A long time ago we received a fine gift from our friends at Londinium Espresso of one of their low and heavy tampers, in brass and wenge wood. Ergonomically it seemed very well suited to the straight-on, from-the-saddle barista operation of a Velopresso. We used it happily for a couple of years before it went AWOL. By then we had the sense that even more weight in the base and a quite different profile for the handle was the way to go. It was time to design the VP tamper:

As ever, we went through a range of design iterations, testing the prototypes ourselves, before honing in on the important elements that make it a pleasure to use: the VP tampers are CNC-machined for us here in the UK, have a stainless steel base and aluminium handle, and are 58.45mm in diameter (fitting standard VP baskets and VST). The low centre of gravity and high weight (510g) takes the effort out of tamping and the fluting on the handle gives great grip, so it won’t slip in your hand and makes for a great polishing twist at the end of the tamping routine, (plus it has echoes of the aesthetics of our grinder and espresso machine). There’s a lot of action in the world of tampers right now, but this simple but effective design is perfect for use on a Velopresso.

The VP tampers will be available with black, red or gold handles and can be customised with laser-engraved branding – our logo, your logo or (for the purists among you) no logo. Whether you love your Velopresso and want the complete experience, or you just like the tamper, drop us an email at contact@velopresso.cc