Hi folks,

I've finally got the Niche Zero in yesterday, and compared to the Vario, I'm not really that impressed by it. I'm starting to suspect based on a ton of reading on various grinders up to the Kafatek grinders that really, there's just a diminishing marginal return in performance after $X. And, surprisingly, that $X is fairly low. I don't know why I'm still surprised by this after years of playing acoustic guitars that range from several hundred dollars to several thousands.

So far, my biggest gripe with the Niche Zero is the reason I got it. I was looking for a grinder that had good shot recipe consistency. My Vario would sometimes be all over the place. Sometimes I would get a choker and a repeat shot with no grind adjustment would yield a gusher. With the Niche, I was hoping for X grams in, Y grams out +/- 10% in a certain duration. So far, this has been a bit more variable than I care for. I weight out 18 grams, pull a 30 second shot, and expect Y grams out with maybe 10% variation. I've been getting quite a bit of variability here. Anywhere from 40 gram to 62 grams and everything in between.

Am I expecting too much? Is shot recipe consistency and repeatability for a grinder not achievable? As an aside, I've tried the Sette 270W and I haven't had much success with that either.

Have you broken in the burrs yet? How much coffee have you run through the grinder? I'd expect some inconsistency in new burrs until they're broken in.

Edited to add that I would expect better consistency from the Niche Zero once the burrs are broken in.

mililani wrote: I weight out 18 grams, pull a 30 second shot, and expect Y grams out with maybe 10% variation. I've been getting quite a bit of variability here. Anywhere from 40 gram to 62 grams and everything in between.

I'm curious why you stop the shot at 30 seconds regardless of yield. What if you stop it at desired yield and record the time? Is that time all over the place or is it really the difference of a second or two? I think there are other factors at play... basket prep being fairly major.

I agree that you may need to put 5-10 pounds through the niche to break it in. What is your puck prep workflow? Are you weighing your dose before & after grinding or just before?

Sounds like you should work on your puck prep, your expectation should be achievable, perhaps not all the time but most of it.

My first thought was puck prep as well. If you get channeling, a few seconds can make a difference in a negative way. That's why you shouldn't really stop on time either but on weight since you might need +- 2 seconds to get target output.

I have found great consistency with my NZ and I'm talking 1-2 sec difference with shots for the same yield. Little under 8lbs has been ground. I would also mirror the other comments and suggest you take a closer look at your puck prep and make sure that it's also consistent

I got mine yesterday as well. It only took me about 3 shots to get it dialed in for my recipe. I anticipate I will have to adjust it finer as the burrs get seasoned. With only two days of use, I have found it to be acceptable in consistency/repeatability. I am using beans that are about 2 weeks old at this point. I'd say give it some time to settle and take a look at your puck prep, bean choice/age/quality. I am using a vibe pump machine and find that a pre-wetting helps tremendously with my shot consistency. I run the pump for about 3 seconds and flip the e61 lever to the halfway point and let it sit a few seconds before I pull the shot.

this could definitely be a puck prep issue.

This video might be helpful

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C9u9S_-PcwQ

MNate wrote:I'm curious why you stop the shot at 30 seconds regardless of yield. What if you stop it at desired yield and record the time? Is that time all over the place or is it really the difference of a second or two? I think there are other factors at play... basket prep being fairly major.

I figure it's the same thing. It's easier for me to control the time than the yield, since I preset the time for every shot.