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Issue link: http://baristamagazine.epubxp.com/i/131903
started snapping away." As a master woodworker and metalsmith, Reg spends most of his time crafting tampers out of his studio in Saanichton, British Columbia. After all, he and his crew—which includes his daughter, Julia, and his son-in-law, Bartosz Łotecki—turn out more than 10,000 tampers annually. It still seems like Reg is everywhere other than his studio from the number of coffee events and competitions he attends—and he's always got that giant camera. Reg delights in capturing the coffee community on film, and the guy's got skills: Check out his Flickr page under the user name "reggietamper." He always says, "If it weren't for baristas, I wouldn't have a job." So he feels he should see them as often as he can and support them in their competition efforts. He's also on the clock: Reg uses the time he spends at international coffee events to ask baristas questions about what qualities they seek in a tamper. With a constantly evolving industry, Reg is determined to stay on the cutting edge of tamper technology, and provide exactly what his beloved baristas want and need. He was the pioneer of the two-part tamper which allows baristas to customize their preferred handle and base. Currently he offers handles in wood and aluminum, anodized and powder-coated, and available not only in any color but also with custom engraving. As Reg says, "Baristas take great pride in their tampers: Tampers are their personal gear." It all started in 1995, when Reg returned from a visit to the newly coffeesaturated city of Seattle. "I wanted to design a better tamper," he says, noting that at the time, the only tampers on the market were solid aluminum or the thin plastic ones that came with an espresso machine. "I had a tiny lathe and I hunched under the back porch, out of the rain, experimenting with designs. I called my four-foot-square workshop 'Trollworks.' I had no way of making the bases and hired a company to do that for me after I had designed them and figured out how to put them together." Since then, Reg has worked in seven different workshops, and loves his current industrial setup. For many years, Reg treated finalists in barista competitions to custom keepsake tampers. But in 2007, he started making the actual trophies. These days, baristas consider the fact that they get to take a gorgeous Reg Barber trophy home to their shop one of the best parts about winning. As if he had any extra minutes in the day, Reg dreams of doing even more for the barista community he cherishes: He would like to start and international barista school with a Barista Hall of Fame. "Baristas are now like my family," he says. "When I travel to shows around the world, nothing thrills me more than to have a young barista thank me for making their tamper." In the midst of his industrious schedule of tamper and trophy making, Reg spent some time with Barista Magazine answering questions we assume everyone wants to know the answers to as much as we do: What makes Reg tick? Sarah Allen: What were your interests growing up? Any hint at your future creating tampers? Reg Barber: I was always interested in how things work, particularly physics. I remember a teacher who taught us how to make a rocket. It wasn't a toy, but the real thing. That was the most exciting thing—you couldn't get away with that now—it must have traveled a couple of miles. Later, I worked for an explosives company. Someone made a mistake and the result was that I lost a finger. That was very traumatic as I really was an artist and enjoyed drawing, carving, and creating things. I am an artist—I have no formal training in any trades and all my skills are self-taught. I eventually owned my own sawmill. In 1985, I left to work as www.baristamagazine.com 77