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Delonghi Magnifica Espresso Maker is the Best! The Perfect Brew
Written by Veronica Carrillo   
Friday, 11 December 2009 08:14
You may have notice the barista at your favourite coffee house doing it; he or she grinds the coffee and dispenses just the right amount into the portafilter (the handle with the cup on the end that receives the coffee and attaches to the espresso machine). With me so far? Good. Then what happens? The barista uses a plastic or metal device that looks a bit like an old fashioned rubber stamp and pushes it into the coffee. Or at least, they should!!!
by VeronicaCarrillo


You may have notice the barista at your favourite coffee house doing it; he or she grinds the coffee and dispenses just the right amount into the portafilter (the handle with the cup on the end that receives the coffee and attaches to the espresso machine). With me so far? Good. Then what happens? The barista uses a plastic or metal device that looks a bit like an old fashioned rubber stamp and pushes it into the coffee. Or at least, they should!!!

This step is known as tamping. Tamping results in the coffee being pressed firmly into a condensed layer within the portafilter. If you don't usually do this when you are making coffee at home then this is a quick and easy way to greatly improve the quality of the coffee you produce.

Another quality point is that the plastic containers are filled with excellent blends of beans. They are not cheap, so there has been a strong effort to produce the very best for your money. From this writer's point of view, there has not yet been a disappointing mug in the several months of experience.

So how do you tamp? It's really quite simple and should only take 30 seconds. Once you've dosed the right amount of coffee into the portafilter, you are ready for the first tamp. Place the tamper (use a metal tamper; not a plastic one) on top of the coffee and press gently (apply about 5lbs of pressure). Once you have done this, you will notice that some of the grounds will stick to the side of the basket in the portafilter. Knock these back onto the tamped coffee by tapping the whole porta filter gently against your hand or something solid.

Finally, you need to apply the finishing tamp to incorporate these grounds into the tamped coffee mass. This time you can press much more firmly (apply about 30lbs of pressure). You can practice by tamping on some scales until you are comfortable achieving the right amount of pressure.

Having a group of friends get together with different tastes? Again, this is an easy solution. K cups, as mentioned, come in all types of blends, but you can also get many different teas, and even hot chocolate. So you will impress your family and friends with their favorite beverage. No one will go unsatisfied.

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Last Updated on Friday, 11 December 2009 08:20