The most important part of espresso making is the grinder

Several weeks ago I decided that I need a new grinder. It is not that my current grinder (a six year old Rocky) is failing, it is just that I felt I needed to take the whole process up another notch. So I started to do some research, and as always I was led to CoffeeGeek, Alt.Coffee, and various other random websites.

To recap, my coffee history goes something like this: (skip to the *******s if you want to get right to the review of the grinder. Here in Texas, we feel you need some back story before you jump right in. Think of it as foreplay)

Back in 1999 I stayed in an apartment that had a La Pavoni Europiccola. I thought it made the best coffee I ever had. So when I got home, I decided to get one, and bought it from Italy Direct. I played with that great machine for a while, and decided that the beans I was using (Starbucks. Sure, go ahead and scoff if you want, but the fact is that Starbucks has done a very good job of introducing a lot of people to the fact that you can get better coffee than Folgers.) at the time.

Making a long story short, La Pavoni led me to a Hearthware Precision, which led me to a Silvia/Rocky combination, which led me to an Alpenröst, which led me to an Isomac Rituale, which led me to a Hottop, which lead me to last week. That was six years in 45 words.

So I started looking at ways to improve on what I thought was a pretty good thing. And the most obvious point that I came up with was a new grinder.

Of course, if you read anything about grinders, you will feel that you need a couple of things. First is a big stinking motor, second is a stepless adjustment, and third is chrome. (I made that up.) All three things point in one direction – The Mazzer Mini.

So I started searching and searching for a good price on a Mini. (I didn’t really search too hard. I looked at e-bay, and I checked out the big internet sellers, all the while knowing that I would get it from Chris’s Coffee. I have had such good experience from him in the past that I saw no reason to go elsewhere) I realized that this was not a cheap piece of kit, and something I have not heard of before – a MACAP started coming up in the reviews.

But the MACAP seemed to have a flaw – a stepped grind adjustment. So I asked around, sent Chris an e-mail or two, and he let me know that MACAP was coming up with a stepless adjustment. He recommended it strongly, and I was sold. (having been a salesman for a large part of my career, I love talking to people who love their products. I am an easy mark for passion)

So I ordered a chrome stepless MACAP from Chris, and it arrived in my office yesterday.

SO here is the review part:


The machine was well packed and wrapped, with no transit damage in the box or in the packing material. The box was much taller than it was wide, and I worried a bit about getting it into my car. It was also pretty heavy, but as I not infrequently buy cases of wine on the internet and have them delivered to my office, that was not too much of a problem.

I got the machine home and removed it from the box, putting at the pieces on the counter. It was very easy to assemble, with the hopper fitting into the grinder and then tightening down a set screw. I did not put on the tamper, as I have a Reg Barger tamper in Purple Heart (the short one. It is a great tool). The tray for spilt grounds fits loosely under the grinder, slipping under one of the MACAP’s rubber feet. It is nice to catch coffee that doesn’t make it into the portafilter.

The hopper has a little guillotine that you can use to stop bean flow, but as I only put in the beans I will grind immediately, I removed that. I also removed a finger guard from inside the doser (DO this at your own risk. I don’t recommend you do it at all) so I can sweep out the path between the burrs and the grinder.

The portafilter stand is a nice thick piece of steel that holds the PF nice, but doesn’t collect grounds. The machine is very good looking. There is a lot of shiny chrome on my countertop right now.

The grind control mechanism is an easy to use and intuitive worm gear that is on the back side of the bean hopper. It moves effortlessly, and makes changing the grind a charm. I have not used the Mini, nor have I used the stepped MACAP, so I cannot compare and contrast, I can only offer my impartial analysis of the device, and it is a good one.

I had some old grounds that I wanted to run through the machine before I used my homeroast, and turned the thing on. (It has a rocker switch covered by a clear soft plastic guard.) It hums – a little noisier than the Rocky. I slowly tightened the grind until I could hear the whisper of the burrs kissing, and then backed it off several twists.

Dumping in the beans, I thought that it was taking a long time to grind. I then took these old washed out beans and tried to pull a shot, and the Rituale was chocked. It took so long to grind the beans because I had the grind so fine! I moved it back to what I thought was a more reasonable grind, and the beans just flew through.

After grinding the beans, I take a small brush and clean the chute into the doser. As this is my first day, I don’t have the doser tuned yet to deliver my 17g of coffee (and I probably never will) but the fins sweep the doser much, much cleaner than I have ever seen a Rocky sweep.

I am still tuning the grind, and will post more later, but I wanted to get a first look in for y’all.

The short end of the story is:

This is a big, serious grinder. The stepless mechanism works effortlessly and easily. The grinder is fast, quiet, heavy, and very good looking. It is probably worth a look for anyone who was going to spend money on a top quality grinder.