Pullman Big Step Tamper

I can honestly say, that I wish I had ponied up and purchased this when I first started. Yes, its expensive but I’m saving my time and my patience. Perfect tamps every time. Its a beauty!

Best tamper on the market. The patented lip edge allows to get perfectly along the edge when tamping through the basket. Also the light weight construction and padded base allows for an easy and comfortable tamp. I am a cafe manager and we use one at each of our cafes. Great work flow on bar during rushes with this tamper.

Expensive but beefy and works great.

I ordered the Pullman 53mm tamper, and its a beaut. However, it only came with one spacer. I tried contacting via email and chat, but I got nothing via email, and the chat session took too long. Anyways, if it does come with 3 spacers instead of only one, then it would be good to eventually get them. I left 4 / 5 because of the spacer issue, but it would be 5 / 5 with the spacers and a better customer experience (i. e. customer support).

I was a hesitant to spend this much on the tamper & matching basket but wow the difference is insane. When you pull the tamper out it is SO clean around the edges. No more scraping the sides of the basket to get the excess! I love it

Best tamper I’ve ever owned, and I’ve owned the best, this has replaced my bravo calibrated tamper completely. This tamper truly is a piece of functional art. If you buy it, you will not regret it.

Fits nicely, good heft, great puck!

this tamper is the best combination of form and function you can get from a manual tamper. It feels great in your hand, and performs consistently well to produce delicious shots of espresso.

Agree with other comments that have been left about this tamper, in that if you are going to invest in a quality espresso machine, grinder, and whatever else, then don’t cut corners on the tamper. I do wish they weighted it up through the handle a bit more to balance better in your hand, but the rest of the design is excellent. Especially where it matters most at the point of contact with the coffee.

Perfectly flat, wonderfully weighted, great build

Super clean tamps in the pullman basket

Perfect edge to edge tamp. The ergonomics really set it apart from everything else out there.

This damper does the job that I suspect it supposed to. Though it hasn’t helped me. For unclear reasons, despite me not making any changes to my previously effective “recipe” I still have incredibly significant channeling around the periphery of my filter basket. It’s become so severe that I am now pouring out 40 g of coffee in less than 10 seconds! I have examined all my steps, and they all seem to be without clear issues. Any suggestions?

Great tamper. It takes your puck preparation to another level, and the extract seems more juicy

Everything they said was accurate. Best tamper out there. Easy to order, fast to get, I love it. Good tools are a blessing

This is the best tamper hands down. The machining quality is SO GOOD! The fit to a VST precision basket is such tight tolerance it's unreal. I used to use my friend's when we would work together as baristas, so now I'm glad I have my own for home espresso! :)

Great tamper. Instantly fixed my extraction and donut issues I would highly recommend this over other tampers!

Sean that's a good tamper thank you for recommending that for me.

I love this tamper. Definitely seals the edges really well. This is really well made. My espresso shot quality and consistency has improved.

Works perfectly! Completely covers the coffee in the basket.

I didn’t think a tamper would make a difference but boy was I wrong. I was a little reluctant to shell out this kind of money for a tamper. How good can it really be? Coming from a Normcore V4 tamper (calibrated), the Big Step outperforms in every way imaginable. Such a clean ramp every time and I paired it with the Pullman 876 basket, game changer. I just can’t get over how clean the tamp is. No grounds on the sides of the basket at all. I will never look back and couldn’t be happier with my purchase

Product is amazing. As long as you get one that is perfect! I received two tampers that were damaged upon arrival. But the third one was the one! Amazing fitment in all of my baskets. Edges are top notch and clean edges.

While I thought I was being extravagant by plunking down this much money for a tamper (and it kinda is 😁) but I’m so happy I purchased this! It’s heavy so it’s easy to push straight down and the base is large enough to closely fit the edges of the basket. It has a nice feel to it based on the shape of the handle. I decided against a spring tamper or a distributor. All I need is this and my WDT.

Works great. Been using a vst basket with it and I see no grinds on the side walls when tamping. Very satisfied. Looks awesome

Fit perfectly to La marzocco.

Buy cheap, buy twice. Are you trying to pull precision shots or not? Coffee is life and this will be the last tamper you ever buy. Spend the extra hundred bucks and support a brand that is dedicated to the craft.

I appreciate the fact that this tamper just feels like it’s designed to its job really well. The fit in the basket is great. It’s also nice that there are spacers for adjusting the handle length. I can’t say that my shots are consistently better but I can say that the workspace stays cleaner with less stray grounds.

Like the weight of this tamper. Easy to use.

This is the sixth tamper that I've used in my home espresso experience, and the best! First, I love the fact that you can adjust its height, using the supplied washers. I have fairly large hands, and this is the first tamper I've tried that I can get to fit perfectly. Second, being 58.55 mm in diameter, it certainly gives the tightest fit in the baskets I have (VST and Decent), and that makes a difference. There's hardly any coffee left on the basket walls after tamping, and when knocking out the puck, it's apparent that the water gets to more of the puck edge during extraction than with narrower tampers. It's not a huge difference, but it's noticeable. On the whole, I get slightly more even extractions than with other tampers.

As great as the Pullman BigStep is, it's not perfect, for me. The top of the base is made of rubber, which is great for relieving pressure on the fingers, but does attract coffee dust, which I find annoying. Also, the Pullman is a little light for my taste. In that regard, I prefer the Pesado tamper, for example, which is almost double the weight, feels much nicer to hold, and requires less force when tamping. Finally, I don't particularly care for how the Pullman looks, especially the writing on its base, but that's really picking nits. On the whole, I still prefer the Pullman over any other tamper I've used, because of its functional advantages.

I should also comment on the price of the Pullman BigStep. It's certainly the most expensive tamper I've used, and the price is a little hard to justify, given that it's basically just a chunk of metal, even if one that's made very precisely. Also, compared to something like a cheap Rhinoware 58.4 tamper, it's not going to massively change the quality of your shot. The advantages it offers are nothing like the difference between a cheap grinder and an expensive one. But if you care to chase perfection in the espresso game, then I think there's no substitute among traditional tampers.

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I've been living with a tamper I hate for six years. It was kind of working for me but I didn't love it. Handle too tall. Base too thick. Left ground coffee up the sides of the basket. We were basically incompatible and hanging on for convenience's sake.. But I wasn't ready to get into the game of "dating" tamper after tamper until I found the right one. Then, finally, I'd had enough. I filed the divorce papers.

I left my old tamper and my VST 20g. ridged basket for a Big Step and a Pullman ridgeless 19g. basket. I'm not looking back. The Pullman basket takes my preferred 20g just fine. And with the Big Step, the basket walls after the tamp are whistle clean, and the Pullman / Pullman combination knocks out a little cleaner than the VST did as well.

The thickness of the Pullman base finally allows me to level the tamp to the rim of the basket by feel. (My old base was too tall for that). And the shorter handle lets me compress firmly without fear of pushing everything off axis.

I have slightly larger than average hands...size 8 gloves...and I'm using the smallest spacer - which is the second shortest you can go on the handle. I may experiment by using slightly more handle spacers some day but after 6 years of hating the long handle I'm happy to go as short as I can for now.

I'm only giving 4/5 stars because, to be honest, the cost of the tamper is a bit excessive. Big Step is a convenience, neither a necessity nor a life-changer. If the coffee budget is tight, the extra cash you lay out for a Big Step is probably better spent elsewhere...like toward a better grinder or a nice scale.