Handy expert barista tips from the team at KoffeeOne

Dosing And Tamping

Tips for dosing

1. Ensure you have turned the grinder on before you remove the portafilter from the machines grouphead.
2. With a clean and dry tea towel, wipe the filter basket clean of all coffee grounds.
3. Power off the grinder.
4. Pull out the dosing arm of the grinder and pause for a second before slowly guiding the dosing arm back into its original position.
5. Wait until the basket is half full of ground coffee, gently tap the portafilter off its rest to settle the coffee grounds.
6. Go back and completely fill the basked, even slightly ‘over dose’ your basket with ground coffee for a fuller effect.

Levelling Techniques

You can ensure your basket is completely level with one clean sweep of your finger. Firstly, you should lean the portafilter over the side of the dosing chamber before swiping your finger over the top of the basket to discard the excess coffee back into the dosing chamber.

Tamping

To get the most of your coffee, it is essential that before inserting the portafilter into the grouphead you tamp your coffee.

Here’s how:

1. Position the tamper on the already dosed coffee.
2. Ensure that the tamper is level and not slanted in the filter basket.
3. Forcefully tamp or press down on the coffee with both your thumb and forefinger to apply an even amount of balance but also apply weight from your shoulders.
4. Lift the coffee away, before lightly tamping again to further polish the coffee.
5. Wipe clean any loose grounds of coffee off the rim of the handle, basket and spouts before inserting the portafilter into the machine.