Barista told me to stop tapping my portafilter, I owe them an apology

Last week at a shop in Portland, this barista watched me prep my basket and said, "you're knocking out all the fines with that tap." I thought they were being picky, but I tried it their way for a few days. My shots pull way more even now, and the channeling pretty much disappeared. I always thought tapping was just standard practice, but apparently I was doing it way too hard. Has anyone else been corrected on something basic like this and found out the "wrong" way was actually better?

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margaretshah23d ago

Read somewhere that James Hoffmann talked about how hard tapping can shove fines down into the basket, which messes up the flow. Never thought about it till a buddy sent me that video, and yeah, it made a huge difference in my shots too. Reckon most of us just copy what we see in cafes without really questioning it.