Holliday Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 17 Location: NY Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Cremina 67; Estro Profi Drip: Aero Press
Posted Sun Feb 17, 2013, 9:09am Subject: Tamper for single cup basket for Cremina?
I got 49.4 mm tamper from Orphan Espresso for my Cremina, which is perfect for the double basket but seems much too big for the single cup basket. Using it does not really press down on the 7gms of coffee contained in the recessed part of the single cup basket which looks like it's about 35-37 mm wide. When new, the Cremina came with a black plastic double sided convex tamper with a smaller side for the single basket but it was broken long before the machine came to me.
Is there/do I need a smaller tamper for single cups?
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,476 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Sun Feb 17, 2013, 1:42pm Subject: Re: Tamper for single cup basket for Cremina?
Holliday Said:
I got 49.4 mm tamper from Orphan Espresso for my Cremina, which is perfect for the double basket but seems much too big for the single cup basket. Using it does not really press down on the 7gms of coffee contained in the recessed part of the single cup basket which looks like it's about 35-37 mm wide. When new, the Cremina came with a black plastic double sided convex tamper with a smaller side for the single basket but it was broken long before the machine came to me.
Is there/do I need a smaller tamper for single cups?
Get a MCAL (Elektra Micro Casa a Leva) single basket from http://www.espressocare.com It is slightly wider, a bit deeper as well. as former cremina owner, IU'd recommend 11 grams of coffee in that basket. Light tamp, maybe 10#'s. My 49.4 fit perfectly in the Cremina double, MCAL single and double.
Holliday Senior Member Joined: 22 Jun 2004 Posts: 17 Location: NY Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Cremina 67; Estro Profi Drip: Aero Press
Posted Wed Feb 20, 2013, 10:18am Subject: Re: Tamper for single cup basket for Cremina?
Thanks. On their website, it looks like basically the same shape as the single basket for the Cremina, with the lower area of the basket which holds the coffee being a smaller diameter than the top. So I'm not sure how a 49.4 diameter tamper would be able to reach and compress the grounds inside the lower part of that basket any better than it would the Cremina, but I'll give it a shot (so to speak).
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,476 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Wed Feb 20, 2013, 10:18pm Subject: Re: Tamper for single cup basket for Cremina?
Holliday Said:
Thanks. On their website, it looks like basically the same shape as the single basket for the Cremina, with the lower area of the basket which holds the coffee being a smaller diameter than the top. So I'm not sure how a 49.4 diameter tamper would be able to reach and compress the grounds inside the lower part of that basket any better than it would the Cremina, but I'll give it a shot (so to speak).
Roland Senior Member Joined: 21 Mar 2004 Posts: 21 Location: KY Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Olympia Cremina Grinder: Mazzer Major Roaster: Behmor
Posted Thu Feb 21, 2013, 7:41pm Subject: Re: Tamper for single cup basket for Cremina?
Are you using enough coffee? If you have too little coffee in the basket, the tamper will hit the metal of the recess and not compress the coffee. When there is enough coffee, the tamper will compress the grinds just fine. I am using the single basket (MCAL) and have no problem with tamping. If you can see the recessed area after tamping, you don't have enough coffee in the basket.
Yeah, I think so, 7 grams which do come up slightly above the recessed area of the basket, but the shot was very poor so I thought that maybe while the coffee above the lower basket was being tamped, perhaps the portion below was not. I'll keep trying and try playing with the amount of coffee, and the grind while I wait for a smaller MCAL tamper.
IMAWriter Senior Member Joined: 4 Jul 2002 Posts: 5,476 Location: Brentwood, TN Expertise: I live coffee
Espresso: Nothing at the moment Grinder: Vario-W,Preciso-Esatto/KyM... Vac Pot: Adcraft SS, Yama 8 cup Drip: Brazen.Chemex, Hario, Clever... Roaster: Behmor 1600, CO/UFO combo
Posted Sun Feb 24, 2013, 11:01pm Subject: Re: Tamper for single cup basket for Cremina?
7 grams is barely a traditional Italian shot,. and with all the robusta in their coffee...sometimes 50%, it just looks like more coffee coming out. The MCAL basket would like 10 grams..even 11. But go 10grams, a light 5# tamp. If you get it right, you'll get a lovely 20ml single consisting of LAYERS, not so intense as a double, but more clarity. IMO, the MCAL single basket, being a bit deeper, produces a more focused shot than the OE Cremina single. At least that was so on MY Olympia Cremina. (1981) The MCAL basket is not expensive, and well worth it, as your Cremina is, again IMO, a perfect machine to pull singles. You can drink them all day! Half the fun is preparing and pulling the shot. I had both the single and double MCAL baskets.
If your tamper is not a very thin (by depth) piston, I'd highly recommend the tamper I had, made by a true craftsman, Richard Penney. He also made my all brass bottomless tamper.
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