51mm Espresso Tamper & Distributor, MATOW Dual Head Coffee Leveler Fits 51mm Delonghi Portafilter, Adjustable Depth-Professional Espresso Hand Tampers

Overall feels good in the hand and works well.

I included three photos, my previous tamping method, this tamper, and the results.

Design: Very well machined, well engineered, well designed, and rather ingenious. Fits my portafilter flawlessly, no scratching or reshaping. I think if my portafilter fell and bent I could use this tamp to make my portafilter the right shape and size again. Tamp edges sharp but rounded, not harmful, tamp plate engineering-level flat, well-aligned with the handle which serves as a level, very well polished. I wish cabinetmaking tools were this well made. Functional and although not as chic&simple as some tampers, definitely cooler than some. It has all the bells and whistles, you could say.

Construction:
Handle: feels like cast aluminum, gnurled on one section, feels good in the hand, well made, feels durable.
Tamp: Not true stainless steel, has a slight magnetic pull with my rare earth magnets, but not enough to worry about rusting for years, way past the point where it earns is cost. Probably got some carbon it it to hold those sweet tamp edges and threads for the handle and adjustments.
Weight is good and heavy for it’s size. Good enough to star in a murder-mystery.

Opinion: I find that this adjustable tamper, extended significantly in my case, made my coffee from a good morning shot to that shot that I wanted. Barista quality. The flavour went from quite alright but a little bitter to smooth, full-bodied. The third image shows the results, the previous tamper looks dirty compared to this tamper’s results. The flavour matches with the looks here. I always thought my machine made the crema at the end because the water was too hot at the start and the right temperature near the end. I was wrong. With this tamper extended so the grind is nice and compact, my machine’s water pressure really pulls the oils out with the coffee 50/50 and visible in the pouring for a truly balanced coffee.

My only con is that the polishing side, although beautiful, is useless for me. I “polish” with the tamping side, which because of the good design, can be kept flat to avoid ruining the angle of the tamp. Thumbs up for that, and I still get that enjoyable finishing twist I like. The polishing side when I used it is so well polished that the grind stuck to the raised parts and ruined my tamp. In theory this is because it’s difficult to get the exact same depth with both sides, which is why I find polishing side beautiful but useless and would rather have had more of a handle with which to extend the tamp side. Or perhaps a second tamp side with a smiley face or a thumbs up to imprint on my grind just for my sense of humour and satisfaction. I would pay extra for a custom made tamp with that, guaranteed.

Would I buy again or recommend to a friend? Without a doubt. I’d even buy another version of this same exact tamp but without the polishing side and just a larger handle for my large hands, I’d even pay extra for that handle being made of the same high-quality steel for the added weight which feels great in the hand. This is my coffee’s little puck of destiny. I kind of want to take up CNC metalworking just to make the custom grind imprints right now, but that could just because the new espresso shots are running beautifully through my system and definitely give me a better boost than the old ones, for the same amount of coffee.

Easy to clean, once you set it right you will have the best cups of espresso!

I barely need to tamp, the weight of the tamper does most of the work.

Works as advertised, solid, don’t drop it on your toes (the manual suggests it can break a toe, and I’m inclined to believe it!)