I just got my first machine, and I'm looking to replace the flimsy plastic tamper that came with the Gaggia Classic. It seems like the two common tamper sizes are 50mm and 55mm, but the 55mm I tried from a friend was still too small. Any idea what the proper size tamper is?
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3 Answers
Actually the most common and widely used basket/tamper size is the 58mm. It also seemed, from a quick Google, that the Gaggia Classic does indeed use a 58mm portafilter basket so you'll want to find a 58mm tamper for it.
This is definitely true about the 58mm, but I find with my Gaggia Classic, using just the standard portafilter basket it comes with, that the 58 still doesn't fit snugly enough, and sometimes just as I put the tamper on a bit of air pushes out some grinds from the sides and so on. I'd seen on a YouTube video once that actually 58.3mm is a better fit! But I can't seem to find one anywhere. They used to sell those tampers here at Segafredo but they're out of stock, but this particular 58.3mm BaristaPro seems to be the one I should have bought apparently.
The question as usually is: it depends. The variability of both 58mm baskets and 58mm tampers vary, and measuring with caliper is the best. For the very popular compination (at least in Europe) for IMS Precision baskets, the 58,5mm Motta Tamper (Which is actually 58,3 when measured) is a pretty snug fit.
