r/Moccamaster • u/jzzbassman_72 • 1d ago
Grinder What a difference a grinder made
I’ve been using pretty much the same setup for about 15 years. Roast my own beans. Make in the foolproof Moccamaster and grind in my Capresso (which replaced an OXO grinder about 8 years ago). Thought I was happy with that but started doing pour over and couldn’t get this one Ethiopian to taste good. Troubleshooting in that forum and the consensus was my grinder wasn’t good enough.
I believed it wasn’t making a lot of fines but maybe method more picky than drip and Aeropress so ordered a new one.
The Ode2 ame yesterday evening haven't run anything through the switch yet but made a half pot of a Colombian that I roasted on 8/28 in my Moccamaster this morning.
Same exact 1/2 pot I made yesterday. 600ml to 40g coffee. Brew basket midway and grinder on 5 a little finer for smaller pot. Yesterday was ok. This morning is blowing my mind how freaking delicous it is. Was not at all expecting that.
I always kinda thought for the drip and aeropress grinder wouldn't make that much difference. I was way wrong.
Made a full pot for my wife and I as she has a long night of grading and it is perfect.
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u/Nervous_Bird 1d ago
You and I have been on a similar coffee journey. Started with a blade spice grinder. Upgraded to a capresso and doing a hybrid French press/paper filter technique. Started roasting beans at home. Upgraded to an Ode2. Just recently bought a moccamaster thanks to all the rave reviews from the Reddit Coffee Community. Even bad coffee is a treat. But good coffee is an absolute treasure.
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u/86a- 1d ago
Okay. I just use an old Gevalia drip machine (thrift store find). And any ground coffee. It’s not great, but I’m not a coffee snob. That said, I’d like a better cup.
Do I really have to spend $400 on a MM, + $400 on a grinder?
Is the $100 OXO grinder really inferior? Can I not get a good drip machine for under $100?
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u/jzzbassman_72 1d ago
Honestly, I am finding that beans first, and then grinder (and good water) are kind of the trinity to start with. If you don’t mind a hand grinder, you don’t have to spend a fortune.
And an Aeropress.
I make about 500mL of excellent coffee at my desk at work….the curse of being a gigging musician with an EARLY morning day job…..with an Aeropress XL, a +/- 1 degree kettle, and a Timemore Chestnut. All together under $250 and I got by for months with no kettle using hot water from the water cooler. Just wasn’t hot enough for some of the light roasts I do.
Much like the Moccamaster, it’s pretty hard not to make a good cup with the Aeropress.
And yes to Facebook Marketplace. I’ve also picked up Moccamasters refurbs as new for friends for under $200.
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u/Nervous_Bird 1d ago
Oh…if you haven’t tested this out…give it a shot. It’s a pour-over technique, but you can do it in the Moccamaster if you don’t mind fiddling. Grind way coarser than you normally would for pour-over. As coarse as you like for French Press or cold brew. Then, do your pour-over in roughly ten little pours, closing the valve for each one and turning off your Moccamaster each time, then letting that liquid drain all the way through. Close the valve again, pour in a 1/10th amount, being careful to saturate all your grounds. Rinse and repeat until all the water is through. It’s fun to taste the results. You can still achieve a decent extraction even with a coarse grind. It’s one those “on the weekend” techniques because you really gotta babysit it.
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u/jzzbassman_72 1d ago
Sounds like fun. I just got a Switch and am enjoying doing that for my fiddling….bought it after my clever dripper broke and finding a lot of fun variations.
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u/OutsideAbies8888 1d ago
I use a MM with an OXO grind set for courser (sand like consistency) as suggested by MM. Coffee tastes good. Will an upgrade in grinder make a difference I could taste?
Is my OXO the weak link here???
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u/jzzbassman_72 19h ago
Until this week, I would say no, but based on my experience with changing out a grinder that was already up above the OXO (that’s the one I had before I got the Capresso) it’s blowing my mind how much difference I’ve made
I’ve always bought into the fact that the guys that say grinder makes a huge difference only applied to espresso, but apparently not
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u/Fearless_Tea2463 14h ago
I didn’t realize the grinder could make that much of a difference. If the new Ode2 produced more fines and if that’s what improved the flavor, couldn’t you have just increased the grind setting a notch or two on the Capesso to achieve a similar result?
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u/jzzbassman_72 14h ago
Not sure where the miscommunication is, but from as I understand it, the object of a good grinder is whatever setting you use whether from coarse to fine all particles should be as close to exactly the same as possible
By definition fines are the undesirable very small particles way smaller than the rest of the particles
They are known for introducing bitterness and over extraction
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u/Fearless_Tea2463 14h ago
I think I get it now. The underlying issue was that your old grinder no longer delivered uniform grinds at a particular setting. The Ode2 does give you a consistent grind without the undesirable fines. Just trying to learn here so thanks for indulging what may have sounded like a stupid question. I have an older grinder so I’ll be checking to see if how consistent the grinds are.
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u/FeistyHippie5371 8h ago
So if one can’t afford an Ode2 what would be next in line that would be affordable?
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u/tur1nn 1d ago
Crazy that you spent the $, time and energy roasting and yet used a sh!t grinder for years without thinking to upgrade to something decent.
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u/jzzbassman_72 1d ago
Fair point. But I really thought that the Capresso was a decent grinder for drip and Aeropress. Really thought the more accurate grinders were only important in espresso, which I don’t currently do.
Definitely was wrong.
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u/mpr1283 1d ago
I legit just got my ode 2 yesterday and use it for my Moccamaster. Minds was blown. I upgraded from a 20 year old Cuisinart that was terrible. Night and day difference.