Buyers regret - wrong choice?

capuchin

I’ve ordered a niche zero last night, and am already kinda regretting it. Hearing that the conical burrs aren’t great for filter/pourover, and it’s more of a ‘make do’ grinder and ’you’ll eventually get another one.'

Given I enjoy both espresso and pourover have I made the wrong choice? The others were the Mazzer Major (too big for kitchen I thought) or an endgame grinder like the P100 but its damned expensive.

Am I going to notice a [good] difference in the cup or regret my niche, especially for filter?

LMSC

capuchin Don’t think so. @MWJB brews (filter) a lot with Niche. He is your filter expert. :-)

MediumRoastSteam

capuchin I’ve ordered a niche zero last night, and am already kinda regretting it.

I suppose you could always contact Niche CS and ask them to cancel the order if you are worried.

I don’t do pour overs either, but I did in the past, used the Niche and the Wilfa Svart, and a Feldgrind. The Wilfa Swart (£110 or so) can do the trick nicely on that front. I’m no expert, but my experience was a very muddy V60 bed with the Niche.

YMMV.

Doram

capuchin I’ve ordered a niche zero last night, and am already kinda regretting it. Hearing that the conical burrs aren’t great for filter/pourover, and it’s more of a ‘make do’ grinder and ’you’ll eventually get another one.'

There are (by far) more happy Niche Zero owners than haters. In addition, the grinder has such a good name that in the unlikely event that you don’t like it - you will probably be able to move it on without loosing much (or anything) at all, so you have very little risk in trying it and deciding for yourself.

Having said that, if you only ordered last night and not sure about the purchase, you can probably send an email, cancel and take more time to decide. (Edit: wow, already despatched! Where are the days when we had to wait 3 months from order to delivery?)

DavecUK

capuchin The Niche Gives you a nice conical for spro, if you don’t like it for filter…get a cheap flat to ad to the collection. I personally always like to have a conical in the collection. I’ve made both filter and Aeropress in the zero. It works fine.

Now if your talking about flat burrs for filter, remember they are designed for espresso, unless you get specific filter burrs and never the twain shall meet. It’s true that espresso flat burrs can do filter, but they don’t do it as well as proper filter burrs. Proper filter burrs should not be able to do espresso…if they can, by definition they are not proper filter burrs. You can taste (blind taste) the difference every time….

Cuprajake

i wouldnt worry,

you’re just reading wayyyy to much into it, even if you got the major, there espresso based burrs,

can you get a better cup with another grinder, yes probably, will it cost more yes, unless you run two dedicated grinders you’re never going to get the best of both worlds and imo the cost vs reward isnt justified,

when you read/watch people talking about this, these people are talking of the extremes, minute little differences,

dont worry, enjoy your new purchase.

capuchin

LMSC and @Cuprajake Thanks! They’ve actually already dispatched it, so I guess we’ll see soon! Should be great.

MWJB

MediumRoastSteam There’s no reason to have a muddy bed with the Niche, just don’t try to brew filter in the region marked “filter” on the grinder (more like coarse espresso/moka pot grind).

Ideally, the Niche just needs a second marker at “0” when the original marker is set to “50”, I brew most of my coffee at 90-94 (e.g. 50 plus 40-44).

I also have a Wilfa flat, good value for money, but no better than a Niche.

MediumRoastSteam

DavecUK if they can, by definition they are not proper filter burrs. You can taste (blind taste) the difference every time….

Tell us more… :-)

What are the perceived differences Dave?

DavecUK

MediumRoastSteam What are the perceived differences Dave?

Harshness of flavour, more bitterness and less sweetness when espresso burrs are used for filter instead of filter burrs. to the point where not having these things allowed more of the coffee to shine through.

Cuprajake

@DavecUK just add sugar…

DavecUK

Cuprajake tis not the same…..

dndrich

I love my Niche for espresso and filter, and use it that way every day. I wanted one grinder that could do great espresso for home with easy to achieve dialing in process, and have only one grinder on the counter. The Niche is up to the task. My espresso choice is medium roasts usually, which with my calibration and seasoning is on a setting of around 9. For my drip coffee in a Breville Precision Brewer I go with the ring past the 50 to the red dot on the machine, which is the safety switch. That landmark is like 60 if there were a number. I run my Breville with 30 seconds of bloom. Great coffee for my needs. And then I can dial the Niche right back to 9 for the espresso shots without purging or anything. No waste. Love it. I do this every day.

Grahamsphillips

You won’t regret the NICHE. Despite the arrival of numerous competitors its still “KING” in many ways - and its so well built you don’t hear of failures. A few of us have ordered new Burrs (from Gorilla Gear) so there’s a potential upgrade path too.. albeit very early days

Verion

I’ve enjoyed using my Niche as it was a big upgrade over my SGP.

I can make a cafetiere once in a blue moon and it copes well enough. But 99.9% of what I make is espresso or espresso based drinks.

The possibility of the Gorilla Gear burrs looks interesting and gives us another option other than the Mazzer Kony burrs that are currently used.

ajohn

Another forum started a thread on grinders and used the term rabbit hole. I thought of Lewis Carroll as well. Alice fits in nicely maybe mad hatters too. What ever route you choose there is always likely to be a better one mentioned and many reviews don’t really help at all. The latest is burr types. An expensive option that in real terms won’t cost much more if any than conventional ones to actually make.

I’d suspect what ever brewing method is used the weight of grinds and the quantity of water and the rate it goes through the grinds will adjust taste.

Grahamsphillips

However the Mad Hatter was more into tea than coffee. No mention of burrs afaik!

capuchin

Just a little update on this one - Definitely not the wrong choice! The coffee is appreciably better. Was starting to think the dark peak smith street blend was kinda mediocre, but the grinder has made a huge difference to it. Actually not had filter coffee since I bought the niche as the espresso is so good. My next upgrade will be a bianca, though not for a long while. The little bambino plus is actually doing a fine job with the new grinder.