In researching a new grinder the NZ certainly ticks off a lot of boxes, except for the fact that it's only available with a 58mm dosing cup and my soon-to-arrive La Spaziale S1 Mini Vivaldi II uses 53mm portafilters. I know there's a few folks on here using 53mm portafilters with an NZ, so I'm wondering how they're getting grounds into the portafilter? A funnel? An unknown to me 53mm dosing cup? Zero gravity boots? Something MacGyver'ed??

I was so relieved when I figured out which espresso machine to get, but now this grinder stuff has me all tied in knots, again. Any advice would be greatly appreciated - thanks.

ps - If it matters the other grinders on my list are the Fiorenzato F4E, a Compak E5, and the Eureka Atom.

I also have a Spaziale and I bought a dosing funnel of amazon. I grind into the niche cup, drop the coffee into the 53 mm portafilter, with the dosing funnel installed, stir the grounds, level, tamp and make great coffee.

My machine uses a 58mm portafilter and I have a Niche, but I don't use the dosing cup at all. With an appropriately fitted funnel (there are lots of these purpose-made to fit different sized portafilters), I grind directly into the portafilter. It works great with very little static - all the grinds go into directly into the portafilter, ready for a quick stir, leveling and tamp.

I use a spouted portafilter for my machine and with the added height of the funnel, it fits wonderfully under the outlet of the Niche with no loss of grinds. I tried the dosing cup, but didn't like either the extra step nor the static retention, so quit using it. I do love the Niche and would recommend it for anyone interested in single dosing.

I use the tall OE funnel with my La Spaziale portafilter.
https://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-IPANE ... _2540.html

keeps the grounds in and has a 58mm opening at the top if you need it for some reason.
Hope this helps

Great info, thanks! Could you let me know which funnel you got?

blondica73 wrote:I also have a Spaziale and I bought a dosing funnel of amazon. I grind into the niche cup, drop the coffee into the 53 mm portafilter, with the dosing funnel installed, stir the grounds, level, tamp and make great coffee.

Thank you - this is very helpful as I would prefer not to use a dosing cup and want to grind directly into the portafilter. My Spaziale comes with spouted portafilters so hopefully with an appropriate funnel all will be good.

Looks like I'm ordering a Niche Zero today

Orcasite wrote:My machine uses a 58mm portafilter and I have a Niche, but I don't use the dosing cup at all. With an appropriately fitted funnel (there are lots of these purpose-made to fit different sized portafilters), I grind directly into the portafilter. It works great with very little static - all the grinds go into directly into the portafilter, ready for a quick stir, leveling and tamp.

I use a spouted portafilter for my machine and with the added height of the funnel, it fits wonderfully under the outlet of the Niche with no loss of grinds. I tried the dosing cup, but didn't like either the extra step nor the static retention, so quit using it. I do love the Niche and would recommend it for anyone interested in single dosing.

Velcro wrote:I use the tall OE funnel with my La Spaziale portafilter.
https://www.orphanespresso.com/OE-IPANE ... _2540.html

keeps the grounds in and has a 58mm opening at the top if you need it for some reason.
Hope this helps

I like this, use it with my mazzers and the monolith

Well, another successful research project has come to a satisfying end - thanks in no small part to the cool folks here on HB!

Last night I ordered a Midnight Black Niche Zero, and just received a dispatched notice this morning. I also ordered a tall funnel from Orphan Espresso. Funny thing about OE - as I was trying to make an account with them I realized I already had an account with them as I'd bought one of their Hario Skerton mods 5 years ago. Maybe a little serendipity at play here...?

Whatever's going on this is sure going to be one super caffeinated Holiday!!

I am sure you are going to enjoy both using the Niche and drinking the wonderful coffee its' grinds produce. Congratulations!

I had one further thought that you may find of use: I ordinarily run a short heating rinse with my portafilter in place on the machine in order to get it up to full temp, then dry it with a towel a moment before putting on the funnel and placing it on the wood base of the Niche to catch the grinds. Sometimes, my towel-drying isn't thorough enough and I get a few drops of water on that wood base. I decided that I needed to protect the wood a bit, so added a coat of water-protective finish to the wood base in order to keep it looking new. It has worked fine so far...

Same here - dose directly from NZ into OE funnel on my Spaz bottomless PF. Last few beans popcorning seem to generate a bit of static onto the funnel. Hoping the flow control disc they're working on will fix this. Other than that, I found WDT in the PF helps a bit with the extraction.