Niche Zero observations with drip and espresso

dndrich

Coffeetimepals:

I love my Niche Zero and my Lelit Elizabeth. I bought the Niche to up the game with espresso while having a single grinder for morning drip coffee. I have found that I have to RDT the drip coffee with the coarser grind and volume so it does not make a mess, but do not have to do so for the espresso grind. Now, after the morning drip grind with the ring at around “70” or so (no actual mark on the Niche, but landmarks on the machine) I keep the motor running and dial back to around 13 or so for my espresso. So far so good. I do find though that the first espresso shot retains around 0.4 gm, and runs too fast. The second shot is perfect with very little retention. So, there must be some retention with the RDT and the coarser grind from the morning drip. I have gone to purging a few grams of coffee through the Niche at the finer espresso setting, and once I do that the first shot and second shot are totally consistent. Now that I have had the Niche for a number of months I may try to go without RDT for the drip and see how that works out. I hate to waste even the few grams of coffee, but definitely want that first shot to be great!

DavecUK

dndrich Be curious as to how it works out. When changing from drip to espresso, I am suprised there is enough exchange with coarser coffee for it to affect the shot?

MediumRoastSteam

dndrich I keep the motor running and dial back to around 13 or so for my espresso

With the Niche’s lid open, and the palm of your hand fully open, pat the top of the grinder a few times converting the whole of the adjustment ring in order to push air through the burrs and ultimately dislodging any grinds stuck to the burrs or the chute, making them fall into the cup. Discard those and grind away. See if that improve things.

dndrich

DavecUK I am surprised too, but that has been consistently the problem. First shot runs fast, second shot perfect. When I purge some coffee through before the first shot, perfect, so I have to figure the coarser exchange is what is doing it. I will keep you posted. If RDT is the culprit, then that would be nice to know.

Dumnorix

This is a very helpful post as I have been considering whether I can use my Niche for espresso and pourover and therefore shift my Mazzer Mini doser which I have been using for pourover- I am hoping to gain back even more counter space after selling my Pro 500 at the start of the year. With the upcoming Easter holidays I will do some experimentation of my own.

CafeNoir

Excuse me if I’m wrong here, but somewhere in the recesses of my memory is this caution against using RDT on the NZ, it may well be out of date but apparently the chances of a gunk build-up are very high.

Have you opened your Niche for cleaning since starting this because as a NZ owner, I’m kind of fascinated. Never found the need but mine’s only for ’spro.

dndrich

CafeNoir I have cleaned it once just for the experience of taking apart, but otherwise no. I will go without RDT for a little while here and see what happens. This morning’s drip coffee made without RDT and the static was much lower than when the machine was new. Also used a lighter roast, which helps. We shall see.

PaulL

Personally I strip the Niche once a month to clean the burr and chambers of oils rather than grinds of which there is little. It’s so easy to do and reset I can’t imagine not keeping the internals clean. Occasionally I coarse grind for V60 but mostly use the J-Max for that (which is also stripped and cleaned monthly as again it’s really easy). If I do go from coarse to grind on the Niche I allow for a bit of retention on the first shot but since I weigh anyway and coffees can vary (as an example an Ethiopian I have will take 17.7g in the basket but a Brazilian is fussy to want no more than 17.4g) that adjusting for weight is a frequent used variable here anyway.

CafeNoir

FWIW, when new my Zero was a little static-prone, really just dust clinging to walls of the cup it seemed. After burrs settled in it became a non-issue. Perhaps static prone beans could cause an issue but nothing I’ve observed…..no that I’m any sort of expert, lol!!

Pompeyexile

I find a little static in the cup on the sides which seems to be getting less the more I use the Niche, but a couple of taps and it’s all good. Just went from a course grind to espresso and the shot ran perfectly. I did wiggle me toothpick in the basket before tapping it level then tamping down. 18g in 36 out in 32 seconds which included a 10 second pre-infusion. Does that sound about right? Rave’s Signature Blend… It tasted lovely.

dndrich

Pompeyexile That is how it is supposed to be. I have stopped RDT with my drip in the morning now, and the static is acceptable, especially when compared to it initially when I first got the Niche. I will find out this weekend about the first shot.

dndrich

OK so a few weeks without RDT. Static is less than it was for drip, and is acceptable now for the roast I am using. And, with espresso first and second shots are now consistent. So, it had to be the RDT causing the problem. Must have been more retention with RDT as expected with the design of this grinder. That would speed the first shot. So, happy again.