I had an interesting experience here yesterday. I ordered an Americano and the lady operating the espresso machine (I can't call her a barista as it was obvious she's had no training) didn't tamp the espresso. I asked, and she said "we don't do that", which I found odd. I mean, isn't that just coffee if you don't tamp the espresso? Now I was only a barista for 2 years in college, so I'm no expert, so I asked facebook. Here were the responses:
"If you don't tamp you're making drip coffee..."
"Espresso is made by forcing very hot water under high pressure through finely ground, compacted coffee. Tamping down the coffee promotes the water's even penetration of the grounds."
"Your espresso should be tamped;-)!"
"If you're gonna make it without tamping go ahead and call it expresso...because it's faster and you clearly don't know what you're doing."
My conclusion was that espresso should be tamped so I'll be driving out of my way to Echo coffee until the folks at Buzzberry learn to tamp their espresso.
*I gave an extra star because their cinnamon roll is really good, but I don't know if they actually make them or purchase them.*