Excellent, thank you. Is it the MT500?
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You couldn't go wrong with a Technivorm.
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Yes it is a Capresso MT 500.
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I don't use a timer. If I like the angel hair thick streams of coffee and it appears to be in the 20's, I am happy.
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Thank you all, I have reached my decisions.

Ordered a Technivorm Moccamaster. Also getting the Macap M-4. But if you guys and gals would help me with one last decision; stepped or non-stepped on the grinder. I will be using it for both daily coffee and stove-top espresso until I get the machine. Seems stepped is the way to go, would you all agree?

Again, thank you all for educating me and sending me swiftly down the coffee slope.

Any bean websites and maybe some of you favorites beans to try for day-to-day coffee would help as well! Thanks again!
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Congrats on a very good decision. You can consider your grinder buying finished forever probably, and that is the heart of the whole operation. No upgradeitis for you in the grinder department.

I say get the stepless and figure out one time where the coffee grind setting works best, put a little felt marker dot on it and do the same for your espresso mark.

I had a stepped grinder and find a lot in between numbers that makes little differences that most don't worry about, but I do.

You'll spend a good deal of time looking at your dial and will probably make marks, or use little arrow stickers to know where certain points, like absolute zero are. (more on that later) It's all part of the fun and is very rewarding once you get dialed in to your commercial grinder.

I went further and took off the ring with the numbers, spray painted it the same color as the silver machine, and painted black notches carefully where the numbers are.

Unless you are changing multiple times a day, it won't be a hassle at all and the adjustment will be easy. 20-30 seconds of turning will move the grinder settings more than enough for both grinds.

You could always do like others in your situation and pull off the knob and replace it with a guitar winder which can be had for a buck or two. Once you do that, you'll cruise through the settings and probably enjoy your handywork.

The main point of the Macap, in my opinion, is the infinite adjustment of the worm drive and without it, you still have an awesome grinder for life, but might wonder how that shot would be in between two numbers.

In any event, nice job. It was fun to watch you wrestle with this and I can't wait until machine time comes.:-)
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http://coffeegeek.com/forums for hours of fun reading regarding coffee machines and equipment, and for beans, I find Sweetmarias as good as it gets if you're roasting. Their customer service is the best.

Until then, Unclebeanz is great and I am hardpressed to find a better espresso blend than Intelligencia's Black Cat Espresso or Stumptown Hairbender.

I also would be glad to send you some of my own roast if you want.
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I agree with Uncle Beanz
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So there is a way to mark where you were, great. I envisioned a wheel that just spun, with no way of marking a spot that gets you what you want.

Seeing as I will be getting the machine in the spring, what is my best method, in your opinion, of making espresso without a machine; the stove top method?

I don't see myself getting into roasting, but then I did not see myself with 2 vino temps and attempting to build a walk-in humidor either when I had a 10 cigar Thompsons special humi before meeting you people on CS many years ago...lol. So time will tell on that one.

Wanted to get it started, and feel I got the basics; good grinder and drip brewer.

Thanks again. Must have spent about 5 hours reading about this over the weekend...lol.
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Thank you! I will check into that ASAP!
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Black Cat is really good. I am a cheap bastard, so I don't want to pay those prices especially since I use the same beans for French Press or Espresso. Brewed coffee can really deplete beans quick!

I have tried a couple of home roasts from some forum members and all were outstanding! I would buy from them if it was possible. A lot depends on how do you like your coffee blends. I am fan of Brazilian and Guatamalan beans, so blends with that are my preference. Also, the roasting preference is important too. Some like darker beans than others. I generally do not like shiny beans and go for not so dark a roast.

If everybody had the same taste, there would be just one brand.

I do not like some of the Lavazza beans. It's like drill going through my tummy. :-) Best to drink it on the toilet. Danesi is good. You may miss out on the freshness of local beans, but not the end of the world.
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Ok, took some pics of the dial and wish I hadn't. Macro really shows how bad the paint job was and how dirty my grinder is!

Anway, the first one shows the worm drive and the dial with numbers that you can see as you turn...
Image

The next one shows my kindergarden markings that, on the left, the small dot is my absolute zero, or where the burrs begin to touch.

Next, the black lines show a full number incremement. The big white line is 1.5 from zero, which is my sweet spot for espresso. I have no idea who said that 2.5 is the sweet spot on Macaps for espresso, but many seem to think it is. Not for me, and I think Vic either if I remember correctly. Vic??
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If you're like me, you'll wonder why absolute zero is around 6 or 7 on your dial.

It is bizarre how they build such a nice machine and do that, but if it bothers you, the ring comes off with three small phillips head screws and you can move it easily.

More than likely, you'll completely ignore the numbers other than a reference point and go off your own markings.
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Just to show you how it looks from the front, this is it and I seem to hang out a little under 1.5 lately.

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Anyway, now you get an idea of the way the dial works. I gotta go strip mine down now and clean and repaint.:-)
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Wow, thanks so much for the pic's! That helped a lot. I envisioned a dail with no sense of placement, but thats not the case. As long as I can find my way back and forth through a marking such as your's, I am in good shape! Thanks again!

I intend to play around a lot with beans pertaining to taste and such, as everyone's is different; do you guys recommend a cost effective everyday bean for someone who like a dark, rich coffee?

Again, the time you guys have taken to help me will come back to you. Maybe in the form of a few CCs.....:-)

This thread is awesome!
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I did not realize that home roasters sold to the general public. If you know of any good ones, please let me know, I'd love to try them out.

Do you recommend a well priced daily bean for daily drinking while I play aroudn on the weekends with more pricey stuff?

Thanks again!
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Could you drop me a PM with where you found the Macap at that price? Thank you!
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None of the home roasters would sell me their beans. I would buy them if they did!

I really dig Costco's Guatamalan beans at $5.50 a lb is hard to pass up. I like Whole Foods too.

The grinders are heavy and dumping beans out is a pain in the arse, so I think switching beans during the week will be short lived after you try it.
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Wholelattelove.com

Ask them if they can offer any discounts and you'll probably get them to knock off 10%
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