I took the plunge and ordered a two-week used Macap M4 stepless doserless from 1st-line today! I also ordered a Gaggia Carezza, a Silvia steam wand to replace the stock one on the Gaggia, a frothing pitcher, and thermometer. This will be quite the upgrade from my 15 year old Krups steamer and Braun blade grinder!

I wanted to thank everyone here who has answered my multiple posts---especially Jeff, who helped me a lot off-board with questions about the Macap. I'm sure I'll have a lot more questions in the near future, but I must admit that I'm looking forward to doing less research and more coffee making/drinking

In the end, I went with everyone's advice and got the best grinder I could for the money I had, and spent the rest on the machine. Getting a demo helped in that department. I might have gone stepped if I was buying new (I enjoy FP as well), but I'll just get the guitar tuner mod and enjoy the extra flexiblity of the stepless. The final bill was under $600 for everything. More than I planned to spend when I started out (I was thinking $350 or so), but I believe I'll never have to upgrade the grinder, so I'm pretty happy.

The last things I'll need (that I know of) are a tamper (although I at least get some plastic thing with the Gaggia), and some fresh coffee. I believe there's a roaster in town, so that's where I'll start.

Thanks again to everyone here. It's these kinds of places on the 'net that make the world a better place.

you'll love the Macap!

Well, thanks for listening.... I hope you'll be happy! Keep us posted on your progress.

I would get that tamper sooner rather than later (bye bye, $60). The plastic thing is for the junk drawer (or to include with the machine when you sell it for the upgrade )!

So I've been doing some poking around at tampers. The 1st-line reg barber knockoff looks like a decent deal. Reasonable first tamp? I found a couple mentions in the forum, but not much.

Yes, it should be a decent tamper. Also, this (at 19.95) might suit your fancy... http://www.espressoparts.com/cate...3ecocoffeetampers/

You can actually get a good tamp with the plastic thingy, but it requires a bit of practice... think Staub technique, or variations of.

Questions? Off list to llhenthornATualr.edu

Have fun, as your setup should serve you well.

Larry

llhenthorn wrote:You can actually get a good tamp with the plastic thingy, but it requires a bit of practice... think Staub technique, or variations of.

Attempting to get a consistent tamp preserving good distribution with those way undersized rough finished plastic tampers included with machines is an exercise in futility regardless the technique IMO.