NormcoreV4 Coffee Tamper 53.3mm - Spring-loaded Tamper – Barista Espresso Tamper with 15lb / 25lb / 30lbs Replacement Springs - Anodized Aluminum Handle and Stand - Flat Base

Solid tamper and heavy. I like that you can easily adjust the spring to vary the tamper pressure (15-20-30lbs). Had to make some slight adjustments on my espresso machine but it works very good now.

Works well with my Breville Touch portafilter. Really like the disk that sits on the top as it ensures a perfectly flat compression. Using this eliminated a source of variability, making it easier to dial in my espresso grind to get a good shot.

Before I bought the Normcore Coffee Tamper, my espresso-making skills were… let’s just say “questionable at best.” My tamping technique involved brute force, a shaky hand, and a silent prayer to the caffeine gods. Sometimes, I’d end up with espresso so weak it tasted like coffee’s distant memory. Other times, my puck was so compressed I feared it might become a new form of espresso-based currency.Enter this beautiful, precision-engineered masterpiece.The moment I held it, I knew my life had changed. It’s weighty. It’s smooth. It makes me feel like a professional barista instead of a sleep-deprived gremlin slamming coffee grounds with a spoon. The spring-loaded mechanism ensures I get a perfectly even tamp every time, instead of my usual “eyeball it and hope for the best” method.Within 24 hours of using this tamper:✅ My espresso shots were consistently glorious.✅ My confidence skyrocketed.✅ I started speaking in an Italian accent for no reason.✅ My cat respects me more.The only downside? I now look down on lesser tampers. I used to be a humble coffee drinker—now I’m a tamping snob. I even caught myself saying “Ah yes, exquisite pressure distribution” the other day. Who even am I?!Final verdict? If you want to elevate your espresso game and feel like a caffeinated god while doing it—BUY THIS TAMPER. 10/10, normcore? More like hardcore.

I got this for the pressurized filter baskets in my old Breville Café Roma machine. I measured the filter baskets for the inside diameter near the top and determined they are 51.5 mm exactly. This tamper fits like a glove and ensures that the tamp at the edges of the basket is firm and secure. Perfect, perfect, perfect,!!! I could not be happier!

I've had this tamper for almost two years. It has been very reliable -- it is solidly made, easy to clean, and easy to change out the spring if you want a different level of resistance.I started off with the 25 lb. spring and it seemed to work well, but I wanted to give the 30 lb. spring a shot, so I switched it about 3 months ago. It took a bit of practice, and using two hands to get the right leverage, but the 30 lb. spring seems to be the better option for more consistent espresso shots.I'm now looking at other Normcore products, since this one is made so well and is priced very reasonably compared to other tampers that have adjustable resistance.

I don't have to worry about leveling the tamper or applying the "correct" pressure anymore. I have two recommendations to get the most out of this tamper. If the grounds are high enough in the filter basket, the leveling plate might not touch, and you could still tamp unlevel. Press down on the plate on separate sides until it touches the filter basket all the way around before you press on the handle. I'd also recommend tamping more than once. I've had my most consistent results tamping at least three times.

So I recently made the decision to get into the hobby of home espresso and because I am a professional cook and apparently love to struggle. I decided on getting into the flair espresso ecosystem. What I love about flair is that it is extremely manual in nature. What that gives me is the ability to learn a new skill in the kitchen which I love but ultimately being so manual it gives me the most control over the end product which as a professional I find essential. Anyways, this isn't a flair review but all of this will help you understand why I feel the way I do about this tamper. So I have had the flair for a little over a month now, it's my first espresso machine ever and I have pulled roughly an entire bags worth of shots with it. In the month I have owned this, I feel like I have developed a consistent and efficient work flow, I feel like my form and understanding are to a point where I should be able to pull good shots but in reality, my shots couldn't be more inconsistent. It became very clear to me after a couple dozen shots that the only thing I'm inconsistent at is the tamp. The flair pro 2 comes with a decent tamper. It's not terrible. But it's not great either. It's kinda small and I think if you aren't already a pro at making espresso, you are going to struggle with it and I definitely do struggle with it. It didn't seem to matter what my grind setting would be, coarse or super fine, some of my shots would go through with little to no resistance and some I couldn't even get to pull at all. I found myself randomly trying different things, super hard tamps, super light tamps, wild swings on my grinder and it all felt just super random and I was just flailing in the dark. As a pro this was unacceptable for me. So I decided to address my tamping issue and get the normcore distributor and this spring tamper. The two things I struggle most with the flair tamper is getting level bed and getting a consistent tamp pressure. The distributor works great and I have written a review of that too. This tamper has solved the problem I have. Like 100% solved it and it did it instantly. I received the tamper about an hour ago and immediately pulled a shot with it. What I got was an 18g shot pulled in 25 seconds with zero channeling. I then made a small adjustment to my grinder and pulled a second shot. That 18g shot pulled in 34 seconds, no channeling and was basically perfect. I now feel like I have complete control over the flair and I couldn't be more excited. I'm already shopping for some specialty light roasts and other expensive beans as I am no longer worried about wasting a ton of beans trying to dial in shots. If you are a novice to espresso, a spring tamper is essential and normcore seems to make the most premium versions of these tools. If your story is similar to mine and you can't see consistent results, buy this now. It will instantly fix your issue.

This feels very sturdy and the tamp surface is perfectly smooth and fits my 58 mm baskets exactly. I still prefer to use the silicone pad that came with an older tamping device over the metal one that same with this.