Guide · Tampers and stations
Espresso basket and tamper size guide
Tamper, puck screen and dosing ring sizes for Breville, De'Longhi, Gaggia, Rancilio, Lelit, Flair and Cafelat, from maker specs.
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The short answer
Look up your machine below and buy the tool size, not the portafilter size. The two are often different: Breville's 54 mm portafilters take tampers and puck screens of about 53.3 mm, and many 58 mm baskets are designed for a 58.4 mm tamper.
If your machine is not listed, or you have replaced the stock basket, measure the basket (see below). A basket's own maker is the best source for its tamper size.
Machine size chart
Sizes are from the machine or basket maker unless the note says otherwise. "Tool size" is the tamper or puck-screen diameter the maker recommends or designs for.
| Machine | Portafilter | Tool size to look for | Source and notes |
|---|---|---|---|
| Breville Bambino, Bambino Plus | 54 mm | about 53.3 mm | Breville product pages; Normcore designs its 53.3 mm tamper for 54 mm baskets |
| Breville Barista Express, Express Impress, Barista Pro, Barista Touch, Touch Impress | 54 mm | about 53.3 mm | Breville's 54 mm portafilter part lists all five. Normcore notes its 53.3 mm dosing cup does not fit the Express Impress, so check each listing |
| IMS Breville basket (B62.52TH24E) | 54 mm inside | 53 to 53.4 mm | IMS specification |
| Breville Dual Boiler, Oracle Touch | 58 mm | see the 58 mm baskets below | Breville product pages |
| De'Longhi Dedica, La Specialista, Dedica Maestro (manual machines) | 51 mm family | 51 mm | De'Longhi says its 51 mm tamper fits its portafilters. Bottomless portafilters are model-specific (see below) |
| Gaggia Classic Evo Pro | 58 mm | see the 58 mm baskets below | Gaggia's US distributor |
| Rancilio Silvia, Silvia Pro X | 58 mm | see the 58 mm baskets below | Rancilio product pages |
| Lelit Anna (PL41TEM) | LELIT57 system | tools listed as LELIT57 / 57 mm | Lelit specifies LELIT57 barista tools for this group. Generic 58 mm tools are made for a different size |
| Lelit Victoria, Mara X, Bianca | LELIT58 system | 58 mm-class tools | Lelit product pages |
| VST 15–25 g baskets | 58 mm class | 58.40 mm | VST specification (+0.00 / −0.05 mm) |
| IMS 58 mm competition basket (B702TH24.5M) | 58 mm class | 58 to 58.4 mm | IMS specification |
| Flair 58 (standard basket) | 58.7 mm tapering to 58.5 mm | 58.4 mm; 58.5 mm at most | Flair support |
| Flair PRO 2 | 46 mm | 45.5 mm | Flair support |
| Cafelat Robot | 57.8 mm inside, 60 mm deep | about 57.4 mm (Cafelat levelling tamper) | Cafelat. The basket is unusually deep, so rim-resting tools may not reach the coffee |
Why the tool is smaller than the label
A tamper has to slide into the basket without scraping or sticking, so it is made slightly smaller than the basket's inside diameter. How much smaller depends on the basket. VST specifies 58.40 mm for its 58 mm-class baskets. IMS gives 58 to 58.4 mm for its competition basket. Decent Espresso uses a 58.35 mm base and advises against 58.5 mm tampers, because a very close fit can pull the puck up as you lift the tamper.
So there is no single "minus half a millimetre" rule. Prefer the basket maker's number, then the machine maker's.
How to measure your own basket
- Take the basket out and clean it.
- Measure the inside diameter where the coffee bed ends up, about halfway down, not across the rolled top rim. Many baskets taper: Flair's standard basket is 58.7 mm at the top and 58.5 mm lower down.
- Use digital calipers if you have them; a ruler cannot resolve tenths of a millimetre.
- Look up the basket maker's page if the basket has a brand stamp. That number beats any measurement taken at home.
Puck screens and dosing rings
Puck screens sit on top of the tamped coffee, so they need the same kind of fit as a tamper: a screen made for a 54 mm Breville basket is about 53.3 mm. A screen also takes up space above the coffee. If your portafilter becomes hard to lock in after adding one, lower the dose slightly.
Dosing rings sit on the portafilter rim rather than inside the basket, so they are sold by portafilter size: 51, 54 or 58 mm.
Bottomless portafilters are a separate question
Basket diameter does not decide whether a portafilter locks into your machine; the locking ears do. Buy a bottomless portafilter only when your exact model number is listed. For example, De'Longhi's own 51 mm bottomless portafilter is listed for La Specialista and Dedica Maestro models, but not for the Dedica EC685 or EC885.
What this means for our picks
Listings we recommend are sold by size family. The sizes below are the seller's sizing, which we have not checked against a basket:
- Our calibrated tamper comes in 51, 53 and 58 mm. For a Breville 54 mm basket, the 53 mm version is slightly smaller than the 53.3 mm precision fit.
- Our dosing ring comes in 51, 53–54 and 58 mm.
- Our puck screen comes in 51, 53.5 and 58.5 mm. The 53.5 mm size is slightly larger than the 53.3 mm precision fit for Breville baskets, so it may sit higher or bind; check before relying on it.