V4 Coffee Tamper

I have a very nice, heavy tamper that I've used for 19 years. Recently I got intrigued with the idea of a spring loaded tamper because I never had any idea what force I was using manually. This particular tamper is costly but well worth it, in my opinion because of how it's made and because it also had 2 springs, as well as a total of 3 inner springs to determine tamp pressure. Beautiful, heavy, solid construction. The 25 lb spring that comes pre-installed works best for me and I don't see myself changing it. The design with the leveling plate makes it all quite easy to press down enough. Some reviews complained about the lack of an audible "click" but that isn't necessary. With the leveling plate on top of the filter basket, you just press down the entire distance that you can push and that's it so no click needed. What I've realized though all this is that I was never tamping hard enough with my manual tamper. In addition, when I would press it down hard the tamp would not be even, and one side would usually end up higher than the other, and this led to channeling. It's important to properly prepare the puck. I measure bean weight and grind into the portafilter basket. I use a funnel collar and and WDT tool to distribute the grinds well and break up clumps. I then use a distribution tool, which smooths everything out before the final tamp. Then comes the tamping which I can now do with a consistent, level pressure. I have my grind fineness pretty dialed in at this point and haven't needed to change that up much. Since implementing the puck prep described above, every single time my coffee has turned out perfect. Before doing things this way and without my new tools (i.e. previously using only finger smoothing and tamping with a manual tamper) I had a lot of misses and wasn't usually happy with the espresso I got. I'll say it again....the quality of your shots depends on good, consistent prep of the puck. This tamper is a very necessary part of that prep, I now realize. I recommend this particular tamper very highly. Last comment: You can get the same tamper with a circular ridged bottom. I can't see there would be much advantage to that, and the ridged bottom would definitely catch coffee in the ridged areas, making cleanup a bit more annoying. With this smooth tamper, all it requires is a quick wipe on the bottom (usually nothing there anyway) and then there is a nice little matching cup to set the tamper in.

It’s a great tamper! The only very minor criticism is that grinds tend to stick to the bottom and it sometimes makes a mess. Extra spring is also helpful!

Espresso tamper that completely takes the guesswork out of making the perfect, tasty espresso shot! Spring loaded making it impossible to over or under tamp. It uses the perfect amount of pressure and isn’t awkward or sticky at all. Self leveling. Creates a solid puck with no channeling or tunneling. Easy to use! Consistent results. Has a small base to sit inside. Easy to clean—just wipe off with a dry cloth after using! No complaints.

So I recently made the decision to get into the hobby of home espresso and because I am a professional cook and apparently love to struggle. I decided on getting into the flair espresso ecosystem. What I love about flair is that it is extremely manual in nature. What that gives me is the ability to learn a new skill in the kitchen which I love but ultimately being so manual it gives me the most control over the end product which as a professional I find essential. Anyways, this isn't a flair review but all of this will help you understand why I feel the way I do about this tamper. So I have had the flair for a little over a month now, it's my first espresso machine ever and I have pulled roughly an entire bags worth of shots with it. In the month I have owned this, I feel like I have developed a consistent and efficient work flow, I feel like my form and understanding are to a point where I should be able to pull good shots but in reality, my shots couldn't be more inconsistent. It became very clear to me after a couple dozen shots that the only thing I'm inconsistent at is the tamp. The flair pro 2 comes with a decent tamper. It's not terrible. But it's not great either. It's kinda small and I think if you aren't already a pro at making espresso, you are going to struggle with it and I definitely do struggle with it. It didn't seem to matter what my grind setting would be, coarse or super fine, some of my shots would go through with little to no resistance and some I couldn't even get to pull at all. I found myself randomly trying different things, super hard tamps, super light tamps, wild swings on my grinder and it all felt just super random and I was just flailing in the dark. As a pro this was unacceptable for me. So I decided to address my tamping issue and get the normcore distributor and this spring tamper. The two things I struggle most with the flair tamper is getting level bed and getting a consistent tamp pressure. The distributor works great and I have written a review of that too. This tamper has solved the problem I have. Like 100% solved it and it did it instantly. I received the tamper about an hour ago and immediately pulled a shot with it. What I got was an 18g shot pulled in 25 seconds with zero channeling. I then made a small adjustment to my grinder and pulled a second shot. That 18g shot pulled in 34 seconds, no channeling and was basically perfect. I now feel like I have complete control over the flair and I couldn't be more excited. I'm already shopping for some specialty light roasts and other expensive beans as I am no longer worried about wasting a ton of beans trying to dial in shots. If you are a novice to espresso, a spring tamper is essential and normcore seems to make the most premium versions of these tools. If your story is similar to mine and you can't see consistent results, buy this now. It will instantly fix your issue.

I've had this tamper for almost two years. It has been very reliable -- it is solidly made, easy to clean, and easy to change out the spring if you want a different level of resistance. I started off with the 25 lb. spring and it seemed to work well, but I wanted to give the 30 lb. spring a shot, so I switched it about 3 months ago. It took a bit of practice, and using two hands to get the right leverage, but the 30 lb. spring seems to be the better option for more consistent espresso shots. I'm now looking at other Normcore products, since this one is made so well and is priced very reasonably compared to other tampers that have adjustable resistance.

Bought this for my breville bambino and just word to the wise. The breville bambino portafilter is tapered and this will NOT fit the stock portafilter basket (not even the double shot one). I just so happened to buy a naked bottom portafilter at the same time so I use that instead. Make sure your basket is not tapered at all. I like that it comes with extra springs in case they wear out, so that’s nice. The whole thing does feel nice a sturdy in my hand, nice and heavy. It has a metal cap you’re supposed to store it in, but I wish that was rubber instead. Also I think that it maybe could tamp a liiiiitle bit “deeper”. I’m worried that if I use a deeper basket or if I just use less coffee (I currently do 18g in, 40 out), it may not be able to tamp all the way. But you’re not technically supposed to do that with espresso baskets anyway but just a thought in case you always brew single shots (like 9g).

The Normcore v4 Tamper is a game-changing evolution from traditional tampers in several ways. First, it auto-levels to your filter basket. This solves the most common mistake of uneven tamping of coffee grounds. Second, it has a calibrated spring to ensure you are always applying the correct pressure. Sure, there is the Force Tamper selling for 4x the cost of this one which does it for you with a pop, but that might be overkill for a home barista who makes a few drinks a day. This tamper allows you to get similar results manually and with repeatability. Anyone who makes espresso knows how important it is to eliminate unnecessary variables on the road to great coffee. I use this tamper many times every day and cannot recommend it highly enough. **Post-Prime Day Update** Although I stand behind what I wrote above concerning the Normcore V4 Tamper, someone recommended I try a similar tamper from another Amazon company, MHW-3BOMBER. I found I preferred that tamper over the Normcore for the following reasons: 1. It is a knockoff of the Force Tamper, which means you don't have to press too hard and hear/feel a click when tamping is done. Considering the Force Tamper is $200 and the MHW-3Bomber is a fourth of that price, it's a really good deal for that functionality. 2. The Normcore Tamper has a flat base whereas the MHW-3Bomber has a beautiful rounded ridge pattern, which looks like it might help distribute the grounds a little bit. Again, it's like what is offered on the Force Tamper. Otherwise, they are very similar. Both offer self-leveling while tamping. I will keep the MHW-3Bomber tamper, because it doesn't require as much downforce as the Normcore, which can help avoid any repetitive injury while making several shots.

Great quality tamper. With the spring loaded function, I can create a consistent puck and pull a great shot of espresso.

Es el tamper de 57 MM que tu cafetera LELIT necesita, no hay muchas más opciones en 57mm, y esta es la mejor, no tienes que pensar, siempre haces la misma fuerza, la pastilla sale perfectamente equilibrada, eliminando todos los errores humanos del barista casero.

I am new to the world of "proper" espresso and wanted to look for an auto tamper to remove variables from my workflow Very easy to use and consistant results - which has helped increase the consistancy of my shots.

Really nice and high quality.

Good

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