This thing is a beauty. Now lets see if it mashes up some beans properly.

Femobook A68 just arrived.

Grahamsphillips

How does it compare with the NICHE?

sketchy

Grahamsphillips Just had my first go with it, so let this be my disclaimer that this is my early take. …Took a bit to get the grind size dialed in only because I thought “zero” was truly zero, but I digress. Its a stunning piece of engineering. Initially, the workflow feels not quite as smooth as the Niche. …It looks like the Femobook has a bit more of a static issue than what I’m used to, so I’m going to have to counter that with some measures. The magnet based assembly/disassembly is so impressive, but of course, the moment you pull things apart you’ll find coffee grounds dropping everywhere, so it can get a bit messy.

tompoland

sketchy the static should settle down after a couple of kilos

MattH

sketchy I did see on the Lance review on Youtube he mentioned rotating the lower funnel, and that would shake free the coffee which was stuck.

Seems the cup has some little brushes to help with this ?

Did you order this direct from the website (or were you a kickstarter backer ?)

MediumRoastSteam

I’d be interested to know if you can tell the difference, taste wise, between them.

sketchy

MediumRoastSteam Yeah, I’ll have a better grasp on that by tomorrow. …Today was just the initial unboxing and setup. I’ll provide an update soon.

chlorox

Did you find to be in the way the dreaded power brick?

sketchy

[unknown] Yes, I ordered direct, back in November of 2022.

The funnel does easily come off, and you do have to do what he describes to reduce retention.

capuchin

Looks amazing! Looking forwards to an update

capuchin

Looks amazing! Looking forwards to an update

sketchy

Day 2 update: Dialed in much more, and becoming more familiar with the workflow. Still working on discerning some potential taste differences (I don’t want to make stuff up for the sake of it being a new toy). Anecdotally though, I will say to the naked eye there do not seem to be as many fines as found with the Niche Zero.

I never thought I’d appreciate an indexed adjustment, but given that its increments are so small, it is nice to have. The grinding noise is a higher pitch, less pleasant tone than the Niche. I find that ironic given than the RPMs of the Femobook is extremely slow compared to the NZ.

I look forward to getting a few more batches of beans though after I roast them up to see how it compares on the life of the roast.

There is no doubt that the process/workflow is messier. You end up with grinds where you don’t want them. So the NZ still wins out in set-it-and-forget-it, easy-peasy workflows.

DavecUK

sketchy The grinding noise is a higher pitch, less pleasant tone than the Niche. I find that ironic given than the RPMs of the Femobook is extremely slow compared to the NZ.

probably a geared down fast spinning motor.

sketchy

DavecUK Yeah, that was my thought as well.

root

Thanks for the impressions. I’ve been thinking about picking up the A68 or the Lagom Mini as a secondary grinder for espresso. How are you getting on with it after the first week?

tompoland

root if you are looking at the Lagom Mini you may want to also consider the Varia VS3 with the Hypernova burrs.

I’ve had them both side by side for the last 6 weeks or so.

I’d get the Mini for light roast or filter, but the VS3 for all other espressos.

sketchy

root Yeah, with a full week under my belt, a few things. I’ll be picking up a refractometer to help with some more specific measurements, but I do believe the grind has fewer fines in it than the NZ, and hence a better grind But literally every other aspect of it, the NZ is just superior. The A68 creates a total mess of grinds with the static electricity, and has more retention than I was expecting (unless you rattle it around, etc.). The noise/pitch of the grinder is pretty painful, and noticed by the wife. But it does look cool. Way nicer than the NZ from an aesthetics standpoint.

root

tompoland The Varia is also on my radar, although it appears to be going through similar early release cycle pains as the Lagom with a number of reports of gear failures. It probably better fits my use case as a secondary grinder to pull more traditional shots mostly for milk drinks since Lagom discontinued the Obsydian burr set. My ideal would probably be a large variable RPM conical where fines production could be tuned depending on application but I don’t want to pay WUG2 money or devote that sort of counter space for my girlfriend’s milk drinks so options are limited.

tompoland

root the two Varias I have seem well sorted. Only about 2 months old so maybe these newer ones are better.

The other one to consider based on your preferences would be the DF64V (v = variable RPM), it has a smaller footprint than previous DF64s but not due out until middle of the year. I have a couple on pre order so will post impressions a couple of months after they arrive.

MWJB

sketchy I’ll be picking up a refractometer to help with some more specific measurements

A refractometer can’t tell you anything about fines specifically, it can tell you how much you are extracting, which correlates to a finer/coarser grind overall, regarding the whole distribution (which is all you can adjust on a grinder anyway).

If a grinder had a wider distribution, you may notice that best tasting shots occur at a lower EY, but you still can’t deduce anything about fines from this. If you thought fines/silt were an issue, then grind a little coarser & if EY drop, pull a lightly longer ratio to get back in your desired range.

root

sketchy Thanks for coming back with those observations.

Does RDT improve the static situation at all?

I have noticed in videos that there are wiper brushes in the lower grinds funnel. It looks like the intended post-grind workflow would be to perform one rotation of this funnel to wipe off grinds stuck to the bottom of the burrs, then detach the funnel and tap it against the top lip of the grinds cup to dislodge grinds stuck to the inner wall of the funnel. Have you experimented with this sort of procedure to see if it helps eliminate some of the messiness?

sketchy

MWJB Correct. But it is an instrument of measurement, and when asked ‘how does it compare’ to the NZ, it may or may not provide a worthwhile data point. …That was the reason for my mentioning the refractometer. Didn’t intend for it to be conflated with the topic of fines.

As for the grinder, the static issue happens even when set for extremely course, which is the way it was from the factory, when I was first dialing it in.

sketchy

root Yes, there are techniques that help dislodge some of the grinds that are clinging due to static, or clumped at the base of egress. …One of those methods is to drop the funnel and tap it against the collection canister. But the laughable part about this is that while it helps in some areas, all of the fines clinging elsewhere, or at the point of egress will disperse in places you don’t intend it to.