My Niche Zero arrived in record fast time last night. I then utilized @"DavecUK"#1 ’s great video on calibrating the grinder upon opening. There were however no grounds in the grinder (from quality control testing). But as the burrs were now out, I recalibrated anyway. Btw, its so easy peasy to get to the burrs. Anyway, I worked to dial in a bean that I had tried before (not my go to favorite but it was all I had around). Its a medium-dark decaf of unstated origin. It has rested about 1 week in a sealed bag, then frozen in 4 ounce mason jars. I ground the beans from frozen. However I was only able to dial in the beans (to flow using a 1:1.5 ratio - 16.5 in, 24.0 out in a 18g IMS basket, 9.5 BAR) **at a Niche setting of 5.0, which is only 5 marks from 0 (finest). This does not leave much remaining room for finer grinding.** I had thought the bean would dial in at 20, but at 20 I got a gusher! _Any solutions to this low grinder setting issue (with only 5 number marks apparently remaining until I at my finest grind)? What are your experiences? Is this normal? Is it a problem?_ _How do I fix it?_ Fyi, my Lelit Elizabeth is blind basket set at 10.5 BAR, which had optimized my shots when using my Eureka Mignon. But my shots thus far struggled to get up to 9.5 BAR, and only got there once I got close to a 5 mark on the Niche. Also, grind retention was initially huge but reduced to minimal after about 4 shots. I expected that, as the grounds were filling various spaces within what was a pristinely clean grinder. So no concerns on the retention front, at this early stage. As for work flow, I initially tried dosing straight into the basket using a funnel, the coffee grind spray from the chute created quite a mess. **I’d quite like to be able to dose straight into my basket or portafilter/basket. Has anyone been able to do that, without spraying grinds beyond the funnel?** I was able to do that with my Eureka Mignon, and rotate the basket to ensure even distribution. I was (with the Mignon) able to have the basket reasonably below the chute exit while doing that. With the NZ, I suspect that I might be able to reduce the outward spray by raising the basket higher (much closer to) the chute. But that might cause chute clogs. _Any answers to this, other than: “just use the cup”?_ One other issue arose. When I grind into the cup, I place the basket on top and then invert. I thought that the grinds would all fall into the basket. **However some of the grounds remained in the cup, even when inverted.** I then tried a solid downtap, which still left some grounds. It took a combination of solid downtap and two (2) taps to the top of the basket to ensure complete grounds transfer from cup to basket. _Is this usual? Is that what I will need to do? What do you do?_ **The above might be a static electricity issue,** as the grounds sure do cling to that cup! I have not been RDTing, as @"DavecUK"#1 indicated that this is a no-no with the NZ, as it will result in increased grounds retention and other issues. _Do I have a static electricity problem? How do I solve it?_ Fyi, I have still been WDTing once all of the grounds are in the basket, as the grounds did seem to be evenly distributed or level enough for tamping. So I have been WDTing, then bottom tap, then tamp with a 20 lb spring installed in my EazyTamp. Flow distribution looks fine using my bottomless portafilter. Have not yet sufficiently evaluated taste, as it was late evening. My wife is now jealous of my NZ girlfriend. So I will need to pay more attention to her and less to the NZ girl. 😘 Any help with/suggestions for the above NZ learning pains will be gratefully appreciated.

its just newness and you chose a hell of a bean to dial in with lol the static will slow down as the burrs season, you will get irregularities till then, decaf needs a really fine grind,

Once i went down to 6 for a decaf. 5 is ok I guess no need to worry. Static is also my problem especially for beans straight from freezer. I just keep tapping the grind cup until it's empty.

With my Niche, after dosing into the supplied cup I give the sides a couple of taps and tap the bottom a couple of times on my counter top and that seems to dissipate any static. Grinds regrdless of size, always come out whether tipping into a portafilter or Clever Dripper/V60. Having said that, I have been using it for just over a year now so as others have mentioned, I guess it is because the burrs are well seasoned. I always grind beans from frozen too.

Zero will be no where near burr touching, so don't worry about that. Grinding from frozen causes moisture to condense on the beans, so you might get less dose consistence, more retention and other things. The burrs do need to bed in…and they are very hard. I will improve markedly up to 5kg, then slowly improve over the next 10. The burrs are good for about 750 Kg

@"DavecUK"#p30836 One other item that I have noticed. The grind speed is quite slow, with the control disc in place. I have not timed it (I will), but it seems like a solid minute. This being said, I understand that there is benefit to slower RPMs, due to lower heat generation. I understand that the disk is there to reduce popcorning and to provide a steady grind pace/flow. In actuality I notice that very little gets ground in first 20 or 30 seconds, and then the pace significantly picks up. Definitely not an even flow. Not sure why this happens or if it is a good thing or not? Should I remove the disk or just be patient? I’m fine with this for just my 2 shots in the AM. But if I had guests, the slow grinding pace would slow the overall production pace down. BTW, this mornings cappuccino coffee tasted pretty good, with good body and mouthfeel, and good length of taste. It also had the chocolate and caramel notes that I like. And a couple of notes that I didn't like, which is the bean. But great that I can finally extract these flavours 😋

@"JHCCoffee"#p30840 Does not sound right, unless it is down to the burrs being new. Mine grinds at the same rate from start to finish. I do not think the flow control disc adds anything to the time spent grinding. This was tested by our host ages ago and I am sure that was the conclusion.

I will shoot a video, with a timer next to it, tomorrow AM, and post it.

@"JHCCoffee"#p30842 I'm wondering if the hold down nut is loose and the disc isn't rotating well until there is less beans.

> @"dfk41"#p30841 I do not think the flow control disc adds anything to the time spent grinding I think it does. However, it's not significant. As Dave said before many times, either way, you can grind away with the Niche, prep, tamp etc and the machine might not even have recovered yet. 👍

If some coffee clings to the cup after tipping into the portafilter you can just use the brush.

First Night With My Niche Girlfriend (and a couple of questions)

Cuprajake

How deep the cut out is

ken0062

MediumRoastSteam What’s the second measurement?

Second measurement is from the back of the cut out to what I judge to be the centre of the bolt hole 7.68mm,that is the only way I could see to judging the depth of the cut out

ken0062

And diameter of disc is 39.9mm

MediumRoastSteam

And it’s exactly 3mm thick.

ken0062

MediumRoastSteam And it’s exactly 3mm thick

Mine is 3.1mm thick, might not be much but the extra thicknes and 0.3mm smaller hole may make all the difference, I remember once I used a different 3d printed design for the disc and found that to be a lot slower and inconsistant, I wonder if we have any other genuine variants out there

JHCCoffee

ken0062

Thank-you Ken, for taking the time and trouble to provide these files, pics and measurements for all of u! Very kind of you.

This Forum continues live up to the friendliness and helpfulness bar set by DaveC.

JHCCoffee

JHCCoffee Thank-you Ken, for taking the time and trouble to provide these files, pics and measurements for all of u! Very kind of you.

I just tried a grind with no disk. I’m not enamored with the extent of pop-corning. I also noticed some bean fragments that are staying in the hopper (that were pop-corned out of the burrs). So, I just sent out your 3D files to a 3D printing service. I am awaiting a quote, but as the cost is likely to be low, I will give them the go ahead. No harm in trying this out. Stay tuned.

MediumRoastSteam

JHCCoffee I just tried a grind with no disk. I’m not enamored with the extent of pop-corning.

you can put a lid of some kind on top of the beans if you don’t want to pop corn.

Some people use a jelly bean tin lid. I use a Nutella jar lid.

E.g.:

https://www.coffeeforums.co.uk/attachments/img_0601-jpg.33505/

JHCCoffee

Free Modified NZ Disks (if you want them)

Just made an arrangement to have the modified NZ disk (that @ken0062 is using) to be 3D printed. Their minimum order is $50 Cdn, which means that they will be printing 8 disks. I need 2 for my city NZ (1 + a spare) and 2 for the NZ that I will be buying for my cottage setup (to replace my Baratza Sette 270).

So, as a thank-you to those on this Forum who have been most helpful to me (especially MediumRoastSteam, @Rob1 , @CoyoteOldMan, @Cuprajake, @DavecUK, @LMSC, @tompoland and anyone else that I apologetically missed), and of course @ken0062 (who came up with the idea), I would be pleased to mail 4 of these across the pond, to whoever would receive the envelope and then take it on themselves to distribute to other interested Forum members. If you are interested.

Let me know, by PMing me at julian dot colman1 at g mail dot com.

Ernie1

Going back to the original post, is there a reason you’re only dosing 16g in an 18g basket? And is this what you did with the previous grinder?

Typically (but not exclusively true) under-dosing or over-dosing by that much can cause unusual extractions… caused by either too much water filling the headroom above the puck, or the screen fracturing it.

JHCCoffee

Ernie1 Going back to the original post, is there a reason you’re only dosing 16g in an 18g basket? And is this what you did with the previous grinder?

I’ve been dosing 16.5g of decaf in the 18.0 gram IMS basket. This was based upon an earlier suggestion by one of the Forum members to allow 1 to 1.5 g for headroom, especially for decaf beans that are roasted to a medium-dark roast (say City Roast). Any feedback is welcome, as I am still not getting the mouth feel and strength, but also taste and complexity - I want both - that I desire. Any suggestions are welcome.

ken0062

JHCCoffee just a thought, before forking out that much why don’t you just dress your existing NFC with a file to make the hole slightly larger, still be cheaper to buy a new one if does not work out

Ernie1

JHCCoffee

I’ve not tried decaf so sadly can’t confidently offer any tips. It might be worth seeing what the results are with 18 or 19g in the same basket and perhaps closer to a 1:2 ratio. However, assuming decaf behaves in a similar way, updosing can have the same results as grinding a little finer. For example if I notice my extractions quickening slightly as a bean rests, I’ll updose by a quarter gram to compensate rather than adjust the grind setting.

You’ll definitely need to grind very fine, but it would be interesting to see if it gets you closer to the taste/mouthfeel you’re aiming for.

JHCCoffee

ken0062 just a thought, before forking out that much why don’t you just dress your existing NFC with a file to make the hole slightly larger, still be cheaper to buy a new one if does not work out

Thanks for the thought. However I don’t think I’d be able to file or drill it to a sufficiently precise or even or smooth diameter. And I’d never know whether it was the new disk design that caused a less than expected result, or just my bad filling/drilling.

I suspect that I will like the happy medium that a larger notch will offer, so I guess I’ll just take the risk.

And if I don’t like it, I’ll pass these disks on to other Forum members (or others) to try out, as I suspect that other folks may wish to test it out.

I work by the principle of: “what goes around comes around”. Happy to gift small items to Forum members, as the advice I’ve been getting has been most valuable.

-Mac

Pringles lids are easily adapted for a DIY disc. I used one before my proper disc arrived.

« Previous Page Next Page »