Thanks Duane! I've just visited tha page and fell in love with the idea to engrave a logo on the tamper. As soon as I'll figure out what I want, I'll order one. Thanks for your help. By the way, ordering it directly from Reg in the US comes to the same price as ordering it here in Europe. So I'll buy it by the master himself, of course. Joey
"Do everything right. You will gratify some people and astonish the rest." (Mark Twain)
<snip> By the way, ordering it directly from Reg in the US comes to the same price as ordering it here in Europe. So I'll buy it by the master himself, of course. Joey Reg lives near Victora BC Canada, and has a currency converter built in - use it to convert from Canadian dollars direct to Euro's. Cheaper that way too. He's a bit of a folksy guy (at least when I talked to him on the phone) - wanted to know about Calgary's weather - heat wave here as well as in Victoria.
OT - I visited Vienna last October - Sacher Tort - forgive me (I was a tourist) :)). Vienna was great - loved it - however, I never explored the coffee world - except with the tort <grin>
...." I visited Vienna last October - Sacher Tort - forgive me (I was a tourist) :)). Vienna was great - loved it - however, I never explored the coffee world - except with the tort "....
Hi Duane! I hope you ate the original Sacher Torte - it's everybodys favorite here. All the other ones -not from the Hotel Sacher-are too sweet.
By the way, the Hotel Sacher sends the cake to every place on this earth, you can order it online as a special gift for someone. It works well and really tastes good to coffee.
I send it several times to my relatives in New York. It arrived their fresh as just baked.
Sorry, always get carried away when talking about that cake.
Hope you liked the rest of Vienna, too. Though it can be quite ugly in October. All the plants lost their colorful leaves and it often rains...yak!
The Vienna coffee Houses are famous, but you have to find a good one. Other wise you end up with a snobbish waiter and a room full of smoke and old furniture. And don't try to get a cappuccino! What they do here is called a "Melange" and is basically the same: Espresso, milk and foam on top. When you order a cappuccino you get whipped cream instead of the foam. And don't even try to argue with a waiter - otherwise he brings you tea. They are really arrogant sometimes :-)
If you pass by Vienna again, let me know. I'll recommend you some nice places!
Joey
"Do everything right. You will gratify some people and astonish the rest." (Mark Twain)
never expected such a verbal outpouring over Sacher Torte <grin> - Yes, it was the original at the Hotel Sacher - the table presentation was awesome !!! I visited the Hotel site - didn't know that they shipped worldwide - How fresh would it be ??? You know, this being a coffee site -(Are your beans fresh?) is one of the first questions asked here !! :-))
It was cool in Vienna, one nice day - cloudy and rainy the others - While crossing the Danube in a blustery rainstorm, the wind tore my umbrella to shreds - arrived at the hotel cold and soaking wet - it was fun nonetheless.
I knew about about the Vienna coffee houses but unfortunately was with friends who had other priorities. :-(( And if ever, I'm once more in Vienna I'll be sure to ask for your recommendations. Thanks for your kind offer !!
Hope you enjoy your new tamper - if you decide to go with an original design (I didn't) please post it.
Posted Fri Aug 1, 2003, 6:59am Subject: Re: Reg Barber Tamper in Europe?
Slightly off topic but for those with interest.... there's a guy named Les who posts in the Swet Maria's Home Roaster mailing list periodically. he has a small side business creating custom wood tampers. I sold off my machiend aluminum tamper with my old Gaggia Baby last week and have a tamper on order from Les. The bottom will be made of Ligneaum Vitae, an extremely hard wood, but the body is to be made of Amboyna burl. I'm not familiar with this wood but it look sbeautiful - see the attched photo. Mine will be two toned as this is a piece of waood that has a significant color variation in one portion.
His stock tampers are on his Thor Tamper web page and priced at or below the Reg Barber depending on model. The custom pieces are a bit more (mine will be $70 plus shipping) but since it's a one time deal that I'll use for many years I can live with the price. I had a Reg Barber on backorder from 1st Line for a few months and never received it or any updates on future availability.
I will report back here on my experiences with and perceptions of the Thor tamper once I've had some time to work with it.
blader Senior Member Joined: 24 Jun 2003 Posts: 149 Location: Calgary Expertise: I love coffee
Espresso: Gaggia Baby Class Grinder: Mazzer Mini, Birchleaf... Drip: none Roaster: support local roaster
Posted Fri Aug 1, 2003, 8:21am Subject: Re: Reg Barber Tamper in Europe?
Hi Joey and Owen
slightly OT While in Chiang Rai, northern Thailand, I purchased several burl wood boxes - absolutely beautiful - very knarled - The following is a description of the wood that accompanied the boxes (poor English):
quote As a result of infection from a virus incurred after trunk damage, a Makha tree reacts to protect itself by over growing around this area with a mound of wood. This particular mound is known as burl wood. The size of these mounds vary, however, the final size is typically ranges between 40 inches to 80 inches and can take up to 600 - 900 years to complete.
Of a thousand Makha trees, per chance one may complete a complete mound. The wood texture is known as the queen of the wood, Its texture is smooth and its surface ringed with lines and curls. Unquote
I believe, Burl is also available from other woods - anyhow the grain on the tamper does resemble the grain on my boxes.
Posted Fri Aug 1, 2003, 8:42am Subject: Re: Reg Barber Tamper in Europe?
Very cool - I'd love to see those boxes. Apparently it's rare to get alrge piece of Amboyna burl. The chunk that Les is making my tamper from is one of the larger that he's ever gotten to work with and will allow the tamper to be 3.75" in height. I have an old marble top chest in my LR that I picked up cheap at a flea market years ago. It's French in origin (cam as a real surprise to me) and lacks the original drawer knobs but the fronts of the drawers are inlaid with a burl that looks just like the Amboyna in the pic. I's love to set my Isomac up on it there's no room!
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