Of course we understand the buzz about coffee these days, we are obviously in love. But it is awesome to see when professionals of different fields become coffee enthusiasts. Biker extraordinaire, Chris King, has expanded his passion to the coffee world by designing and manufacturing his very own tamper.
Quills was lucky enough to be gifted one of these fancy tampers by our local bike enthusiast, Drew Hartman of On Your Left Cycles. A Quills regular, Hartman discovered King’s tamper and was delighted to share the cross-over product with us. King hasn’t given up bikes he is simply expanding his love for making tools and parts to his new love of coffee.
The tamper is an essential part of making espresso. All manual and semi-manual machines require the espresso grounds to be packed down tightly with a tamper before the portafilter (where the espresso goes) is inserted into the group head on the machine. This packing is an important part of the espresso process, the pressure added with human inflection helps determine the rate of extraction (speed the water goes through) of the espresso.
King’s tamper comes in varying weights, preference of which is determined by the barista. Often heavier tampers are useful for those with a lighter tamp, or the weight becomes a feeling of solid quality.
Needless to say we are delighted to have the new King tamper in our tool kit for making fine espresso. Thanks Drew! You’re tops.