is this important? With different amounts of pressure, it can affect water flow and change your shot times drastically. Different baristas will tamp with different pressures and will “cant” from side to side. Consistency of user experience is the reason that consumers return to coffee shops, and if they get a mixture of over and under extracted shots, they’ll find a new place to go.

Easier Grinder Adjustment

It truly is a struggle to dial in the espresso grinder throughout the day, and it can be especially more difficult if multiple baristas are using the espresso machine. Each is going to tamp with different pressures and angles, and it will be hard to tell if the grinder is out of adjustment or if it is the barista’s tamp. However, if you weigh your coffee, and use the automatic tamper, the grinder is the only variable that changes and it becomes much easier to keep dialed in.

Saves time and money

A typical coffee shop experience is the barista spending 10 seconds making sure the tamp is even, and then 33 seconds for an overextracted shot that needs to be thrown away before they start over. Your customers will be delightfully surprised to get their drink quickly when you use an automatic tamper because it takes 1 second for an even and consistent tamp, and you can be confident you’ll get the perfect shot with minimal waste.

Barista Training with Texas Coffee School:

Join us for industry-leading barista training. Register for our next Barista Training Course here. Check out our other classes, like our best-selling 3-Day Coffee Business Master Class. The course includes barista training and everything you need to know about starting your own coffee business.

Featured Classes

Featured Class

3-Day Coffee Business Master Class

Hands-on training for every step of starting your coffee shop business.

Featured Class

2-Day Barista Training Class

Designed for home enthusiasts and barista staff training. No experience necessary!

Featured Class

Coffee Shop Manager Training Course

A 1-day course designed to rapidly advance coffee shop operations, knowledge & management resources.

Register for a Coffee Class

The Best Coffee Training Available

We’ve helped hundreds of students successfully launch their own coffee shop businesses. Join us in our 5-Star Rated Coffee Classes, whether you’re an aspiring entrepreneur looking to open a coffee shop, a manager, a barista or home enthusiast looking to sharpen your skills.

See All Upcoming Class Dates

All Posts

All Open a Coffee Shop Run a Coffee Shop Barista Tips Success Stories

Category	Description
Strictly Necessary Cookies	Strictly necessary cookies are sometimes called “essential” as without them we cannot operate and administer the Website.
Analytics or Performance Cookies	These cookies track information about visits to the Website so that we can make improvements and report our performance. For example: analyze visitor and user behavior so as to provide more relevant content or suggest certain activities. They collect information about how visitors use the Website, which site the user came from, the number of each user’s visits and how long a user stays on the Website. We might also use analytics cookies to test new ads, pages, or features to see how users react to them.
Functional or Preference Cookies	During your visit to the Website, cookies are used to remember information you have entered or choices you make (such as your username, language or your region) on the Website. They also store your preferences when personalizing the Website to optimize your use of the Website. These preferences are remembered, through the use of the persistent cookies, and the next time you visit the Website you will not have to set them again.
Targeting or Advertising Cookies	These Third Party Cookies are placed by third party advertising platforms or networks in order to, deliver ads and track ad performance, enable advertising networks to deliver ads that may be relevant to you based upon your activities (this is sometimes called “behavioral” “tracking” or “targeted” advertising) on the Website. They may subsequently use information about your visit to target you with advertising that you may be interested in, on the Website and other websites.