# Mahlgut adjustable tamper, ala PUSH



## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Having bought the Mahlgut Tamper and used it for a couple of weeks now I have a few thoughts:

I have never been a great tamper, 80% of the time my tamp was a little off on one side, the faff spent leveling the tamp in the basket wasn't completely clear to me until starting to use this tamper. It is SO much simpler, its the same tamp every single time with basically no effort. This will be true for the PUSH or any other tamper like this, it's a complete relief.

Setting up the tamper is dead easy, you weigh your normal amount of beans into your basket, lift the outer guide of the tamper so its way too high and then tamp normally. You then screw the guide down to the basket edge and then screw the handle down to meet it and lock it in place.

The tamper looks like it is straight off a lathe, functional and simple. I wouldn't call it ugly but its not going to take pride of place on your work surface.

It weighs so much for a tamper. 1.2kg. This weight is initially a bit weird, but I have grown to like the heft of the thing.

Mahlgut do customisable base sizes which you pick when ordering, very useful if you know a 58.5 will fit your basket better than a 58.4.

It cost £59* landed, for me well worth it. If the PUSH comes in at a similar/lower price point however there is no compelling reason for this to be your preference unless you need the specific basket size.

*After noticing the prices go up I talked to Mahlgut who explained there was a mistake where VAT was not applied to purchases in the UK, so I got my tamper cheaper than it should have been. Landed price is going to be more like £76 with this tamper now that the prices are fixed.

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Just spotted this on the Mahlgut website - http://mahlgut.eu/shop/allgemeines-zubehoer/mahlgut-tamper/

Anyone know anything about it, seems to be the same idea, if a little less good looking, as the PUSH.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)




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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

The adjustment mech is rather elegant, easier that the PUSH


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## NickdeBug (Jan 18, 2015)

Loving the smoooooooth jazz


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Can someone explain to me how VAT works within Europe... I thought you didn't have to pay customs/tax for things bought within the EU, but they remove the German 19% VAT when you select the UK as destination country.

So will this get stopped at customs and the 20% UK VAT added?

p.s. Seriously considering one of these tampers, very reasonably priced I think at about £60 posted.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

You're supposed to pay the tax in the country of origin and that's it.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

jeebsy said:


> You're supposed to pay the tax in the country of origin and that's it.


God knows what they are doing then, but they take the tax off in the basket and it doesn't add back in again right up to the PayPal confirmation.

Would be quite the saving on the 750euro grinder.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

But it does add back in?


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Sorry, that is a bit unclear.

It doesn't add the tax at any point, and I took the checkout process up to the PayPal confirmation.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Well, sod it, I ordered one. Whilst I prefer the look of the PUSH, I very much like the adjustment mech on this.

Haven't had a new tamper since I bought a MBK one way back when, so looking forward to this. They have a 30 day postage window as its fresh off the production line, but a little note says they are trying to do it quicker than this.

I'll report back once I have it.

Edit: I'll also let you know if I get stuck for VAT at any point.

Double edit: You know, oddly the main page says "includes 19%", but now that I have selected my country, everything is cheaper. Not 19% cheaper, more like 16% cheaper. And in the basket and during checkout it says "Includes 0%".

I have no idea what is going on, but the grinder is now 629euros, rather than 750. (tempting)


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

For the VAT a lot of companies leave it on anyway but I don't think you should pay at origin, you pay for your country depending on the circumstances. Each country has it's own threshold above which the company would start paying VAT. Say it's £100K sales threshold in the UK - made up but the rest is stuff I picked up from working in a multinational eCommerce company - then you're a customer and get a VAT free thing until they hit £100K and start adding VAT. That company would need to get VAT registered when coming up to the threshold and then start reporting sales and VAT etc. to the country's regulatory group (can't think of the right expression for it). Above the threshold, you should pay 20% for UK.

I start to doubt my memory the more I think about it, maybe it should be VAT at origin until you reach threshold which isn't what we did :-/


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

jlarkin said:


> For the VAT a lot of companies leave it on anyway but you shouldn't pay at origin, you pay for your country. Each country has it's own threshold above which the company would start paying VAT. Say it's £100K sales threshold in the UK - made up but the rest is stuff I picked up from working in a multinational eCommerce company - then you're a customer and get a VAT free thing until they hit £100K and start adding VAT. That company would need to get VAT registered when coming up to the threshold and then start reporting sales and VAT etc. to the country's regulatory group (can't think of the right expression for it). Above the threshold, you should pay 20% for UK.


This makes no sense to me. (because my brain switched off after the first sentence.)

So with regards to this product, should the 20% UK VAT be added at their checkout?


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## The Systemic Kid (Nov 23, 2012)

Site is a hoot - says the grinder 'contains' 19% VAT. So it's manufactured into the grinder - impressive.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

The Systemic Kid said:


> Site is a hoot - says the grinder 'contains' 19% VAT. So it's manufactured into the grinder - impressive.


Lol, its all pretty standard machine translation. They had a blog post from a few months back saying they are in the process of a proper translation.


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## jlarkin (Apr 26, 2015)

Dylan said:


> This makes no sense to me. (because my brain switched off after the first sentence.)
> 
> So with regards to this product, should the 20% UK VAT be added at their checkout?


I think the short answer is that it depends. There are different lists of what can and can't be sold without VAT (anyway) and then also it depends how much Mahlgut (or whatever the registered company is) has sold in the UK, which I'm not privy to.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

It seems mad that there are no hard and fast rules (maybe hard and fast is the wrong expression), either way tho, happy if it means I get a cheaper item.


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## jeebsy (May 5, 2013)

Edito


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

I was going to post this but realised it would just cause the tamp to be level at the end. It wouldn't prevent you coming in at an angle and tamping unevenly.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Rob1 said:


> I was going to post this but realised it would just cause the tamp to be level at the end. It wouldn't prevent you coming in at an angle and tamping unevenly.


I don't see this.

Even if you came in at an angle, which at worst would be mild, you would press down one side before the other and then even out. This could at worst fracture the puck, but atleast you would have a relatively even compression across the puck.

It is also exactly the same principle as the PUSH.


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## Rob1 (Apr 9, 2015)

If you come it at an angle you can mess up distribution. The puck might be even across the surface but it won't be even throughout the basket. It might not result in channeling but this tamper won't create a perfectly even tamp. When I first saw it I thought you could place the flat surface on the edge of the basket and the handle with the piston was telescopic which would cause a perfectly straight tamp.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Rob1 said:


> If you come it at an angle you can mess up distribution. The puck might be even across the surface but it won't be even throughout the basket. It might not result in channeling but this tamper won't create a perfectly even tamp. When I first saw it I thought you could place the flat surface on the edge of the basket and the handle with the piston was telescopic which would cause a perfectly straight tamp.


Quite simply, I disagree. I see what your saying but I just dont see it having that much of an effect on the puck, having a tamp end up flat is in my eyes a very important factor in how evenly the puck is tamped.


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## PuFFaH (Aug 21, 2015)

I've watched a couple of youtube vids on the barista championships and the all seem to use a version of this devise to level the grinds before using a tamper and not as the tamper.


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## Brewer in training (Feb 7, 2015)

I like that........... Nice n simple to adjust...... Looks very smart..... Pls let me know how you get on with it..... And if you get shafted by customs.....

Can't wait to see how it works out for you.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Will do, I'm hopeful with customs as it's EU it should float right on by.


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## Dallah (Jan 31, 2015)

Am I the only person that thinks that thing looks down right fugly?


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## Flibster (Aug 15, 2010)

It's not pretty, but it seems to work.

Doesn't seem too far fetched to be able to machine the handle down to a stud and then screw on a new one made from whatever.


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## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

ridland said:


> Am I the only person that thinks that thing looks down right fugly?


Nope


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Defo not a looker, I'm never really a fan of the all silver tampers, never really stand a chance against the Torrs of the world.

I'm not much one yo care about my tampers looks.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Got this through today.

Geez, it's like a murder weapon from Cluedo. It weighs 1.2kg... thats almost 4 regular wooden tampers.

The mechanical design could not be simpler, it is the tamper base with a large bolt protruding from it, and then the part that sits on the basket screws onto this, and then the handle afterward. when the handle is tightened it locks the other part in whatever position you put it in. It looks like it came straight off the lathe, its not ugly but its doesn't hold a candle to the beautiful wooden tampers some of us have. Oh and it heavy... did I mention that?

Drastically shortens my tamping time, getting a straight tamp was never something I was good at. Setting up is a breeze, just tamp normally, then put the Mahlgut in and rest it on the bed and then screw down the top until it meets the basket and tighten the handle. Tamping is now as simple as anything, a hard push creates a perfectly even bed.

I opted for the 15.4 recommended for VST, I think I probably could have got away with a 15.5, but it would have been a return to Germany if I got that wrong. The option for a 15.4, 15.5 or 15.6 is nice however, Iv'e not seen that level of customisation elsewhere.

As expected, there were no extra taxes to pay. So landed price was 83euro.


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## Dylan (Dec 5, 2011)

Was just having another look at the Grist on the Mahlgut site and realised that all the prices were now 'correct' in that they didnt seem to be missing the VAT any more. I popped an email to Mahlgut and sure enough they explained that there was a mistake on their website, the UK was included with countries like the USA where the VAT is removed. I got my tamper a bit cheaper that it should have been, and all the prices are now as they should be.


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## knightsfield (Sep 22, 2014)

I got lucky as well as mine was 83 euro with postage. I went for the 58.6 and it fits my VST basket perfectly.

Such a simple design but works so well and yes it is heavy.


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