Ernie1 And then I’d probably be looking for a new wife also.

Hmmm, Really. I love my wife to bits, but i’d never want to replace her.

      Ernie1 - on that topic… I have already warned my wife a new grinder is arriving, as a friend kindly offered to lend me a flat burr grinder. Her response was none. Her expression did not change. The only thing I detected was her eyes rolling…. 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

          MediumRoastSteam

          😂😂

          I’m lucky as she loves her coffee, to the point she’ll say things like ‘got a coffee on my lunch break today and it was cr*p compared to what we have at home.

          So I have a bit of wiggle room, could swing a second grinder I reckon but yeah, I’d be packing my bags if a second espresso machine turned up.

            Inspector - no, unfortunately in a way. It’s a Ceado E37S 83mm, so not a single doser. My main objective is to figure out what this conical Vs flat is all about. 👍

                MediumRoastSteam

                Interestingly nowadays I am debating with myself about getting a df64 to compare flat vs conical and keep only one of them.

                Or maybe I should bring one of the mytos’ I own from storage and put it in the kitchen and hope wife doesn’t notice it 🤣

                    Inspector I am debating with myself about getting a df64 to compare flat vs conical and keep only one of them

                    Exactly my thoughts. I do see a lot of praise for the Df64, but when I see the workflow, chute mods, bellows and static it puts me off a bit.

                    £399 from BB, plus another £200 (£20 off as bundle discount) for those fancy SSP MP burrs. I have it added to my basket, but I’m too scared to pull the trigger… 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

                        The df64 works, and the more recent revisions have solved some of the problems but it doesn’t seem to be that great to use still and it is a compromise. Hopefully a nice to use 64mm grinder that isn’t as expensive as a lagom p64 or acaia orbit might hit the right spot in the market

                        Coffee Roaster. Home: Sage Dual Boiler, Niche Zero, Ode v2 (SSP), 1zpresso ZP6 Work: Eagle One Prima EXP, mahlkonig e80s, Mazzer Philos and lots more

                        ajohn I wonder if anything else has matched Niche for retention?

                        There are a couple that I know of.

                        The Olympia Moca SD. At least, it’s been better on my espresso bench. The Niche is exceptionally low retention but the Moca SD is even better.

                        To clarify: My experience of the niche as well as the Weber EG-1 was that the retention was pretty darned good at around 0.3 g but every now then they would simply drop a significant sized clump of coffee out and the Moca SD does not do that.

                        Benchtop handgrinders such as the Malwani Livi are also amongst the best because there is no chute or anything else (literally) between the burrs and the catch cup. But not everyone can be bothered with hand grinding.

                        Moca SD here: https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/blog/1253-olympia-moca-sd-first-looks-review-november-2022

                        Livi here: https://coffeetime.freeflarum.com/blog/1341-malwani-livi-seven-month-review-december-2022

                            Long time Niche Zero owner here as well. The workflow is gloriously good, especially if you are ever forced to occasionally use and old doser style grinder (e.g. Macap). As much as I can appreciate a less-is-more elegance of the Niche, yeah, the aesthetic is just tough to be a real fan of. And I always wonder at what point is the white plastic going to turn to that cream yellow of a 1994 windows PC.
                            I did order a new Femobook A68 grinder a few months ago (still waiting for it to ship). It’s design is a bit antithetical to the NZ. …Precision milling, cool looking. Now, watch, in the grand irony, it will probably work like crud. 😃

                            Pete
                            ACS Vesuvius, Evo Leva, Minima, Cafelot Robot
                            Qty 2, Femobook A68, Niche Zero
                            Arc800 RTD Roaster

                            I think the main issue with the Niche, is that it looks like a typical bit of kitchen kitsch without making you realise that under the skin is a wolf in sheep’s clothing. In the old days I used to have a man cave where it did not matter what kit I had. Now, I share an open plan kitchen so in my humble opinion, looks wise (not that I could give a monkeys!) the Niche fits far better into this arrangement. Ultimately though, the Niche is never ever going to be uncrowned, especially at the price point, unless an equivalent to Martin Nicholson comes along and designs a grinder from the feet upwards, taking his time and spending years in testing and development and of course, then meeting @DavecUK ……..keep checking the sky at night mateys……that shining star might appear one day……..

                            https://www.suddencardiacarrestuk.org/2024/02/thank-goodness-for-madeira-cake/

                              MediumRoastSteam just a heads up - I know they are highly regarded around for coffee equipment but I wouldn’t bother buying the DF64 from Bella Barista. I had extremely poor support from them with this grinder and basically their technical teams didn’t have a clue about it. I guess pricier espresso machines are their focus so spending time on a £400 grinder either isn’t their strong suit or just isn’t worth it for them.

                              if you are local to them then it might be easier but if not I’d just go elsewhere to somewhere that doesn’t expect you to pay for return postage if an issue arises within the warranty period. It all just comes from the same factory anyway.

                                  I’m not sold on these Chinese grinders, saw on another forum one had cross threaded the top adjuster and the grinders now a paper weight.

                                  There build to a price point.

                                  Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -

                                    FadedFrontiers wouldn’t bother buying the DF64 from Bella Barista

                                    I get what you are saying, but in the UK there aren’t many other places from where you can buy this grinder anyway. Their price is not bad either.

                                      Ernie1 Isn’t that where the Niche is made?

                                      Think what Jake means is that those are designed in China. I’m not sure “designed” is the right word here, as if they do have a design team, they don’t quite understand what single dose is. For me, the biggest example is the chute screen. It’s now the fourth iteration of the df64 and it seems that they go from some sort of “slightly annoying problem” to “a very annoying one” - to the point the latest chute screen is double up and useless, according to reviews. It just increase retention and regrinding rather than actually fix the issue of retention. So the first thing people do is they open the grinder up and remove one of them, half cut the other or just buy a new chute+screen combo from Etsy. That I honestly don’t understand what goes on with the “design” team. If the community has been feedbacking and modding the df64 since V1, with readily available mods, why can’t they take the feedback and make the grinder as such, from the factory? I’d rather buy something that works out of the box rather than mod it.

                                      Contrast that with the Niche which has a thoughtful and methodical design behind it (note: I don’t really care where it’s designed or made) to the point that Martin would not even contemplate releasing the product until he and his team are happy the product is viable and functional up to the high standards set. And that I applaud.