COFFEE ENTREPRENEUR EXTRACTS NEW BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY
- O&A Team
- April 11, 2025
- People
- Caleb Vandersteen, Coffee tamper, Gatvol coffee shop, Tampers, WAT TAMP JY?
- 0 Comments
Handcrafted luxury coffee tampers were a natural fit for Gatvol coffee shop owner Caleb Vandersteen
Brewing an espresso has become something of a science and a nifty tool – known as a tamper – is not only an essential implement but something of a collector’s piece for coffee connoisseurs who are, quite literally, prepared to put their money where their mouths are.
Durban coffee guru, Caleb Vandersteen, who also happens to own the witty and wonderful coffee shop, Gatvol in La Lucia, has put his hand to creating the premier version out of brass topped with finely shaped and polished wood, gem stones or marble.
Hankering back to the branding of his coffee shop – which he explains reflects the feeling at the time of opening when folk were simply over Covid-19 lock downs and resorting to a caffeine fix or three to cope with the stress – this latest product is being created under the WAT TAMP JY? brand.
“It was just something creative and kind of works with the Gatvol branding. My family in Pretoria are Afrikaans and it was there that I started playing around with the lathe together with my father in law. He is a mechanical engineer and builds massive machines using lathes and other machinery that he has in his garage. One day, he asked me if I wanted to learn to use a lathe. I just fell in love with it. It’s such a satisfying thing that you can physically turn and carve out all these patterns, turn a block of wood into a piece of art,” he says.
He admits that there is not yet much of a market for state-of-the-art tampers in South Africa. You can buy the standard stainless-steel version either online or via coffee roasters and suppliers.
Caleb admits that he wanted to move away from the more mass produced versions that are (for the uninitiated) used to evenly pack down coffee grounds so that the water can take its time to filter through and pick up the full flavour of the coffee beans to deliver a quality shot.
But, for hobbyist coffee lovers, who are now spending substantial sums on coffee machines and other items to show off in their home coffee bars, a tamper that is a collector’s item is the perfect fit.
“I wanted to make something that you don’t see, something that’s beautiful and an art piece. I mean, how many people have spent a lot of money on a beautiful little La Marzocco home machine? They get gold milk jugs and beautiful machinery and wooden handles for their group heads. Why not add in a lovely tamper?” he continues.
WHEN A TAMPER’S DAYS ARE NUMBERED
So far, Caleb has made 22 tampers and launched his new brand online. He encountered similar finely crafted tampers when travelling overseas and, like them, these are numbered, limited editions, they are neatly packed in hexagonal boxes complete with business and signed certification cards as well as information about the metal and wood out of which each is crafted.
The wood for the top is carefully selected not only for strength but also for the patterns of the grains. Series one comprises nine specially fashioned tampers and series two, eight.
The reason that Caleb chose brass for the end that meets the coffee grains is that it is anti-microbial. “Baristas are always touching these things. Every time you touch it, it is basically disinfecting your hands. If you shine it up, it is also beautiful,” he explains.
Each of Caleb’s tampers is also unique. He explains how one is more mushroom shaped whilst another is fashioned more like a miniature hot air balloon. This is not only for aesthetics but also a practical reason: “They’re not identical in size because everyone’s hands are different. This one would work for me, but this one wouldn’t. I’ve also added different inclines and declines. There’ll be a tamper for those with smaller hands who might be currently stuck with massive tampers that are not that comfortable.”
This comes from being the man wielding the tamper at Gatvol. “If I work in my coffee shop and it’s a busy weekend, I get this pain here in my thumb just from constant pressing. Maybe that’s because that tamper is just not right for my hand?”
It also didn’t stop there. En route home from Pretoria, a family discussion birthed another idea – a finely crafted base into which these beautiful tampers can fit and even be displayed. Back in Durban at around 11 at night, Caleb found a wood and resin board which the coffee maestro shaped into his prototype.
Since then, the ideas have kept coming. A tamper has been fashioned from a small piece of Italian marble that his grandfather brought back from Italy back in the day, another has been made from an antique marble doorknob and paired with yellow copper which matched the colours in the stone.
STILL FEELING GATVOL
In between creating these little masterpieces, Caleb will be in his coffee shop, Gatvol, which is now five years old and a wonderful success story with an even more entertaining history.
Caleb grew up in the hospitality industry as his mother still owns the adjoining boutique hotel and restaurant. When the Covid pandemic closed the doors, there was no money coming in and he resorted to selling coffee.
“My brother in law and I would stand outside the gates, together with my best friend who also worked here. We put a sign out saying that we were selling coffee. We were holding takeaway coffee cups, flagging people down. We’d take orders at the gates and then run to the machine and quickly make a coffee, run back and give them their coffee, and on they went. Everyone was gatvol with Covid. Everyone could relate to the name because it resonated so well with South Africans. People would come to us feeling gatvol and we set out to make them feel less gatvol,” he smiles.
Gatvol started out with a signature VW combi which, despite having no engine, was pimped out to dispense good coffee. Along their coffee journey, he and wife Teddy have had to bid farewell to this signature van. As word spread and Gatvol grew ever more popular, Caleb admits that it was nothing short of “Armageddon in a combi”. Add some rust due to the coastal air and it made sense to take the more conventional route of a coffee shop.
What has never foundered is Caleb’s love for coffee which has since grown beyond the standard flat white or cappuccino and now includes coffee cocktails.
“I guess coffee is my passion. I love it. It brings people together. When I do something, I go overboard. I want to make sure that everything is 100%,” he says.
The same goes for his tampers ”I don’t have a website for them yet. You can go onto Instagram and even pop me a direct message. If you want me to make you a custom tamper, it will take a little bit more time, but I can create something according to your particular preference and hand size.”
For those looking for a gift for that coffee lover who has everything, what better place to start?
