So I've been working on this for a few weeks and continue to be un-certain about it's suitability for publication. On one hand I want to complain bitterly about the vendor who sold me the grinder and then told me on the phone he'd stopped selling it because it clumped too badly and he'd do nothing because I'd waited too long to complain. Weirdly it's one of the most highly recommended vendors on HB. But on the other hand that would probably cause the post to get deleted and get me a black mark, something 23 years of being on-line has taught me to avoid. And since the ultimate point of the post is to talk about what I finally had to do to get the grinder to work properly as the same thing might work for others who grind 1 shot at a time I'm left with this.

25 years ago I had a Baby Gaggia and a Spong #3 grinder and roasted coffee in a yellow popper wired so I could control the heat. I liked the fresh roasted coffee brewed in a Chemex or press pot and wondered why my cappuccinos were bitter and I thought I just needed to acquire the taste. Somewhere in there I gave up, put the Gaggia away and started drinking drip made with store bought whole beans. 3 or 4 years ago I decided it was time to try again so I started looking at Jura Capresso super automatics and the like but the money and the fact there was not enough space under the spout kept me still looking. Finally for reasons I can't remember, about a year ago I purchased a Brewtus II, a Macap M4D and started reading HB. I can't for the life of me remember if I found HB before or after I made those purchases though I think HB came first.

So when I started I somehow assumed that I'd put a pound of coffee in the Macap's hopper, press the dose button on the grinder, 16 grams of properly ground coffee would be dispensed, followed by the perfect 30 lb clicky-tamper tamp followed by the perfect shot and that would be it. The delusions of a beginner! And I tried that method for the first while. I knew there was coffee left in the grinder so I'd usually throw the first bit away and always make my drink first when serving guests so they'd get fresh coffee. The guests always complimented me on my coffee, even the one person who asked for an espresso. Occasionally someone would note that the first sip had a slight bitter note but the rest of the cup was really good.

I chose the Macap M4 digital doserless grinder because it seemed like the perfect grinder for my needs and because of the glowing description on the vendor's site and for a while it seemed like the perfect grinder. Digging up a needle and stirring the grounds helped but as I learned what I was doing I realized that breaking up the boulders was close to impossible. I'd been doing exactly that until a few weeks ago when I was grinding some coffee and the motor just slowed to a stop. Time to clean the grinder. Now I know I'm supposed to clean it monthly and buying Minute Rice has been on my list for months but it just never happened so this is the first time the upper burr has been off. Oh my gosh, there was enough old coffee for probably a dozen shots. So I cleaned it and vacuumed it and cleaned it and vacuumed it till it was clean, put it back together, and went back to brewing espresso. That lasted a few days till the motor stopped again. This time I got serious and pulled the upper burr and the timer and everything else in the way of getting the exit chute truly clean, not a simple problem on this machine. I want to wring the neck of the person who designed the exit path as it makes it essentially impossible to clean without taking apart things which are clearly not supposed to be user serviceable.

Given that the grinder seemed unwilling to be used the way I was told it should be used, I made a major change in my process. First thing I did was pull off the hopper and put it away, then I put my unused triple basket over the throat to keep the beans from bouncing and keep out flies and stuff. To grind for 1 shot I measure 21-22 grams of beans and pour them into the grinder and replace the basket on top. I've set the time for 15 seconds to insure all the beans are ground and then press go. I get 13 to 15 grams out and then I poke a stick up the chute to try and free up another couple of grams so there is enough to fill my double basket. Then I stir and level leaving about 15.5 grams in the basket. Then before or after each grind I vacuum the running grinder to pull out all the old coffee.

The quality of the espresso has gone up dramatically, it's likely the first time I've ever actually been brewing with 100% freshly ground coffee. But the speed at which I use coffee has also gone up dramatically as I need to use at least 1/3 more coffee than necessary just to prime the grinder.

Those bitter notes on the first sip are gone, in fact, I think it's time to get smaller cappuccino cups and I think it might be time to try espresso again, a beverage I never developed a taste for.

So while I still dislike this grinder, I have finally discovered how to work around it's problems and make decent espresso with it and I wonder if this same process wouldn't work for others.

The downsides are the extra hundreds spent for a useless feature and the additional process it takes to pull a shot. Just now I forgot the vacuum step and so I had to throw away a basket of coffee and measure out another 16 grams.

So, needless to say, I can't recommend this grinder. I think neither will the vendor any more as it's disappeared from his web site and a while back when I realized that clumping was something you really didn't want in a grinder and called to complain I was told they don't carry it any more because it clumps so bad and they were sorry I was unhappy, but tough luck. The Brewtus II on the other hand has been a pleasure. It just does what I expect and takes no special effort to make a better cappuccino than I've had anywhere besides Caffe Luxxe.

Ira