Switching between espresso and French press grind settings each day

[scottyg514]

My wife does french press every morning(coarse grind).

She uses a cheap cuisanart burr grinder.

I do a few shots of espresso a day, plus an americano for her later on with my current espresso grinder. When my new grinder arrives i'd love to share it with her if we can come to some common ground(no pun intended)on using the same beans. (No way do I want to switch the beans everytime I switch the grind setting).

How difficult would it be to switch grind settings on the macap m4 each day?

It would be coarse in the morning & espresso for the rest of the day.

Is this a simple deal or not recommended?

From what I've read, her french press would improve dramatically with a better grinder.

If this is easy to do, can anyone whose familiar with the m4 recommend dial setting #'s(if the m4 has #'s on it's dial)
for both French press & espresso that work for them.

I know all espresso machines are different & I may have to do a little tweaking.

Thanks Scott

[HB]

I assume you refer to the stepped M4. It works, but you'll waste some coffee each time purging the grinder of French press grind. For awhile I borrowed a second grinder and it's great to have a dedicated espresso and French press / cupping grinder. You could consider a less expensive drip / French press grinder like the Solis Maestro for your wife (see Best Inexpensive Grinder for other suggestions).

As for the distance the collar needs to go... from Choosing an Espresso Grinder - Macap M4 Stepless or Mazzer?

The espresso zone on my MC4 is around the number three on the plastic collar, press pot is between seven and eight (numbers entered over the release pin), I've counted six clicks between each number so that would make it about 30 clicks to get from espresso land to press pot country.

[old442]

My wife does french press every morning(coarse grind).

She uses a cheap cuisanart burr grinder.

I do a few shots of espresso a day, plus an americano for her later on with my current espresso grinder.

We know what her current grinder, but what is yours? It sounds like you have 2 grinders now, so why not pass your old one down to her?

Kurt

[BradleyB]

I assume you refer to the stepped M4. It works, but you'll waste some coffee each time purging the grinder of French press grind. For awhile I borrowed a second grinder and it's great to have a dedicated espresso and French press / cupping grinder. You could consider a less expensive drip / French press grinder like the Solis Maestro for your wife (see Best Inexpensive Grinder for other suggestions).

As for the distance the collar needs to go... from Choosing an Espresso Grinder - Macap M4 Stepless or Mazzer?

The espresso zone on my MC4 is around the number three on the plastic collar, press pot is between seven and eight (numbers entered over the release pin), I've counted six clicks between each number so that would make it about 30 clicks to get from espresso land to press pot country.

I haven't seen this directly addressed, but now that I have settled in with an M4 Stepped/Doser, I am convinced that the stepless Macap must use a different scale than the stepped. My stepped Macap zeroes pretty close to the 0/9 mark, reading the leading edge of the pin release to read the scale. I count 8 steps between whole numbers on the dial, and I am in espresso territory, for now, at 10 to 12 clicks from zero (1.25 - 1.5 using whole numbers on the scale). I am currently grinding drip at 5.25 - 5.5, or 42-44 clicks from 0.

If the OP is looking for one grinder both for FP and espresso, the stepped Macap offers great ease of use with the marginal compromise of not having the stepless continuum for espresso. As Dan has pointed out, there are very workable workarounds for the estimated 6 seconds between clicks on the stepped Macap.

We alternate between drip and espresso easily. With the small shop vac that sits nearby, switching between grinds and beans with the doser is a simple matter and with pre measuring the beans going in, there is very little waste.

And to speak to a second question in the OP, there is no question but that the cleaner grind we get from the Macap is giving us a cleaner taste in our drip coffee. It is an incremental, qualitative improvement that is not linear with the significantly increased cost, but which is a welcome secondary benefit from a more than competent espresso grinder.

Brad

[scottyg514]

Problem solved!

I was going to return my current espresso grinder ( A Vaneli's Roma, made by Bregant) when the new one arrived(Macap M4 stepless doser).

Thats what the switching grind & sharing the grinder question was about.

But we did discover after a few tests this morning that my wives morning french press coffee did infact taste so much better using my current Vaneli's espresso grinder rather than the cheap cusinart burr grinder that she always use's, that we're gonna bite the bullet & keep the Vaneli's grinder for her french press.

This way I can have the yet to arrive Macap all for myself exclusivly for espresso.

Thanks for the feedback

[HB]

But we did discover after a few tests this morning that my wives morning french press coffee did infact taste so much better using my current Vaneli's espresso grinder rather than the cheap cusinart burr grinder...

Doesn't it feel great to be right about something with the wife? A couple years ago I finally pried a whirly blade grinder from my dad's hands and gave him a Solis Maestro Plus (I wanted to get him a Rocky, but knew he'd freak out about the size). Ever since he and his guests rave and rave about how great his coffee is. Live and learn...


Early days of HB's Bench included a Krups "steam toy" (true confessions)