Niche Zero - One Year in Review

I agree with what he says, and that’s what I find too.

I prefer my mazzer, the niche works well for the Mrs milk drinks

Thanks for heads up.. A really well balanced review for sure. No big surprises perhaps, at least not for me.

I had a Niche last year and sold it after a few months but was a little regretful. When a near new one came up for sale ast month, I pounced.

It is such a charmer of a grinder. Small footprint, low height compared to everything else on my espresso island, easy and simple and certainly low retention. And in the cup, thickish and tasty for medium to dark espresso.

Once I have the 83mm conical burr Livi seasoned I’ll do a back to back comparison with the Niches 63mm conicals but with my indelicate taste buds I doubt that I’ll be able to taste the difference.

That seems to be a reasonable review for his taste profile. I’ve only pulled maybe 25 shots with the Niche at work and 10 or so with grounds transported home from work. It is easy to dial in and make a tasty shot. In a perfect world I’d have a Niche and something with big flat burrs. I’m a sucker for berry / fruit flavor.. 98% of drinks are straight shots. Wifey drinks iced lattes.

Quite fair review. It’s funny how careful he speaks to not upset the Niche fanboyz.

He could have used any coffee in the world to pull his shot on, and he chooses a lightly roasted bean…….god, he woffles on and on! I emailed him a couple of times and he really tried to stress that he had no financial arrangement with any coffee equipment manufacturer……..yea right

Not watched it all yet, but at the beginning he says the price has gone up and up - has it? I thought it had always been the same?

Price hasn’t changed it will be exchange rates and import

It’s just a fancy way of saying he likes a different flavour profile, but and a big but thes a content creator and so far I have seen threads on 2 forums discussing his vid.

Shock horror. It’s spromethues all over again.

There’s nothing new to what he says, he’s basically just describing the niche. 🤷🤷🤷

Cuprajake I take all this on board about impartiality, but if that is the case, why was there so much factually incorrect stuff? He is a poor Youtube influencer, claiming independence, heavily promoting Sage gear. In fact he went to OZ recently to review something for Sage…..wonder who paid for that trip? I wonder if his YT channel is monetised? If not, how does he make a living?

Tbh I take all of the content creator stuff with a pinch of salt, all the promo stuff etc, I find most of them cringe.

Instagram is just as bad, all posed shots

So much so that I got a crappy comment off someone saying I need better photography and a better environment for my leva,,, like no your too used to seeing polished sets and £4000 camera shots, mines just real life.

YouTube is the best and worst at the same time.

With all these youtubers making a significant income are suspect…If he always felt that way, why did it take him a year to say anything. Was it so he could maximise on the views and shock value?

LMSC It’s rare to find some one, like you, who isn’t. :-)

Well there are a few that would disagree with you. Unfortunately I do find the coffee world is getting worse and worse to try and get a truly well researched and tested honest view of stuff. Plus when manufacturers start relying on these YT mouthpieces and influencers, that’s when they loose sight of what people need and want. Machine development suffers and bogus features get developed.

Products that rightly should be laughed at are sometimes treated with reverence, a reverence they don’t deserve…especially if they are really expensive. I don’t have many accessories I use, because most of them are not that much use and end up in a draw.

Every Day I use:

• Chopstick (free)
• Reg barber US Curve Tamper (Birthday present over 18 years ago)
• Pallo group head brush
• 1 inch paint brush
• Niche Zero grind cup

That’s the sum of my accessories, apart from one of those rubber matt things that goes over the edge of the counter for tamping and storing bits on.

tompoland A really well balanced review for sure.

Petre Quite fair review. It’s funny how careful he speaks to not upset the Niche fanboyz.

LMSC I do think he gave a balanced opinion

Really? This isn’t how the video came across for me. He said he is going to be balanced and that there are positives (and even mentioned the pros), and then went on to completely thrash the Niche.

Yes, it’s okay if you are an amateur. It is absolutely fine if you are an idiot who enjoys medium and dark roasts. There is nothing to be ashamed of if you value the easy workflow over the taste of the coffee. There is nothing wrong with you if you need a huge sweet spot because you are incapable of dialling in a real grinder….

I can’t comment on the actual points in the video: I don’t have anything to compare the Niche to and I am an amateur idiot who enjoys medium roasts and needs a large sweet spot, but I wouldn’t say this was a balanced video. For me it was quite clear that he thinks the Niche is a poor grinder with an easy workflow.

It does demonstrate the point though, that eye witness testimony is so unreliable! Some think it balanced whereas others (like me) think he is a tosspot. Anyone who buys something (or not) on the basis of these influencers reviews is stupid. As I mentioned earlier in this thread, his use of very light beans to make an espresso on his Sage at a ratio of 20gms in to 50 out supported the well known fact that being conical and established, the burr set is better suited to medium (plus) beans……….SO WHY NOT USE THEM THEN?