Friday, March 9, 2007

Macap M5 grinder

After almost 4 years of Caffènation, i've been buying coffee grinders on and on. And as i mentioned before (see post : 'the right grinder') not all grinders are doing the job perfectly.
Since i met Henk from ESW (Espresso West Den Haag) it all became a whole lot easier. Not only did he help us to upgrade our barista techniques, he also was a big help on choosing the right equipment. Over one and a half year, every barista tool, piece of machinery, top tip or technical support was the right one. So when i was on the research of a new small grinder i picked one from their range : the Macap M5, chrome finish.

And it looks stunning, on our old black marble mantelpiece.

Tech specs : 250 W Power, 58 mm blades at RMP 1400 and 9 K. It's funny to see how close it is to the more known Mazzer Mini. All the same, except the Macap is plus minus 1 kilo lighter.

Theoretically it is able to grind up to 4 K an hour. Where do they get this number from? Never in a lifetime, cause the grinding speed is problematically slow. When you forget to start the grinding before knocking off and cleaning your portafilter, you will loose some valuable time, waiting for your portion of fresh ground.
The motor is not too loud. The puller is loud and feels a bit cheap, so i beg my barista's to treat it gentle.
Another weak point is the adjustment rate. The stepless adjustment system is optional. I suppose this would be a good investment. Mostly if we switch from a male barista to a female we turn the blades one notch finer, but with the Macap it's mostly too much, so now i ask the girls to dose higher or the guys to tamp lighter. I don't really care as long as i see the right crema flow.

And crema is dripping bulky from the sprouts. Of course it's new, but first of all the Macap is good. I won't say it's better than the Mazzer Mini or Super Jolly - i'm not talking the Robur - but it's for sure a good alternative, for comparable prices. I bought mine € 315 tax excl!
And again : it looks good, damn good.

From May 1, we will start using this M5 for our weekly espresso, mostly single origins. Just thinking about it gets me thirsty. It's a pity i'm at home and no espresso machine to quench this thirst. Mmm, tomorrow a new pack of Kenya AA+ is waiting to be tested. I think i'm going to work a tad earlier ....

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