VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

[iggs]

I was browsing youtube and found this vid of scottie at the world barista champs

Noticed that he doesnt level at all!  just tamps the massive mound of grinds (obviously still gets a great pour )

[media]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Voc68WXWrdk[/media]

Just wondering if anyone else does this and whether someone could explain the benefits of it?  wouldnt this mean a non uniform distribution? (ie.  more coffee in center of puck)

[tashie]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!


Im gonna try that!

[TC]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

Noticed that he doesnt level at all!  just tamps the massive mound of grinds (obviously still gets a great pour )

Yes- just goes to confim that there are a number of ways to achieve a great pour.

For mine, the most important is the relationship between dose and grind and beyond that there are only minor gains to be had.

A good fitting tamp (within about a mm) can assist as can some sort of consistent tamp pressure, be it 2kg or 22kg. It doesnt really matter all that much so long as your technique is rock solid consistent.

A great pour without a tamper at all is possible and a palm can also be used as a tamp.

I use a tamper and having tried just about everything made, its the Bogav Classic which rocks my boat. Its so versatile and well made, it suits so many hands and is such good value in my opinion, that it has displaced all others. For my hand, I am yet to see it bettered.

Chris

[trentski]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

Just wondering if anyone else does this

Not far from what I do, he appears to tamp harder than I do though.
You have to find a technique that works for you.

I have also seen great pours just by tamping with the heel of your hand

[Barry_Duncan]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

Just wondering if anyone else does this

I load and tamp in a similar way to Scottie. I grind and load just enough coffee so there is no waste.

I don’t do all the banging, clanging, stirring and swiping that many do. I use a firm level tamp pressure and a light spin to polish the surface.

I think that a lot of what others do is unnecessary for making great coffee. Scottie can do a simple tamp and win.

However he does put on an act with his constant talking, music, water pouring, adding the milk near the judges, pouring coffee through cloth and other ways to hold the attention of the judges.

The tamp is our only similarity. I don’t work in the industry, I don’t call myself a barista and I don’t enter and win competitions. I just roast and brew great coffee for me and my friends.

Barry 

[Dennis]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

Noticed that he doesnt level at all!

Dont we all do that?

[malliemcg]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

[sidewayss]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

This goes to show you dont have to be en expert at tamping, so this will give confidence to those who feel unsure of what they are doing.

What is important i discovered, is Dosing. The right amount of grounds in the basket.
What is also important is to tamp evenly, whatever pressure you put on the puck.
Any part of the puck that is unevenly tamped allows water to follow the path of least resistance, resulting in some grounds not releasing their magic.

There is significant pressure in the portafilter as the water makes its way into the grounds and the resultant expansion of the grounds creates resistance for water to seep between and through each ground, allowing the wonderful stuff to be extracted called espresso.

So, dosing, and even tamping.

Gary at G

[blanyon]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

I am a big believer that the distribution of the coffee grinds as they are placed in the grouphandle is much more important than leveling/tamping pressure/distribution method etc. Since concentrating on this my consistency has improved markedly. I also concur on the dose and grind being the big two factors to get right before worrying about tamping.

Cheers

Brett

[Andy]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

he doesnt level at all! just tamps the massive mound of grinds

I find it ironic that he isnt using those whacky Scottie tools.
:

My guess is this was more about technical score, if you empty the grinder then you dont lose points for wastage either in the grinder hopper or excess wastage in the knock tube. Those using electronic timer grinders in competition will also use that technique.

Every technical point not lost is a point gained in the final score!

He did do a half-way "tap-tap-collapse" to get maximum dose in the group handle too. Wonder how the weight in the basket compares to those using the Mazzer-E without a collapse and without a mound?

[Topher]

Re: VIDEO: Scottie Callaghan doesnt level before he tamps!

The others are right I reckon - its all about the dose and the consistancy of it. 

At work I level off and collapse simply for consistancy, speed and repeatablilty by other staff if necessary.  So its big overly full basket > collapse > level off  > tamp > load > do it all again.
At home  I just time in my head how long I know the grinder takes to give me my prefferred dose for that batch of coffee, collapse a little during the dosing to help even out the distributionand then tamp. This equals less wastage and gets me good results. 

I wonder how he is dosing though? Is he counting the thwacks or counting the seconds?
Are those BNZ grinders? Havent used one, but apparantly they are the ducks nuts for dropping the coffee into the basket cleanly.   I wonder if he would have the same routine on a mazzer?

EDIT: Good point andy about the score and wastage

So basically he is counting 10 seconds for his dose I guess.