IKAPE Handle transparent V3 Calibrated Tamper (Various Sizes)
This is a calibrated spring loaded tamper from Ikape, which not only offers ergonomic comfort, but also delivers visual spectacle thanks to the unique transparent acrylic handle.
I have one of these in my studio, and they’re a unique looking tamper, kind of a “breaking the fourth wall” kind of thing going on here, like, wait – there’s a spring, and it’s springing.
Obviously, you know this, but seeing it in action while you’re tamping is quite cool, completely unnecessary of course, but cool nonetheless.
So this is a calibrated tamper, also with a spring loaded leveller ring, which means you always end up with a level tamp, which is very important.
So not only is it a satisfying tamper to use that adds a bit of visual magic to your espresso, it’s actually a very practical tamper too, given that it ensures a consistent tamp pressure and a level surface, which are the two most important aspects of tamping.
Features and Benefits: |
Factory calibrated for consistenc tamp pressure |
showbullet Spring loaded leveller ring for a level surface|
showbullet Flat, stainless steel base|
showbullet Transparent acrylic handle|
Practically speaking, forgetting the way it looks for a minute, I think this is a decent calibrated tamper for the money.
It delivers around 30lb of pressure (and exactly how much it delivers really doesn’t matter as long as it’s the same each time), it has a flat, unrippled base, and it has a spring loaded auto leveller.
Visually, I think it’s brilliant. The see through handle revealing the thick black spring offset with the red and black interior does look great, and it works really well too.
Vs other calibrated tampers, the only thing I could say on the negative side is that the focus on the visual side of thing means that it’s quite loud, it kind of sounds like a squeaky gate, which is fine I suppose, but I do think this is the only tamper I’ve ever used that plays a tune ;-).
It’s just one of its quirks, though, and over all I really like it.
Re the flat base, I don’t believe that a rippled base actually produces any benefit, other than producing a rippled surface, which is quite cool to look at, but I can’t see that it actually does anything.
I think there was some thought initially that giving the surface a ripple may help with an even extraction, but I honestly don’t think it does, I’ve certainly never been able to detect any difference from using flat vs rippled tampers.
In my opinion, the only real difference is that the rippled surface tampers can sometimes remove a very small amount of coffee from the surface, as some occasionally gets trapped in some of the ripples. I can’t see any way this would produce a positive difference, but it’s so small that it probably doesn’t produce a negative difference either.
It’s available to fit portafilter sized from 51mm, to 58mm.
Ikape do warn that there may be imperfections in the acrylic handle, although in the couple that I’ve got, there’s no imperfections at all, it’s like looking through solid glass.
So, yeah, this is a very nice looking, very effective calibrated tamper with a flat base, it’s a bit squeaky, other than that it’s very cool.
