Vibiemme Domobar Junior - Manual (Page 12)

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Remove the pre-heated Portafilter from the Grouphead and use a clean towel to wipe the inside
of the basket dry. Perform the cooling flush, and then following the directions for your grinder, set it for
espresso (a very fine grind, almost like flour), and grind your fresh coffee beans, slightly over-filling the
basket. As you fill the basket with ground coffee try to move the Portafilter just enough to help the
grounds fall from the grinder in such a way so no voids are left. Getting the grind exactly correct will be
discussed in detail in the next chapter.
LEVEL Level off the mound of coffee in the Portafilter using a suitable tool. The straight handle of a
plastic coffee scoop works well. With some practice, even the backside of a bent finger can be used. Try to
accomplish two things- the first is to not compact or compress the coffee. Work across the coffee and not
downwards. The second goal is to try to fill all voids that may remain. Do that by working the coffee across in
one direction and then change direction and push the coffee across again another to accomplish that goal.
TAMP The coffee needs to be physically compressed now. A proper-sized tamper is necessary to do that.
The material, handle length, and even the shape are less important than having a proper fit. It should be
as large in diameter as possible without binding in the basket. The Vibiemme espresso machine use a
58mm tamper. The handle of the tamper should match your hand well enough that it allows you to press
downwards without tipping the base.
Place the Portafilter on a firm surface that is protected from the metal tips of the spout and press
downward with about thirty pounds of force. For your first few attempts it is advised to use a scale to
measure the amount of force it takes to accomplish that. If you are new to this process, the amount of
force needed is probably a lot less than you might think!
A more advanced tamping technique would be as follows: Start by tamping with about 20 pounds of force.
Remove the tamper and CAREFULLY and GENTLY, tap the top of the tamper handle against the outside
of the Portafilter body. The goal is to knock off any loose coffee trapped around the sides inside of the
basket. Finally, tamp straight down once again with about 25-35 pounds of force. Giving a twist to the
handle to “polish” off the coffee can help create a consistent surface to the coffee.
Whichever tamping method you used, the next step is to place the tamper off to the side and use your hand
to wipe off the loose coffee from the edge of the basket where it will seat up against the grouphead gasket.
Many baristas will invert the Portafilter over the grinder’s doser to clear it of loose coffee (if you have a
doserless model, do this over a small bowl). This is also a good test to assure that you have properly tamped
the coffee. Do this carefully because every once in a while all the coffee will fall out of the basket!
Another variable not yet mentioned is the dose- that is, just how much coffee is the right amount?
One method is to weigh the coffee. Record the weight of the complete Portafilter before adding the
coffee, and then weight it again after you finish the tamping. You will need an accurate gram scale with a
resolution of one gram (or less) to do this accurately. Figure about 16 or 17 grams of coffee for a double
and about nine grams for a single as a good starting point.
If you do not have a gram scale handy, another method is to finish tamping the coffee as before and then
lock the Portafilter into the Grouphead, then remove it before pulling the shot. The coffee should not
have been disturbed or marked by the shower screen. If it was marked or disturbed then you need to
dose a bit less coffee into the basket next time.
Move the Portafilter over to the Grouphead and carefully lock it into place. Use caution so as not to
bump the Portafilter which can dislodge the coffee in the Portafilter and cause a poor shot.
We are ready to make espresso!