No input from me as I am so new into this hobby. But just to express I am also thinking about similar question all the time except that I am an espresso only person. Sometime I am confused as there seems to be a consensus that grinder >>> machine in term of impact to taste. But then, someone said eg 9 out of 10 coffee tasters can’t tell between the flat and conical blurr in a blind test. And, based on the user experience the difference in taste between a NZ and one tier up (eg P64 or Key) is minimal or insignificant. Some even shared that “I can definitively tell the difference but both are great”. ;) So, are we upgrading for something else besides taste?
I had some sleepless night thinking about niche or p64 as the p64 is less steep as a jump in price compared to other high end grinder. Like many others, I like the idea to go direct to endgame (my endgame is low though) so I can enjoy something nice straight away. But I am working hard to justify to myself spending an extra 1k for the P64/ key. So I asked myself what I am hesitating on Niche. I tried to be as honest as possible to answer that question. If I can inter-change one and only one thing between NZ and the other two, what will it be? Workflow/ look/ built / material? My answer was look. So I ask myself again, if the Niche has the look of P64 while keeping the workflow, built, functions, blurr unchanged as the original Niche, will I buy it with £500? I will go for it in a heart beat and will join a 3 month waitlist if I need to.
The interesting thing is my wife like the NZ but has absolutely no love on the P64. (It was a “blind” test, as I told her the price of both are the same). I admitted that the love of the high end grinder look was an acquired one. I still remember how much I like the look of NZ when I first saw it in the background of some YouTube video. But then the kitchen appliance comments changed my mind slowly.
I’m still indecisive though. But I am definitely getting a electric grind. Look forward to hearing your final decision.