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Macap MC4 Review

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  • Macap MC4 Review

    Hi all,

    For the past 10 days I have been living with my new Macap MC4 micrometric doserless grinder, replacing the Sunbeam EM0480, which I found worked very well within its design limitations but for espresso I found the steps not small enough and changing grind settings from press/drip to espresso never returned me to exactly the same grind I had before.

    The reason I chose the Macap is twofold. I wanted a doserless grinder and it had to look good. Now I know that what I like is not necessarily your cup of tea (or coffee). I looked at the Compak Touch and the Mazzer Mini but the Macap was the winner.


    It stands at 43 cm tall while the others mentioned here are 47 cm tall. The silver colour blends in nicely with the rest of my equipment.


    I dialed it in with a kilo of cheap beans from Safeway. It took some time to get a decent grind and shot with these beans, but eventually succeeded. Chris (2mcm) warned me not to drink this and poison myself, so I obliged.


    Back to the Veneziano Estate and ready for my first drinkable coffee from this grinder, I thought.
    I did expect some more adjustments of course but it was more like starting all over again, the Safeway beans must have been really, really stale.
    Eventually I achieved what I consider some very good coffee. No dust, nothing but uniform coffee grinds. I had espresso and my wife a flat white; I also had a long black which tasted very good. No doubt, Luca or Chris could have found room for improvements, but my palette is not as finely developed as theirs, I can only dream.

    The grinder is also very quiet, even more so than the Mazzer Mini I used briefly at the Home Espresso Course recently. Something I learned there, a.o. is that dosing is very important. I tried something different now with the Macap, I remove the hopper and use two measured spoons of beans and deposit them straight in the collar where normally the hopper sits.

    I put the retaining screw back in to prevent split beans from flying around and put my single basket on top with the Pullman tamper in the empty basket for extra weight. The dual purpose tamper prevents the beans from flying through the kitchen.



    A small container under the exit chute and flip the on switch. Gee, this grinder makes a beautiful noise and it won’t wake up the kids or grandkids either, you can just hear when there are no more beans in the grinder, I flip the clip on top of the exit chute a few times and that will release all the coffee and end up with an exact dose, each time, every time and hardly any clumping.
    For me this takes care of one variable and it improved my consistency immensely. I usually make only two coffees at a time but if you need more this might be to time consuming.

    Back to the Macap, changing grinds can be a bit time consuming, because of the very fine adjustments possible. The adjusting screw on the Macap is a nice fit for a tool that musicians use to fit new strings to a guitar. I bought this tool in a guitar shop for $3.95, a beauty.



    I can change now from espresso to drip in ten seconds and what is even more important also back again to the exact espresso setting. Love it.


    Cons:
    What I don’t like is the small black bib to catch the grinds, this is close to useless and I tend not to use it.

    The price, it is fairly expensive.

    Pros:
    I think I’ve mentioned most positives already apart from the fact that it is build like a tank, very heavy indeed.

    A special mention deserves the power cord; it exits at the rear and under the grinder so it gives it a very neat appearance.

    These are small details worth more to some people than others.

    Anyhow, it is good to know that whenever I want to upgrade my espresso machine, my Macap will be a perfect match!

    Now, what’s next, roasting?

    It was a pleasure putting my thoughts on paper, I’ve learned so much from you CS’ers that without you I would not even have owned this grinder.

    English is not my native language, so a few errors might have slipped in, especially when I use the words “than” or “then” etc. Please forgive.

    Cheers,

    Dick




  • #2
    Re: Macap MC4 Review

    Hey Dick.

    Good job with the Macap! I just got my Mini and learning to dial it in is just trial and error. So, I can appreciate where youre coming from. But isnt it nice to use good equipment?

    BTW..I couldnt see any of the photos that you were suggesting..and your english is just fine! [smiley=thumbsup.gif]

    Flo

    Comment


    • #3
      Re: Macap MC4 Review

      I needed some help to get the photos attached. Thankfully 2mcm is working on it.
      I could not work it out.

      BTW Thanks Flo

      dickwyn
      EDIT- photos are all now up 8-)...

      2mcm

      Comment


      • #4
        Re: Macap MC4 Review

        Great review Dick,

        And the MC4 sounds like a beaut grinder and worthy of being near the top of prospective purchasers equipment lists... Nice photos too and that little Guitar String Gadget is a little ripper ;D

        Mal.

        Comment


        • #5
          Re: Macap MC4 Review

          Nice review dickwyn.

          I agree about the grind catcher, it misses some of the stray grinds when Im dosing and Im left with a round outline of it when cleaning up.

          At the moment Ive also put it aside to see how I go without it.

          Excellent find that guitar string gadget, you might be able to sell a few to offset your purchase cost.

          And yes the Macap is solid; I fully expect mine to be working long after Im gone.

          Comment


          • #6
            Re: Macap MC4 Review

            Thanks for the review, Im glad youre having fun with the grinder.

            Comment


            • #7
              Re: Macap MC4 Review

              This looks (and sounds like) a fine grinder... It may fit the bill for my next mad coffee tool purchase. But I cant find much info on them, esp. who sells em and at what price they might be obtained for - can anyone enlighten me?
              pete

              Comment


              • #8
                Re: Macap MC4 Review

                Originally posted by xpress link=1169870752/0#6 date=1170337439
                This looks (and sounds like) a fine grinder... It may fit the bill for my next mad coffee tool purchase. But I cant find much info on them, esp. who sells em and at what price they might be obtained for - can anyone enlighten me?
                pete
                You should probably talk to Chris at Talk Coffee or Attilio at Cosmorex.

                Cheers,

                Luca

                Comment


                • #9
                  Re: Macap MC4 Review

                  Originally posted by xpress link=1169870752/0#6 date=1170337439
                  . But I cant find much info on them, esp. who sells em and at what price they might be obtained for - can anyone enlighten me?
                  pete
                  pete

                  Have a look at:

                  http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1163235531/0#9

                  Chris must sell them - and there is a rough price given.

                  (from the grinders info thread)

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    Re: Macap MC4 Review

                    Originally posted by JavaB link=1169870752/0#8 date=1170338030
                    Originally posted by xpress link=1169870752/0#6 date=1170337439
                    . But I cant find much info on them, esp. who sells em and at what price they might be obtained for - can anyone enlighten me?
                    pete
                    pete

                    Have a look at:

                    http://coffeesnobs.com.au/YaBB.pl?num=1163235531/0#9

                    Chris must sell them - and there is a rough price given.

                    (from the grinders info thread)
                    Yes- from either Attilio or myself- and $700 + freight....

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Re: Macap MC4 Review

                      I got my M5 from Chris and love it.
                      I have the doser version.
                      The older stepped one.

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Re: Macap MC4 Review

                        Thanks for the replies/info... hmmm, that could be doable.
                        pete

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Re: Macap MC4 Review

                          I also have the M5 stepped grinder.
                          Excellent unit, looks great, performs great too.

                          I did a LOT of research into my M5 and am very happy that I bought it .. the other option was the Mazzer Mini, which had the steppless option, but to my eye was not as classy ... and seemed to have a slightly less effective doser mechanism (though that may be marginal).

                          With the Macap now coing with stepless adjustment, the whole micro adjustment issue is a non-issue.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Re: Macap MC4 Review

                            Dickwyn, thanks for the very positive review of the MC4. In my own search for a grinder upgrade its got me looking at the Macaps again. It has also raised some questions.

                            Originally posted by dickwyn link=1169870752/0#0 date=1169870752
                            Eventually I achieved what I consider some very good coffee. No dust, nothing but uniform coffee grinds.
                            How is the grind quality at press and plunger settings? One of my main dislikes of the MDF is the amount of dust at plunger settings.

                            I flip the clip on top of the exit chute a few times and that will release all the coffee and end up with an exact dose, each time, every time and hardly any clumping.
                            Is that enough to dislodge all remaining grinds? i.e. are you sure there are no grinds remaining in the horizontal part of the chute?

                            changing grinds can be a bit time consuming, because of the very fine adjustments possible.
                            But no more time consuming than with any other stepless grinder right?

                            I can change now from espresso to drip in ten seconds and what is even more important also back again to the exact espresso setting. Love it.
                            This is brilliant! That was the main reason I had previously crossed the Macap off my list.

                            Thanks to your guitar string winder idea the MC4 is now back near the top of my list (though I really would prefer a conical in the same quality/feature/price range.)

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Re: Macap MC4 Review

                              Hi BJ
                              1. The grind quality for plunger I find very, very good, I used it only twice but it was perfect with very little dust.

                              2. This depends a lot on the beans I find, I now adopted the habit of rocking or bumping the grinder once or twice.

                              3. Indeed, changing grinds is very, very fast with the tool.

                              Why are conical burrs an advantage? My knowledge of different burr types does not go far enough.

                              Im sure youll make the right decision. Good Luck

                              Dick

                              Comment

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