Hello everyone,
My current machine is a Rocket Appartamento with Eureka Mignon. If I'm looking for a grinder upgrade, with respect to the best efficiency of cost/quality in the long run, should I get a Niche Zero or an MC3?

Best,
Boris

If budget isn't a factor, get the MC3. It won't popcorn, won't flinch at the lightest roasts and isn't hencho China (USA designed & manufactured).

I guess what's bugging me would be -- if further along the way when I upgrade my espresso machine to ~4k usd max, would I be missing out a lot if I use a Niche rather than an MC3 :/ ?

Obviously, if your budget allows you to get a MC3, just go for it. Superbly designed at the highest tolerance level. Great customer support as well.

spressomon wrote:If budget isn't a factor, get the MC3. It won't popcorn, won't flinch at the lightest roasts and isn't hencho China (USA designed & manufactured).

This is somewhat misleading.

- Every Niche Zero unit now ships with the NFC disk. A simple addition that resolves the popcorning issue (not sure if issue is the correct word here).

- There was a thread a few months ago about a very small number of HBers (less than a handful) experiencing irregular stalling with lightly roasted, hard beans. Some of it was caused by the way the owner was using their NZ, other I'm not certain what the cause what. In any case, it was only a very few units and Niche coffee has excellent customer support.
Speaking for myself, if uber light, nordic style roasts were my preference, I would look elsewhere and get a super aligned big flat burr grinder anyways.

- NZ has indeed moved his production to China. I haven't heard any issues related to this but I was happy that I could get one of the last UK built unit.

boris1213 wrote:I guess what's bugging me would be -- if further along the way when I upgrade my espresso machine to ~4k usd max, would I be missing out a lot if I use a Niche rather than an MC3 :/ ?

The short answer is no. If you read the HB review, Samuellaw178 has tested the NZ next to his Monolith Conical. He saw no difference in cup quality and very similar EY%.

Any reason why you didn't include in your list other flat burr single dosing grinders (Lagom64 and Monoflat)?

I've done some research on the tasting difference between NZ and MC3 and most have been reporting back as not as big of a difference than say upgrading a $250usd to a NZ. Most people have been saying MC3 is better only because of the build quality and obviously handmade to a near-perfect state by Denis/Kafatek, on top of a slight (or close-to-none said some) improve of quality in taste.

I didn't include flat burr single dosing grinders because I seldom drink light roasts espressos. The lightest I would drink is really light-medium, as I mainly drink medium roasts. However, the Lagom64 you proposed caught my eye as well; it is comparatively cheaper (and it's a flat burr) at an average of $1500usd. Whereas an MC3 would set me back to ~2300usd with shipping and upgrade to Mazzer burrs. So I guess the question now is should I go for an expensive MC3 or a very very reasonably priced Lagom 64. I'm not familiar with the quality of Lagom 64 and the flavours of it though.

LObin wrote:Obviously, if your budget allows you to get a MC3, just go for it. Superbly designed at the highest tolerance level. Great customer support as well.




This is somewhat misleading.

- Every Niche Zero unit now ships with the NFC disk. A simple addition that resolves the popcorning issue (not sure if issue is the correct word here).

- There was a thread a few months ago about a very small number of HBers (less than a handful) experiencing irregular stalling with lightly roasted, hard beans. Some of it was caused by the way the owner was using their NZ, other I'm not certain what the cause what. In any case, it was only a very few units and Niche coffee has excellent customer support.
Speaking for myself, if uber light, nordic style roasts were my preference, I would look elsewhere and get a super aligned big flat burr grinder anyways.

- NZ has indeed moved his production to China. I haven't heard any issues related to this but I was happy that I could get one of the last UK built unit.

When exactly did they make the move for production/when were the last UK produced units shipped?

I don't recall exactly but I ordered mine in April 2019. At that point, the 220v units were already built in Hong Kong. The last few 120v units were being built in the UK. The whole production has since moved to HK.

spressomon wrote:If budget isn't a factor, get the MC3. It won't popcorn, won't flinch at the lightest roasts and isn't hencho China (USA designed & manufactured).

I have found Made-in-China equipments to be of good quality in general. Here the OP is comparing two machines of big price difference, with MC3 costing almost 4x of the Niche. I would say if budget isn't an issue, definitely go for the MC3 as it will last you a lifetime and the amortized cost isn't that high.

I apologize if this is too much of a diversion of the topic, but the statement/idea of "get an MC3 if your budget allows it" is puzzling me. I might still be missing something obvious, but the ability to afford one of the Monolith grinders does not necessarily equate to the ability to acquire one does it?

I recently (several weeks ago) was asking about grinder upgrades on these forums and received fantastic advice (including some from LObin - thanks again!) I ended up with a Niche Zero and am superbly happy with it. But in the process of evaluation, I did some research and investigated the possibility of getting one of the Kafatek Monolith grinders. Some people mentioned the difficulty of the "lottery" involved. I inquired about that through the Kafatek website and was told there was no lottery. So I did sign up for notification of the next purchase opportunity of a Monolith. This last Sunday I received an email indicating it was available. I didn't see the email for perhaps 4 hours because I was on the music team at my church and somewhat busy. When I clicked on the links, I saw that all of the grinders were sold out. It was then that I understood what was meant by a lottery. Not really a lottery but rather a WWW click race I'm guessing.

This is mostly just a sanity check to see if I understand the Monolith purchase process correctly. Is there some other option aside from the used market to get one of these? It is pretty cool that they are so highly sought after. I like the fact that a "local" (I am a 10 hour drive from Seattle where those grinders are apparently made) company can do well. Creating that kind of market and desire for a product is rather genius. I love it.