My first machine was a Breville Barista Express. While it is a great machine for many, I immediately wished I had gone the route of a separate grinder from the machine itself and I soon rectified that. However, the first time I touched the machine, I knew I was going to replace the tamper. I hated it. While the idea of attaching to the machine via a magnet was attractive, the cheap, light, plastic tamp just ruined the whole thing for me.

With that in mind, I’ve gone through several different tamps. My budget doesn’t allow for expensive ones like the Force or others in that price tier.

One of my first tamps was the IKAPE V3 58.35 calibrated tamper with the Walnut handle. I liked the look and feel of this tamper, and was very pleased with it. If I remember correctly, this tamp also provided a “click” when the 30lbs of pressure was reached and the spring was released. While my initial reaction to this tamper was positive, over time, my satisfaction became less as I was consistently finding that it didn’t fit my 58mm baskets tightly enough and a ring of espresso powder was left creeping up the sides of my basket.

I have tried several other baskets, and my current daily is a the Normcore V4 with a wooden handle. To be honest, it’s the only product from Normcore that I have liked and didn’t feel was overpriced, so when the new tamp arrived from IKAPE, I admit, I was a bit biased.

Upon opening the outer standard brown cardboard shipping box, I was pleasantly surprised by the quality of the IKAPE packaging of the V5 Impact Espresso Tamper. It comes in a nice black box that is pleasingly branded and feels a bit more posh than some items I’ve received from other brands. Upon opening the box, and removing the tamp, I was immediately saddened that the tamper disk was ridged.

Every tamper I’ve had thats had a ridged base has been an annoying experience. Coffee powder fills the ridges and due to static remains in the crevices even after the tamp is complete. No amount of RDT or tapping the tool after tamping has ever worked for me, and I’ve always had to resort to using a small brush to clean the face of the tamper. I loathe extra steps like this. After using this tamp daily for several weeks during which I’ve experienced ever atmospheric anomaly my area is likely to get, I am happy to say my experience with the Impact tamper completely upended my expectations. In the picture above, you can see minute amounts of coffee on the base. This is all that remains after multiple uses! I don’t know what IKAPE has done to keep the coffee from sticking, but whatever it is, it’s fantastic! For the first time I would consider buying a ridged tamper! I also like that the tamp is not coated with any process and appears to be a plain stainless steel, ridged disk.

The construction of this tamper is solid. While I generally prefer wooden handles on my espresso accessories, the minimalist design and metal touchpoints on this tamper appeal to me. The tamper does come with three springs that can easily be swapped out to set your desired tamp weight. I left the 30lb spring in as that correlated with my regular routine. The reason (I assume) this tamp is labeled the Impact, is that it has an auditory and sensory “click” when the puck has been tamped to the preset weight. It works quite well and the user would never be in doubt that the puck has been fully compressed to the desired weight.

Not everything is perfect with this tamp however. Although the stated size is 58.5mm, this tamp leaves a bit more coffee on the side of the basket than my regular 58.5mm tamp. To be honest, it’s not enough that I would find this to be an issue on a daily basis, but I did find it interesting. While I was impressed with the design, I do love the warmness of wood and wish there was an option for wooden accents (to my knowledge, there is not, though I could be wrong).

Even with these caveats, I do believe the IKAPE V5 Impact Espresso Tamper is a valid option for anyone that is looking to upgrade their espresso game without breaking the bank.

Rating: 1.75 out of 2 Ravens

Before you leave….
How would you like to own the IKAPE V5 Impact Espresso Tamper??

I am going to give one lucky reader the tamp reviewed above. I will send the tamp, free of charge, to anyone in the United States. If you live outside of the U.S., feel free to enter, but you will have to pay for the shipping to get the tamper to you. So, how do you register for the giveaway? Simply leave a comment! I will be choosing a name at random on Easter Sunday and will notify the winner via email in the week following.