Currently thinking of upgrading my old mk1 mignon.
Looking at the Niche and the DF64 as I want to single dose, flipping between espresso and aeropress, although I could realistically keep the mignon for aeropress and keep the new grinder exclusively for espresso.
The eureka single dose hadn’t really crossed my mind.
I tend to like lighter roasts but thinking the niche would be easiest from a workflow and dialling in due to the larger dial.
Worthwhile upgrade?
I took the plunge last week and purchased the Oro. I already have a Eureka (Zenith 65e), but wanted something smaller and less wasteful. I liked the look of the Niche, but due to a combination of availability and my wife preferring the aesthetic of the Oro for some reason (this is often a major deciding factor where my coffee kit is concerned and means I no longer have to house the grinder in another room!), I went for the Oro.
It’s early days, but I’m really enjoying it so far. The bellows seem to make little to no difference , but other than the very first few shots I used it for, the grind retention is within the tolerance of my expectations (typically 0.1 - 0.2g) and often zero. It’s considerably quieter and faster than the Zenith and seems much less clumpy (in fact, I’ve not noticed any noticeable clumping). Grind quality is lovely and fluffy.
From my perspective, I’ll probably always hanker over a Niche (and I’m also not sure how I’m going to deal with the odd occasion when I want to grind a whole bag of coffee if I get rid of the Zenith, although that wouldn’t be any different with the Niche, I suppose), but I’m satisfied enough with the Oro for the time being. I’m used to the rediculously fiddly changes if I fancy anything other than Espresso, so that wasn’t a deal breaker. Overall, any compromise is acceptable to me and it appears a solid bit of kit.
Conical burrs lend thereselves to less retention, they need less effort and a slower motor, should niche want a flat thats a totally different beast and something they really dont need.
They still sell out nowz so why offer a second product?
Ive never used a ek43 but presumably having burrs on the side allow gravity to pull the grind path down.
Re the weber key, i nearly bought one. So glad i didnt.
Ive seen a few vids now with people not being happy, the weber thread got locked on hb too, anyone who approaches weber seem to be greated with a negative attitude to, which is a bit poo.
Im not sold on variable grinding speeds, perhaps theres a visual difference if you monitor the shot with a decent, but id guess theres hardly anything to it taste wise, just more a gimmick to make us spend more or make a product stand out from the crowd.
Fwiw ive yet to stall my major haha, but that thing could turn an engine 🤪
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Cuprajake Conical burrs lend thereselves to less retention
Not sure this is necessarily true.
MediumRoastSteam Well, Cuprajake did say “lend themseves to less retention” to be fair and referencing the (mess of compromises which is the) Sette, the Etzinger Max, the Niche Zero, not to mention the vast array of conical burr hand grinders, it is quite a valid statement - whilst acknowledging that older commercial designs like the Robur almost seem to be out to disprove it, lol.
Admittedly, vertically mounted flat burrs are less prone to retention by their design, but I’m only an enthusiast, not an engineer so this is as far as my bus goes, lol
They do though the natural grind path means it all falls through look at the weber key how it all falls from the bottom.
Retention in something like a mazzer is because it collects after the burrs.
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Cuprajake Something to do with the (rather illogical) horizontal orientation of the grinds path…but it is an older design from the days when it wasn’t considered to be too much of an issue - and admittedly the Robur is low-hanging fruit as an example..
As an aside, I’m experimenting with much bigger rear feet on my F6D in an attempt to increase the downward angle of the path while I wait for my “octopus” funnel from AliExpress…hoping that will lead to a simpler workflow. The grind quality is really good, first non-choking taste test was inspirational.
CafeNoir Something to do with the (rather illogical) horizontal orientation of the grinds path…but it is an older design from the days when it wasn’t considered to be too much of an issue
They even put a grid on the outlet of the grind path on the Mazzer Minis and Mini E for that extra retention feeling.
@Petre - saw a picture of your setup, which includes a Mazzer, a Solo and a Niche - side by side! Impressive! How do you compare them? how’s the difference in taste in the cup from the Niche compared to the Solo? If you had to make a call… which one would you pick, for espresso only? And… do you drink light, medium or dark roasts?
With Niche I have not spent a lot of time, I got it in Feb and only used it on a single type of beans. Good enough results so far. I like the workflow and the fact that is super stable in grind settings - once dialed in, you don’t need to change it unless you change the beans - unlike the other two grinders that need some adjustment almost every day.
When I compared those beans (Square Mile Rotutu) with DF64 (which has SSP HU btw and it is aligned within 10-20 microns) I found the shot on DF much more interesting - more clarity and more acidity.
A whole new story since I got the Mazzer. For context, it seems like a unit that has been beat up in a cafe but it has Mazzer original TIN burrs which seems in a good condition. I aligned them within 20microns. Although got it quite recently too, the differences were huge compared with the other 2: the shots have thick, smooth body I never seen before and they seem more sweet also. Acidity seemed a bit more toned down than DF64. Overall I feel like I get more from the coffee with the Mazzer.
Sorry I did not have too much things to compare between DF and Niche, I need more time with the Niche and since I am so focused on the Mazzer atm that might take a while.
I only drink espresso, using medium roast beans, I don’t have a lot of experience extracting light roasts and I don’t really like dark roasts.
Petre - Very informative indeed! Thank you!
See weber is getting a bit of bad pres
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My belief is that, for most of the so called “influencers” and “reviewers” out there, there’s no reason why they would ever criticise a product. After all, their channels are monetised. If they say anything negative about a product, public ally, it’s very unlikely they will ever receive another one from the same company. It completely goes against their business model, at least for the majority of them.
Similar to some general public forum members - but not all, of course they would always be positive, and of course something expensive will always be the best thing ever. After all, they also at some point will want to move their product on and sell it on, specially if they don’t find it that great themselves. They want to at least get back what they paid for.
I watche a review for the Lagom Mini.. after almost 30m the one thing I had not seen, it grinding a full dose from start to finish. What I did hear was one load of BS for what appears to be a flawed product.
Remember Peak water….
The world of coffee influencers is a tricky one to navigate. In some cases, insulting to those who have the knowledge and really put the work in to review something.
DavecUK Watched the same video, main thought was “cute toy”, obviously form is far more important than function. So unimpressed. I mean, seperate power supply just to look pretty!?!?
Agree with comments on most “influencers” in coffee - which is a very complex and hard place to make blanket endorsements IMHO.
Perhaps I’m just contrary but I much prefer gathering information and making my own decisions. The great thing about it is the path less travelled is usually a bit more interesting, lol.
That Sprometheus stuff is horrendous. It’s amazing how many companies seem to act this way.. I remember recently another coffee based business on Instagram being pretty petty publicity.
Social media is really bad, some of these so called big players,. Who are they? What credentials do they have etc etc,
You’re telling me, most these guys have the money do drop thousands,
I watch hoons coffee, hes recently got a bianca, a p64, a ek43, nice, df64. Not sure on the weber, but id argue his technical ability isnt ‘pro’
I take most videos with a pinch of salt, esp when they have a sponsor ….. i prefer to do my reading
Its a shame though when these so called top companies have closed forums, and such influence they can silence any negative feedback.
I remember seeing this vids of hg1 issues
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
Decent De1pro v1.45 - Niche Duo - Niche Zero - Decent is the best machine ever made -
