It does help. Just purchased the Normcore with the rippled base. I was torn really. Tempted with the knock off but decided to go with the expensive one to get what I thought to be a safer buy. I’m sure it will be the correct choice. Thanks for the review.

Cheers pal, great video

The ikape is the best tamper. I’ve never had anything but even level tamps with it. Spring is strong and level. Also compresses the coffee the best. On my breville pro I consistently get a 20gram basket. All other ramps only let me get 18grams out. So I’m getting a true double shot. Nice.

Just a friendly heads up, the pronunciation of Breville, at least in it's home country of Australia and as far as I know elsewhere as well, is BREvul rather than breVEL. I bought both the flat bottom Normcore V4 and the knock off and decided the quality of the Normcore was definitely worth the extra cost. The knock off (from the well known Chinese website) was ok but the Normcore was better quality and a much smoother and nicer experience to use so it was an easy choice.

I actually found I like that first self leveling tamper that doesn't have the 2nd spring for a weight calibrated tamp, because I don't believe you really need to have the tamp set to a specific weight, and it gives you feedback so you can FEEL the coffee being compressed, and from that you should know that it has done the job. There's a risk of bottoming out this type of tamper since with a lower dose of coffee or larger basket it can only go so deep. So with a spring calibrated tamper you might not realize it hasn't fully compacted the coffee since you don't feel the feedback as much. The expensive Decent brand tamper works in the same way, no weight calibration really just self leveling, but you feel the feedback of coffee being compressed. That first one is a great value! They shouldn't claim it's WEIGHT calibrated or double spring though! For my 51mm Europiccola, I found I needed a larger size tamper to get right to the edge though, so I went with a custom sized Happy Tamper (which is a bit pricier and also weight calibrated), I got a 51.5mm size which works pretty well but they're actually sending me a 51.7mm base as well now which I think will fit more precisely. I had Normcore as well for 51mm and 58.5mm for my other machine, I thought the Normcore sizing seemed a bit off, for the v4 anyway, it wasn't as precise fitting as it should be. (Same with the 51mm but that might be the Europiccola basket issue more than the tamper since it's actually closer to 52mm) I had a V3 58.5mm Normcore earlier and sold it before getting v4 and it (v3) actually fit better ( v3 seemed like it was really 58.5mm) and I should have kept it, the base was also interchangeable with the Decent tampers! Not so with the v4 Normcore. The

Not sure if the ripples really do much, It's theoretically supposed to get help with initial wetting /saturation (preinfusion) to prevent channeling, I'd think higher ridges/ripples are probably more beneficial from the Normcore vs the smaller less deep ridges on the other base. A lot of people are using paper filters on top or metal puck screens these days which probably negates any benefits from the ripple design. Sounds like you also have a similar experience with Normcore base sizes being off sometimes!

@Serafiniert

10 ай бұрын

Don't know if they work, but they do look nice.

Dang, I really wanted a simple self leveling palm tamper and I'm bummed because this one is now unavailable!

Chnage o the18gram IMS basket - its straight sided. The Normcore works much better and its a better basket.

Odd that the metal bits end up in the centre of the puck, how dose it get there?

8:29 I think the only theory behind ripple bases is that it looks "cooler".

Have you tried the Normcore with any other 54mm baskets other than the Breville included baskets?

@lakebagger

8 ай бұрын

I did try it with other baskets, including IMS and it works just fine. That said, after 9 months of making lattes every morning (which is all I drink) I would say the fancier accessories like precision baskets are a waste of money, and I personally hated the IMS as they always produced wet soggy pucks no matter what I did. If you are just doing lattes you won't be able to tell any difference. If you are drinking espresso and can actually taste a difference, I think you are better off investing the money in a fancy grinder, a machine that uses wider 58mm baskets, etc. if you are going to throw money at precision baskets.

@thematrix7225

8 ай бұрын

@@lakebagger Good to know; thanks.

How on earth are metal flakes getting straight through a 3/8 inch solid steel plate?

@lakebagger

2 ай бұрын

Gravity? The flakes fall onto the stell plate and eventually funnel off the sides into the grounds. The plate is not sealed by the hood, there is a gap on the sides. The plate moves up and down as you tamp while the hood remains somewhat stationary levered against the top of the portafilter. Plenty of room on the side of the plate for the flakes to fall into your grounds.

@phillewis3108

2 ай бұрын

@@lakebagger so why are they in the centre and not at the edges? And why are they there at all? Pretty sure that wouldn’t pass UK food equipment safety tests…

@lakebagger

2 ай бұрын

@@phillewis3108 No idea, but they were there, so back it went. Very happy with the Normcore, it's worth the premium.

New sub

"and the the branding is" ... cough... cough.. Alibaba! cough

"Calibrated" double-spring tampers are a silly gimmick based on the premise that you'd want to tamp to a certain pressure rather than to max compression. In reality the second spring is a limiting spring that prevents you from tamping harder. That single spring palm tamper for $7 is the best tamper there, even if it's not perfect.

@Wisemanman

7 ай бұрын

the reason for the calibrated spring is simply consistency. You'll take the guesswork out of your pressure. Sure, you can always tamp as hard as possible, that works too. But here you are guaranteed the same pressure every time.

@en0n126

6 ай бұрын

​max compression is the maximum no matter what. there's no more space to compress into. consistency of pressure beyond max compression doesn't matter because it's literally not doing anything but putting further weight onto an immovable surface. all that matters is that you consistantly reach max compression and not less.

@brandoncostner7437

3 ай бұрын

Isn't max compression bad? 30lb every time ideal?

"calibrated spring" is a crock of shit. Levelling can be useful if you struggle to keep it level when you press down.

@lakebagger

6 ай бұрын

I would agree "calibrated" isn't important, just needs to be strong enough to tamp, obviously you don't want something too limp. I much prefer the dual spring design of the normcore vs. leveling tampers without any spring or only with a single spring that does not lever off the top of the portafilter. To get a level tamp I have found it helps to use my fingers to hold the tamper flush against the top of the portafilter while I tamp with my other hand.

It doesn't leave a nice pattern ?!?!? Really ??? 😂😂😂