truemagellen wrote:It is honestly more of an annoyance.

That's all it is for me, if there was a difference in the cup I'd never ever notice it. It's just that 99% of the beans have been ground but sometimes there's 1 or 2 dancing around not wanting to get started. I either just wait it out or flip the switch off and back on, in which case they go through immediately.

It's a very small thing in the grand scheme.

bengee wrote:If its not an issue I can detect in the cup, then its a non-issue for me. The NZ comes with a nifty lid that ensures no beans will be lost. A plunger,then, is only another gadget to deal with.

By the way, I will be tossing my funnel as I have managed to fully replace it with the niche cup in my workflow (as seen in those review videos). It really works quite well!

I am not find of the lid design but I have a solution I'll post up later if I get some free time on my machines.

bengee wrote:If its not an issue I can detect in the cup, then its a non-issue for me. The NZ comes with a nifty lid that ensures no beans will be lost. A plunger,then, is only another gadget to deal with.

By the way, I will be tossing my funnel as I have managed to fully replace it with the niche cup in my workflow (as seen in those review videos). It really works quite well!

The bigger annoyance is that there is a slight gap between the lid and the top of the adjustment ring. So while grinding, periodically a chunk of coffee will slip through the gap and onto the ledge. Using a simple lid of some sort will prevent that from happening. Its pretty minor, but the fix is also minor.

truemagellen wrote:It is for all grinders particularly conicals when single dosing. Would most espresso hobbyists like us notice in a blind test, absolutely not.

It is honestly more of an annoyance. There are many solutions but the old school one we all did for the last 15 years by using a tube with a plunger does not work for the Niche given the design.

I was thinking you should be able to turn a wooden plug which fits into the funnel at the top of the niche. The plug would have a hole down the centre the same diameter as the throat of the grinder and there would be a separate plunger which fits in the hole and presses the beans down. The plug could have a pin or something to depress the button the lid presses when it is closed.

This is all theoretical at this point. I've ordered a Niche but I haven't gotten it yet. I'm a woodturner so I was thinking of making something like this just to see if it has any effect. Can you see a reason why this wouldn't work?

That is very similar to what I plan to make I will just add a side chute to load beans. I work with metal so I'll make a prototype in aluminum but a final in a eltro polished stainless most likely.

bengee wrote:Popcorning: Can someone confirm this is even an issue in the cup for the Niche Zero?

If anyone could blind taste a difference when three or four beans popcorn I'd be amazed!

This wouldn't be the first time we try to fix a "non-problem problem!"

I just put the beans in the funnel and then invert a blind portafilter basket over the beans. It works great and didn't cost me a penny as it's something I already had. No beans hopping around, no bits of chaff... no muss no fuss.

Javier wrote:See, e.g., post #1303 for similar ideas. Also, search this thread for "blind filter basket".

Since I was there I made one more video.
I think that using a plastic cup or a basket does not really prevent completely the popcorning (you can still hear in the video one last bean being processed alone). But it has two advantages: (a) you don't see it happening and (b) you keep the grinder super clean.

deed wrote:Meh... when he started comparing the grinder with an EK i closed the review. He's comparing it to apples and oranges at that point in terms of performance/price/physical size etc... It would have been better if he compared something within the similar price range or catagory like the Sette 270w, forte, Mazzer Mini, etc...

And when he says it's not a big deal on quality because the grinds will be uneven towards the end... is there any evidence to that?

He does need to get out the microscope and do some measuring. I'm almost tempted to go upstairs and run some grinds through my microscope but life is too short.

Is there any evidence when he says it takes '20 seconds to grind for a shot?' I'd never timed my grind until I saw this in the video. I'm at home, the time the grinder took never seemed like something to 'worry' about. It seemed, however, like my grind wasn't taking that long. Maybe I got a 'fast' Niche but here is what I found--again not that it matters. FTR I'm not going back to the video to see how much coffee he grinds per shot.

My grinder was set around the '11-12' range. For all tests I weighed out 17.2 gms. I tried two blends, one of Asian beans and one of Brazil/Col both roasted to full city and very fresh. None of the six grind cycles (3 of each blend) was over 17 seconds. The lowest was 14 seconds both the mean and median were 15 seconds (mean 15.33) even with the 'dreaded' popcorning. Again I don't really care about the time of the grind but the difference between 15-20 for those who do might be significant unless of course he is doing something like using 23 grams for a shot.