The Force Tamper Automatic Impact Coffee Tamper Adjustable Const Pressure and Autoleveling Standard Set Pro (Jelly, 58.50mm)

Zero regrets. These are kind of expensive, but it is super nice to have even and perfectly consistent tamp pressure every time with zero effort. I’ve been using this about twice daily for seven months. Still works the same. Grounds sometimes get in between the two layers, but this doesn’t bother me. I usually just ignore it, but occasionally will blow it out. takes about two seconds. I felt a little guilty spending so much money on a tamper, but I would do it again in a heartbeat. I now have zero motivation to upgrade to a self tamping grinder machine. It’s just that good and consistent and fast. It takes no time at all.

Other spring tampers give feedback on how much force you're applying, but the Force Tamper indirectly applies the force. You press down to load energy into the spring mechanism and it releases its energy in a thump to tamp the puck. The amount of force is customizable, although I'm unsure why you wouldn't want to use the full possible force. You can't tamp a puck too hard, just tamp it inconsistently. Force Tamper address this in two ways. It delivers the same amount of force each use and levels itself on the rim of the portafilter. Basically, it offers high repeatability by delivering the same force evenly every time. Additionally, there's little to no impact on the user for repetitive stress of tamping using weird contortions.So, no you don't need this expensive gadget, but it's a joy to use. It will appeal to you if that click of a torque wrench makes your heart glow and you enjoy optimizing your process for consistency.I just have the plain bottom. There's a ring bottom that looks cool, but I don't want to mess with the puck with designs. There is or at was at one time a self-leveler and I wouldn't recommend that. The best approach is to RDT with a needle gadget to ensure consistency and evenness of the grounds, then tamp it without pressing anything into grounds prior to tamping to disturb your RDT efforts.You'll also want to get the right size for your portafilter basket. Ideally, it will be wide enough to have minimal to no wiggle room against the basket. This will ensure your tamp is applied edge to edge. This will depend on your basket size, design, and how fill you fill your baskets. Generally 58.35 or 58.5mm.

Excellent, high quality tamper. I loved it and enjoyed it. The price for it was simply too high.

With a $200 temper, you would expect the calibration is done better. But unfortunately this temper is not self calibrated due to lack of wider lip. Also there are tones of coffee powder stuck in between the two piece. To me it’s not worth the price and reputation.

It’s possible I got a faulty tamper, because I was pretty disappointed in my test results, about twenty shots over a few days.Normally I do puck prep with a WDT tool, a Wedge distribution tool, and tamp with an Espro calibrated tamper. I get very repeatable results with this combo but I wanted to ensure a more level tamp every time, so it was between this and the Bravo tamper.Using the WDT and the Force tamper, my shots were just never the same back to back. I adjusted the spring and found somewhat better results with it set to maximum, but still not reliable. After grinding and tamping, the dry puck would fall straight out of my basket if turned over, every single time. My shots tasted sour and under-extracted, and I went through a lot of coffee trying to dial it in. Even when a shot would actually extract in the right time and ratio, the shots tasted weird.Another thing that bugged me is how unstable the tamper actually is when tamping. It needs a wider lip or something for stability, because unless you stabilize it with your thumb (or your other hand if using a portafilter holder) you can easily get an accidental uneven tamp. I feel this is a slight design flaw that could easily be fixed. Bravo and Decent both have this wider lip so you you’re just pressing down, making it pretty impossible to tamp unevenly.I was sad to return it, but I’m going to try the Bravo and Decent tampers next. I know some people enjoy the Force tamp, so I’m assuming there may have been an issue with mine. Still, I wasn’t a fan of how unstable it was on the lip of the portafilter, a problem I have actually read about elsewhere and echo.

Is it worth the price? That is a question only the buyer can answer. For me I’ve gone through four tamps and this one works the best. If you’re not having any puck prep. related issues then you won’t gain much from this tamp. However, I was having inconsistent tamps (my fault) this tamp solved the problem. Wish I had bought this tamp on day one. as a bonus , It is also one of the easiest calibrated tamps to clean!

Have you ever been in a specialty shop and seen the, now rather ubiquitous, tamping robot from PuqPress designed to improve consistency and reduce user strain? I feel that between the automatic leveling and the reduced force the user must exert for the same tamping pressure The Force tamper manages to accomplish that same goal at a price more palatable to a home user. The 58.5mm base also works wonderfully with Decent Espresso's line of baskets. Perfect fit yet no suction.Highly recommend.

It’s the best coffee tamper I have used so far. Note that the impact force is adjusted via turning the inner spring with the provided washer, you need to unscrew the handle first. Once I tightened the spring, I got great tamps, always even, always level