bure82 Senior Member Joined: 16 Sep 2011 Posts: 56 Location: Toronto
Posted Wed Feb 1, 2012, 2:23pm Subject: My impression of VST/Pullman Tamper
So recently i got the VST/Pullman Tamper straight from VST. They had a sale but when you add up shipping, it is still quite expensive.
First impression is that it is lighter than i thought it would be. Espro still heaviest then comes my Reg and Pullman is the lightest of them all. The base is really nicely polished, not as thick tho. It fits pretty well in the VST basket, so tight that it's hard to twist and polish my puck. Only thing i dont like is that the rubber pad on top of the base is totally a dust magnet. No matter how much you wash it, there will always be dust on that
It is nice but I dont think i would pay that price to get another one in the future. Reg would do me enough being a bit less expensive
We can file that under: "Doctor. It hurts when I do this.." "So don't do that." No reason to polish after tamping. Does no good at all. Can damage puck which is bad.
You should stop now.. even BEFORE you need glasses! ;-)
calblacksmith Moderator Joined: 25 Nov 2007 Posts: 5,671 Location: Riverside, Ca, U.S.A. Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: ECM Veneziano A1 Grinder: Many different commercial Vac Pot: 40s era Silex Drip: Milita, Bunn&Curtis... Roaster: Cast iron pan, gas burner
Posted Thu Feb 2, 2012, 7:26am Subject: Re: My impression of VST/Pullman Tamper
So because Scotty bangs his PF 4 times to clean it, do you too? Because Scotty plays that funky music, is that mandatory? All I am saying is do what works for you. For the most part, I would say that mucking with the puck more than need is not a positive thing. If "polishing" works for you, by all means do it but it will not really make much of a difference in the cup if any, in a comp, there is a lot of showmanship involved that is not mandatory to good coffee making.
In real life, my name is Wayne P.
Feed the newbs, starve the trolls and above all enjoy what you drink!
Dodge1 Senior Member Joined: 21 Dec 2002 Posts: 205 Location: Omaha Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: GS/3 Grinder: K30 Vario WBC & K10 WBC
Posted Fri Feb 3, 2012, 5:27am Subject: Re: My impression of VST/Pullman Tamper
If the fines in my basket are really feisty I might bang it more than 4 times and I don’t know if you consider Stairway to Heaven funky but I find it goes nicely with espresso.
FYI, in case you didn’t get it by now I’m joking. I don’t bang my basket and I didn’t learn squat from Scotty as I was doing ~ the same routine for the last year but as you so eloquently put it “do what works for you.”
gregpullman Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 57 Location: Adelaide, Australia Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Expobar Minore III Grinder: Mazzer Super Jolly Roaster: Hottop B&P, redundant Gene...
Posted Wed Feb 22, 2012, 12:42am Subject: Re: My impression of VST/Pullman Tamper
bure82 Said:
So recently i got the VST/Pullman Tamper straight from VST. They had a sale but when you add up shipping, it is still quite expensive.
First impression is that it is lighter than i thought it would be. Espro still heaviest then comes my Reg and Pullman is the lightest of them all. The base is really nicely polished, not as thick tho. It fits pretty well in the VST basket, so tight that it's hard to twist and polish my puck. Only thing i dont like is that the rubber pad on top of the base is totally a dust magnet. No matter how much you wash it, there will always be dust on that
It is nice but I dont think i would pay that price to get another one in the future. Reg would do me enough being a bit less expensive
bit late to the party here sorry... Re the weight, it's definitely lighter, by design. You may or may not have noticed it's also balanced. Both were criteria for the high-volume, high-precision commercial work it's designed for, as the beta testers found this was more comfortable and reduced wrist strain in high volume work, particularly for those who like to invert the tamper and bang the portafilter with the top of the tamper. It's cheap and easy to make a bottom-heavy tamper because stainless steel (popular for bases) is heavier than aluminium or wood (popular for handles), so most manufacturers take that option. To get it light and balanced while still retaining those materials was no mean feat and means a heap more machining than in most other tampers. That's one reason it costs more.
At the end of the day each individual is different so one product won't suit everyone. Nor am I saying that bottom-heavy automatically means cheap and nasty, I'm not. But don't be under any misconceptions there's anything intrinsically inferior about this tamper just because it's designed to be balanced and lighter. It's been designed to a demanding specification to suit the top end of the market, with minimal consideration given to the cost required to meet that spec.
marko16 Senior Member Joined: 17 Jun 2006 Posts: 71 Location: mn Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Anita Grinder: Rocky Vac Pot: French press only
Posted Fri Feb 24, 2012, 2:42pm Subject: Re: My impression of VST/Pullman Tamper
I had a cheapy tamper that fits so well I really got lucky and saved some $$. I like it, but man I hate how it clings to the fines no matter how hard I hit it and I usually have to sweep it loose with a finger. Nothing in this world comes without a tradeoff.
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