I recently bought one of these for the Niche:

... from amazon

I remove the doser cup stand, set the bottomless PF on the bolt and move the PF about to fill the basket. A light vertical tap, possibly a little re-distribution and tamp.*

It is almost a quantum step in shot quality and consistency. Very surprising as I did not imagine the doser cup flip negatively impacted the cup when distribution was corrected.

I did find I needed to reduce the dose and coarsen the grind slightly.

* Since the feed disk arrived, only a small subset of coffees ever require WDT. As yet WDT not required using the funnel...

I have a query about import duties. I live in the EU and am thinking of a Niche. The price is £499 which includes UK VAT @20%. I will have to pay import duties of 20% on top of that when it enters the EU. Niche don't do a price for export. Does anybody know if it's possible to claim the UK duty back?

AdmiralB: Short answer based on my experience - I am not aware of any ability to reclaim UK-VAT, the all-in price to you is what it is and you need to make your assessment as to its value proposition for you based on your all-in cost vs other options available in your local market.

Longer answer based on my experience:
My fact case is a little different from you - I live in Canada and bought my Niche (which I am very happy with) some 22 months ago.
However I had a similar thought as you - ie UK price conceptually includes 20% VAT so how does non-UK pricing work where there are local sales taxes etc.
I came at the issue differently from you, I felt that as VAT on exports is 0%, why is the price for non-UK deliveries the same as UK prices?
I corresponded with Niche support (who on other matters relating to my order were extremely helpful). However, I could get no straightforward answer to my question about VAT and pricing.
I developed various possible theories as to why the pricing is what it is, but as it would be mere speculation on my part (and I have been so happy with my Niche and their support) that I will refrain from further comment.

I'm sure the answer is already in here somewhere... But any tricks to having any sense of accurate calibration after cleaning? I find the standard calibration method to be totally useless. Depending on how slippery my hands or the funnel is, i can easily go close to 10 marks difference on the calibration point, with no real sense of where it's supposed to be. I often find i need to take a few shots to dial back in, and then i just adjust the calibration ring so that it's roughly back to where it originally was. But i often trash a few shots in the process. Not only is this wasteful but it makes me not want to clean the grinder. Am i doing something wrong, or is there a more accurate way to calibrate?

Rather than calibrating by feel, I calibrate by listening for the sound of burrs touching and then I back it off from there.

[quote="cgibsong002"I find the standard calibration method to be totally useless.[/quote]

Indeed! And a misuse of the word 'calibration' which implies resetting to a known accurate standard.

What I do now is carefully unscrew the top silver part, and note where it disengages with the thread. Then, after cleaning, I re-engage it at the same point. This gets me to within a division or two of my previous settings.

There are times when I wish I hadn't sold my Eureka Specialita ...

- -Peter

Niche Zero Calibration

While search could be better, with a bit of thought most anything can be found


To calibrate, turn the chrome ring until it stops. Hold it and adjust the black ring until it reads 0. If the black ring does not move identically to the chrome, there is an issue. Either the grinder or the PBTK.

Interesting to hear many people are suggesting not to use the Niche for filter coffee, when so many others use it with great success (including people such as JH, Rao).

I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with it. In 7 months of owning it and daily use, i have yet to brew a good cup of pourover coffee. Every pourover is highly astringent. Even my Knock Aergrind was much better. I have tried grinding anywhere from 40 to the 11 o'clock position, with brew times from 3-5 minutes (rarely can get it less than 3:45 no matter what i do), and every single cup has a horrible astringent finish. I've tried chemex, kalita, and v60. Same issues on all. Aeropress on the other hand, I've had some decent cups which seems to make sense as channeling wouldn't be as much of a concern.

I've brewed some really nice cups with it but I'm grinding much coarser than you are - anywhere from 60 to 80 depending on the coffee - so maybe it's just a matter of how fine you're grinding.

cgibsong002 wrote:Interesting to hear many people are suggesting not to use the Niche for filter coffee, when so many others use it with great success (including people such as JH, Rao).

I'm becoming increasingly frustrated with it. In 7 months of owning it and daily use, i have yet to brew a good cup of pourover coffee. Every pourover is highly astringent. Even my Knock Aergrind was much better. I have tried grinding anywhere from 40 to the 11 o'clock position, with brew times from 3-5 minutes (rarely can get it less than 3:45 no matter what i do), and every single cup has a horrible astringent finish. I've tried chemex, kalita, and v60. Same issues on all. Aeropress on the other hand, I've had some decent cups which seems to make sense as channeling wouldn't be as much of a concern.

Grind coarser or use a Able steel pourover cone + Lance Hendrick's method to sift out fines. I've been meaning to try it, but I am a diehard espresso + milk drinks. It might give you an idea if it's fines that are causing your issue.