Too Much Coffee

Hello,

I have a Maccap mc4 (the one without the hopper/doser) ... and to be honest, I dont like it. Its a messy big bugger.

Ok so it grinds great, but thanks to it not having the doser it makes a bleeding mess, you grind out what you think is going to be almost the right amount into your basket, then you insert your chopstick up the spout and give it a wiggle (ooh err missus) to get any remaining grinds out the shoot, then you give it a few taps just incase, then stick the chop stick back up the spout for one final wiggle, then level off your basket, tamp and make a coffee.

all very nice, but now the top is covered in grounds, so you wipe that down and as you knock your puck out, the slightly incontenant mc4 dribbles a bit more coffee out its limp spout and I have to clean it up again.

Beggining to wish I had the doser model so I could throw a bit more coffee away from over grinding, but it would be cleaner.

So its been a few years since I bought it .... is there a good clean grinder on the market thats ideal for doing coffee on a minimal scale, ie 2 doubles, one after the other then left for a few hours until I need another coffee.

Looking for a small footprint, clean, easy to adjust, low usage, grinding mainly for espresso, but would be nice to quickly change the grind for a course setting if the inlaws come over and want some god awful drip machine stuff

pleeeeeeease help

Johnny

funny, im looking for exactly the same thing. my eureka mdl grinds beautiful fluffy stuff, but is a messy faff (especially since i removed the doser)
to meet our requirements it is looking costly. i might go for a used eureka mythos......anyone have some better ideas?

Nespresso

This might not be the answer you expected, but a good vintage hand grinder will work as well as the MACAP, obviate distribution and mess issues, and take up a fraction of the space in your kitchen.

Before anyone replies, "Ah, but..." consider that years ago, I sold my heavily modified single-doser Astoria/Mazzer Super Jolly because my (then) Tre Spade hand grinder worked at least as well and was overall easier to live with, even considering the hand cranking.



That Mazzer was not my first high-end grinder. Once I started using hand grinders, it was the end to using motor-driven ones. That was several years ago. The simplicity of design, ease of use, and quality of grinds trumps all but the very best motor-driven grinders. Once you get used to the act of turning the handle, it becomes a non-issue.

Alternately, the HG One is the best grinder I have ever owned:



It is super easy to use, very easy to keep clean, does an incredible job grinding, and retains nearly zero grounds. It also is relatively small. It is stnading next to one of my Caravels, which is a very small machine.

Hope this helps somewhat.

Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder with that HG1. It may be the dogs gonads but it certainly don't look pretty. I'd buy a dosered superjolly any day of the week. A quick sweep out with a Morrisons pastry brush, job done although not everybody will agree with me

dwalsh1 wrote:Beauty is in the eyes of the beholder with that HG1. It may be the dogs gonads but it certainly don't look pretty. I'd buy a dosered superjolly any day of the week. A quick sweep out with a Morrisons pastry brush, job done although not everybody will agree with me

I agree with you. I think the HG1 displays a rather elegant simplicity but I am entirely happy with a dosered Super Jolly. Like you, I use a small brush to sweep out the grinds that would otherwise be retained in the chute. I also vacuum the doser out at the end of each day.

bruceb wrote:Nespresso

errr ..... you say that in Jest, but I do have a couple of Nespresso machines for those moments of dirty need when you just must an espresso in 27seconds from deciding you want one


And that HG One is awesome, I didnt know such a thing existed, when you said hand grider I was thinking of my awfull platic thing I take on holiday that gives you blisters and makes it look worrying when you are gringind away at your berans wearing only a dressing gown

If you want something which will go under most kitchen cupboards (except for tipping the beans in, for which I can easily slide it forwards) then the Mahlkoenig Vario is supposed to be decent for espresso (haven't tried that myself as the MXK is terrific) and mine is VERY clean with apparently little waste.
HasBean.co.uk sell the Vario and Steve's a good guy to deal with.


I use the MC6 very rarely when I want French Press (brewing's simpler but clean-up is more fiddly than Chemex) but the mess and need to clean out all the grinds are a nuisance so I understand completely what you say about the MC4. (NB : My signature below is WAY out of date, I thought I had fixed it just now. The MC6 has been mine for a few months but I used it twice every weekday for 3+ years before that.)

Cheers,
Hugh F

Goodness, wonderful to see you Hugh. Was only just thinking of you when contemplating Macap comparisons the other day

Bit off-topic but...

In spite of all the therapy someone still remembers me!

When we moved to a new posh office 3+ years ago we were forbidden to lunch at our desks and I lost touch with TMC since I used to read and post over lunch. That office was closed and all staff "persuaded" to move 2+ hours away or be ditched. (I refused so now I'm contracting from home - for the same firm until at least end March!)
I was looking for UK greens suppliers (to add options as well as the usual suspect) on TMC after grief being charged VAT on US greens from SM twice running (UPS fixed it but first I had to reject 18lbs of greens when they suddenly asked for 30 UKP on the doorstep, bit of a worry). I'll give ordering from the US one more try and pre-warn the UK end of UPS as soon as I have a tracking number but will then give up if more grief even so.

Then I thought I would catch up on other forums as well with grinders being my particular obsession as you may remember.

I hope all is well with you? It was great to talk to you at Steve's Open Day.

Apart from a Mahlkoenig Vario to replace my failed Mazzer Mini Electronic for Chemex use and being given the closed office's unwanted MC6 DL we used for French Press my coffee kit has not changed much. I use a Chemex more than cafetiere and don't use the eSantos any more.
(I STILL cannot seem to change my signature! Logging out and in again didn't help, weird.)

Cheers,

Hugh F

Of course we remember you, Hugh. It is great to see you around here.

You should be able to change your signature via the "Profile" link above. If it does not work please PM me with the information you want to appear and I will try to change it for you.

Hello Hugh,
Great to see you back here. If you open your profile, make changes and then don't forget to "submit" the changes they will be saved.

Look at the Eureka Mignon if you want to stay doserless. Petite, beautifully engineered (at least one rung up from the Vario) clean and very, very good. Has a blade in the chute which helps and doesn't shed grounds in between uses.