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I was curious. I’d heard much about Reg Barber Tampers – but had never really contemplated the notion that there was actually a person behind the name. I mean, because the Reg Barber Tampers are so highly revered in the industry you tend to lose sight of the fact that real flesh and blood are responsible for their creation.

I’d spoken to Reg over the phone and had swapped a few one liners over email. These occasions provided a small window through where I could see and get a small insight of what I could expect when I finally met him in person.

Give him a white beard, put a pillow under his shirt and dress him in a red suit. If I was blind I swear it would seem as though you’d be in the presence of Santa Claus.

Let’s put tampers aside. Reg is jolly in a very gentle kind of way. He has an enthusiasm towards all his lifes’ encounters. He loves where he lives, he loves the people he meets and he loves the work that he does and product that results from it. This is Reg Barber — his tampers are a by-product of his life.

Reg Barber tampers are merely a product of a person who is passionate about things, no, everything he does. I bet that if Reg made Widgets they would be the best widgets on earth — that’s because what he does IS Reg , what you see is what you get — a genuine person with a passion to create an honest to goodness “best Tamper in the world”.

You’d think that, with their apparent simplicity of design, the Japanese or Germans with their high tech automation would have already spewed forth a computerbrained, robot built, contender to the throne of the Tamper kingdom. Why not — they look simple enough to build.

And simple they are, that is, if you have no regard for the inherent beauty that accompanies anything crafted by hand. Nothing Reg makes is that “simple”. You see, Reg’s workshop comprises of highly sophisticated computer aided tools that takes much of the backwork out each tamper he crafts — the rest is all done by hand. It’s hard to comprehend this at first until you watch the process.

From the first chunk of specially chosen wood being put into the lathe, (a robot wouldn’t know potentially beautiful timber even if it jumped up and bit it in the hard drive) to Reg’s gloved hand reducing the harshness of the edges of the stainless steel bases you know you’re in the presence of a true artisen. Reg has helpers now — and with Reg being Reg he’d also want me to give them some credit for his success. (Onya Reg)

The fact that 3 of the 6 finalists — and the eventual winner — in this years (2006) World Barista Championship and the winner of this years World Latte Art Championship (2006) were all using Reg Barber tampers is no surprise. You just have to hold one and examine one closely to understand why.