LuxHaus Espresso Tamper - 51mm Calibrated Coffee Tamper for Espresso Machine with Spring Loaded 100% Flat Stainless Steel Base

I have been looking for a calibrated tamper, and I was tempted to purchase the Espro brand for my machine. I decided to take a gamble on this one because it is much cheaper. If I was not happy, I felt pretty confident Amazon will help me. It is a pretty good tool for making delicious consistent espresso shots. It feels heavy, and the movement feels pretty smooth. I have not examined the insides, but honestly I don't feel like I need to. The base is actually a bit wider then the 53mm tamper that comes with my Breville Infuser. The Breville tamper is not exactly 53mm, it is a bit smaller at about 52.75mm. The LuxHaus comes out at 52.95mm. So it is a bit wider, and that is a good thing. The handle is plastic and feels comfortable in my hand. It also came with a little baggy, but the bag is useless. I highly recommend not to drop this tamper on your foot or on the ground. It is pretty heavy and it will hurt and can damage the tamper. I measured the tamper to see if it does stop around 30 pounds when it bottoms out, and mine stops around 28-29 pounds. Over all I am very happy with my purchase. It will help with your shots to deliver consistency and eliminate the inconsistencies of not tampering your coffee right as long as you distribute the coffee before tampering. Don’t hesitate to buy this tool. It will help in making good shots. I honestly thought I was buying a very cheap tamper, for the price it is very well worth it. Thanks LuxHaus!!

So, I've been using this tamper for a little over a week now and I have to say that it has noticeably improved the consistency of my espresso. I already weighed my beans and ground them fresh, but this was the last piece of the puzzle. Having a consistent force and level tamping base have made the overall quality of my shots improve. The strength is always the same, the crema is dense and full, and the flavor is always spot on (no over/under extraction issues). The results alone speak volumes about the benefit of this tamper, but the craftsmanship is also worth noting. The tamper feels solid and hefty in your hand but not unwieldy or awkward because of it. It's a comfortable size and shape for my hand and I feel like I can consistently place it correctly and level with ease. The spring is stiff (it's supposed to be!) but I have no trouble compressing it to tamp my grounds in the portafilter. It's easy to use and obvious when I've compressed enough. The quality is also top notch. The steel base is flawless and is very precisely turned, cut, and etched. The handle is finely polished with good grip but is not abrasive. The look blends in perfectly with my modern looking machine and contemporary kitchen. I love this tamper and would highly recommend LuxHaus to any friend as I feel the cost/value ratio is perfect!

Works as it should. Feels heavy and a high quality, does its job perfectly. I ordered a wrong size and the company exchanged it with no questions asked. Such a great service!

I read the worst reviews before ordering, and almost certain that I will be returning it, but I thought gonna give it a try. The packaging is pretty fancy, from outside it also looks like a high-end product. It is heavy (almost 1 pound), it tamps coffee basically just by sitting on it :D The handle is not wobbling, like someone complained, it is nice and sturdy. The diameter is exactly 53mm, so it fits the Breville Barista Express basket even better than the original tamper which is slightly smaller (52.66mm), virtually no gap left between the tamper and basket wall, I even get clean sides of the basket after tamping. So it is already much better than the original tamper. But now, the thing what it is designed for - the calibrated 30lbs pressure. It would be nice that the spring would move gradually, and you would hear a click or something (like a nice automotive torque wrench), or maybe 30 pounds would be when it reaches the bottom, but NO. The handle does not move at all till you reach "about" 30 lbs, and then suddenly it drops about a quarter of an inch, nearly silently, sometimes you can hear it sometimes not so much, but you should feel, and after that point you can easily reach 50 lbs. It does make a louder noise when you release it. So you can tell that you did tamp it with at least 30 lb, but maybe it was 45, who knows. I'd give it like 4.5 stars, but since that not an option, it gets only 4. Maybe it is calibrated to something, but you can't tell much about the exact pressure anyway. But better than nothing though. (I did test it on Withings bathroom scale) I'll keep it I think, it will begin my tampers collection :)

Nice solid expresso tamper, and the perfect size for the Breville Barista Express machine. If you're the kind of person who always overdoes it with tamping pressure, and worries that you're not pushing hard enough (like me), then this is a great way of forcing yourself to ease up. My shoulder feels better already! Much nicer and more comfortable to use than the lightweight tamper that comes with the Breville machine. My only issue with this really is that they call it a "calibrated" tamper, but then conspicuously fail to mention what pressure it is calibrated to. In fact, in the FAQ on the manufacturer's page, they answer the question "Is this a 30lb tamper?" with some waffle about how it's more important to get a consistent tamp than a specific number. So, I did some experiments with a bathroom scale, and found that the spring starts to yield at about 35lbs pressure, and bottoms out at about 40lbs pressure. So, if you push till you feel the spring start to give, you're getting 35-40lbs pressure. Personally I think this is about right, ensuring that there are no significant voids in your coffee puck, while also being a force that's relatively easy on the arm.

Actually, it takes marginal effort to press down & tamper your coffee. Right balance and weight with a quality feel.

Works great. It works so much better than the plastic one that came with my espresso machine.

Love this calibrated tamper that I bought to help out with the Breville Espresso Machine. The tamper that comes with the otherwise brilliant espresso machine is very average. This LuxHaus tamper makes all the difference in the world and eliminates any guesswork with pressure! Highly recommend buying this as it is a quality product that works wonderfully.

Precision made and fits my Barista Pro Sage. Make sure you buy the right size. Using this Tamper takes one variable out the the Tamper equation. It presses the grinds to the right pressure every time. You just need to get the amount of coffee grinds and coarseness correct. When using it don’t press it completely down until the spring stops as you will apply more pressure than the spring is calibrated for. Press it halfway down.

Good item but expensive

If you don’t have a calibrated tamper and you are reading these reviews you have realized there are so many variables that go into making the perfect espresso. Do yourself a favour, buy this tamper right now and remove one of the variables so you can move onto concentrating on the dose and grind. We have a Breville Cafe Roma and after a lot of experimenting this is how I make a great tasting shot. 01. Always use fresh water, fill it up before turning it on 02. Turn the machine on and let it warm up for 15+ min. Just because the outside feels hot does not mean the inside is. 03. Clean the shower head,you don't want old grinds impacting flavour 04. Bring out your double basket. I never got a good pull from a single basket because the variables are exaggerated 05. Run hot water through the filter basket and group handle to heat them both up. Cold baskets impact the pull. 06. Wipe the filter basket dry and group head now that it is hot, the old coffee comes off easier. 07. Grind your beans or bring out our pre-ground beans (illy/Lavazza/Starbucks work with this method, illy the best) 08. Weigh between 13g-15g in the basket only - enough to fill the basket but not get compressed with the leveler 09. Shake, tap or vibrate the basket to get the air between the grinds out 10. Place the basket in the group handle carefully so as not to cause any grind disturbance 10. Use your leveler to level the grind. If your leveler compresses the ginds, reduce your dose. Buy a single-line convex base leveler next if you don't have one….life saver. 12. Use the calibrated tamper. Then spin it if you want. 13. Carefully place the group handle in the machine 14. Place the scale under the group handle and then your cup/mug underneath to weigh the yield 15. Wait for the orange heating light to turn off or alternatively preheat the element by turning the knob to steam without the steamer coming on (for 5 seconds) 16. Pull your shot until you extract 2.5 oz (not 2oz not 3oz but 2.5oz) 17. Stir and enjoy within 1 minute 18. Take your basket out and examine it, you don't want to see any pit marks. If you do adjust the dose. 18. Mark this comment 'helpful' and have a great rest of the day :)

A great tamper for consistent results each time. Expensive but worth it.