# Can one grinder switch between French press and Espresso easily?



## Scotty (Mar 21, 2011)

I decided to make french press this morning using my mahlkonig vario grinder which is normally setup for espresso. The result was excellent and i'm keen to enjoy this more often.

However, going back to where i had the grind set before for espresso resulted in a gusher. I took two more shots to finally get it back to the correct extraction and the setting was moved from W to about F on the left side of the grinder.

It looks like switching between espresso grind and filter grind isn't going to be easy so i wondered what people here did? I suspect the answer is to have two grinders which i'm open too if that's what it takes. Presumably the filter grinder doesn't need to be as good quality at the vario.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

How about a semi-decent hand grinder for French Press duties?


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## Scotty (Mar 21, 2011)

DoubleShot said:


> How about a semi-decent hand grinder for French Press duties?


45g of coffee by hand seems like a slog! The bratza encore for £120 looks decent enough.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

With the Mahlk Vario, you need to be running it with a few beans in whilst making coarse to fine adjustments or the grind gets shot to hell.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

AND it needs quite a lot of calibration quite often with the allen key nut under the rubber bung behind the grind chute.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

I thought that was the recommended advice on most/all grinders? Have beans running through them whilst adjusting from course to finer. I've tried it on my Ceado E37. Easier said than done with only two hands if you don't want grinds all over the place.


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## Scotty (Mar 21, 2011)

Yeah i've recalibrated it a lot in the time i've had it and moving the grind back and forth seems like it might be a pain. It is a good grinder for espresso though.

Will need to think if its worth £120 for a second grinder. I suppose it opens up other brewing methods in future without affecting my espresso setup.


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## DoubleShot (Apr 23, 2014)

What about a Sage Smart grinder. Would the digital display not aid knowing the two different settings for espresso and French press?


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## Nod (Sep 7, 2013)

I had the vario and although you can make great espresso with it, it is a pain that you need to keep re-calibrating it all the time. you just get it perfect and then it slips. the first change i did was to make sure the levers are not slipping... you can fit some shims... details on the forum - this does not sounds like your problem though. I completely agree you need to grind some beans after changing the grind otherwise you get a mixture of the old and new grind in the portafiliter. You can keep changing the grind but you will need to keep dialing in again... after a while you can get quite expert and efficient at this so you dont waste too many beans but it is a faff. also, i found it would be dialed in perfect but, if i made, for example, 6 shots, it would slip and id lose the perfect grind position again. i assumed this was the burrs heating up causing the slipping. i now use my vario for brew and got a different grinder for espresso although i did love the vario and made some top shots with it. my advice is stick with the vario for the moment and keep switching until you get annoyed and then you can either get a different grinder for espresso and you have a TOP brew grinder ( might need to change burrs to steel though £50) or you can get a hand grinder for brew.


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Vario is much better at espresso than it is at brewed to be honest


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## Nod (Sep 7, 2013)

> Vario is much better at espresso than it is at brewed to be honest


Not if you have the steel burrs - then it is fantastic


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## Scotty (Mar 21, 2011)

After a bit more research and thinking i've ordered an encore for filter duties only. I like the thought of buying a syphon or chemex later in the year to go along with my FP so it's ideal.


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## Nod (Sep 7, 2013)

sounds good Scotty... good luck and hope you get some top brews from your kit


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

There is no need to change grind between espresso & French press. A French press has no holes/basket in it, it's just a pot, grind has no effect on the press itself, there is no flow through the bed, you just have to be a bit more careful with technique, let it sit longer & don't plunge, strain through the mesh.

"Coarse French press grind" seems to have been invented in the last few decades & has been uninvented again in the last few years...you're actually more likely to make a bad press by going too coarse.

Keep the grind to the fussier brew method (espresso) and then adapt your French press technique.


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## MWJB (Feb 28, 2012)

These 2 presses were made with a Lido1 at 1/8th of a turn off burr rub, I also make presses with electric grinders in the espresso range & Turkish mills set for Turkish (which is an immersion brew, typically drunk without filtering...though I do filter mine). The photo shown is of brews made with Bodum glass pots, Bodum nylon & silicon edged plunger meshes, steeped for 19 mins, first 40ml discarded (oily), carefully poured watching for migration of silt through the mesh. Don't try to get every last drop out of the pot, don't keep returning the pot to upright, pour all cups in one smooth pour. Only the very last sip before the photo was taken had any indication that there was any noticable suspended solids in the mouthfeel & taste. No additional filtration.








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## fatboyslim (Sep 29, 2011)

+1 for the Baratza Preciso. Mine is nearly 4 years old now and it still handles espresso and brewed duties very well. You'll obviously need to upgrade for espresso at some point but after downgrading from a Mazzer Super Jolly I'm still very happy with the espressos this grinder can produce. Brewed grind is excellent!


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## Scotford (Apr 24, 2014)

Nod said:


> fantastic


Debatable.


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## Burnzy (Apr 17, 2014)

DoubleShot said:


> What about a Sage Smart grinder. Would the digital display not aid knowing the two different settings for espresso and French press?


Yep have one and can say its fairly easy going espresso grind to brew grind amd back again.. Just requires a tiny handful of beans to be ground through before use... No problems... But i use a hand grinder fro brew now, so i dont have to adjust the sage.


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## hotmetal (Oct 31, 2013)

Just to mention also, the reason why coarse>fine adjustment should be made with the grinder running is that if you don't, you may jam coarse grinds between static burrs as they move closer. Not good for the grinder. This is a separate issue from purging the varied grind, one is mechanical sympathy, the other is only taste. When going from fine to coarse it's not an issue if the grinder isn't running. (But still worth a quick purge afterwards to ensure you haven't got a mixed grind in your basket).


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## Scotty (Mar 21, 2011)

Used the encore a couple of times now. The recommended grinder setting of 30 for FP seems way out to me as i got a wattery horrible brew first go (following the hasbean brew guide). Just tried at 20 and its better but probably still not right. Anybody using an encore for FP and at what setting?


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## froggystyle (Oct 30, 2013)

Scotty said:


> Used the encore a couple of times now. The recommended grinder setting of 30 for FP seems way out to me as i got a wattery horrible brew first go (following the hasbean brew guide). Just tried at 20 and its better but probably still not right. Anybody using an encore for FP and at what setting?


Go back 7 posts, MWJB gives good advice.


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