guydebord wrote:You might think it looks cool and that's great, but from a professional's standpoint its a bad example of design choices.

I fail to see ANY bad design choices of significance. Care to provide some examples?

guydebord wrote: You might think it looks cool and that's great, but from a professional's standpoint its a bad example of design choices.

Having gone through one of the top industrial design universities in the world I might be bold enough to say that I hardly find anything wrong with the design of Niche (apart from the plastic lid but that is a minor detail). Opinions are another thing. Everyone has one.

I'd be curious to hear what would these pros concern to be a nicely designed coffee grinder, and why? And what in particular stands out as a "bad design choice" with Niche Zero?

Coffeewise (which is the really important stuff) Niche does one heck of a job. That leaves no space for an opinion.

CarloM wrote: I think if no one had reported the slippage (and yes, I realize it's a small percentage) I probably would have gotten in Niche's line long ago. But the few that reported it triggered PTSD on my part.

I'm one of those few that have reported the slippage issue. I'll have to say that it really is a minor thing. I check my grind setting once a week and the correction is really subtle, worth less than one second in total brew time. With my old grinders (like Mazzer Mini f.ex.) I had to change the grind setting on a daily basis.

Niche provided a solution to try, but I haven't had the time to check it out. If it were a significant problem I would have tried it already.

I have a very general question: how many people are using he Niche for espresso only, and how many as an all purpose grinder? It is being marketed as an all purpose grinder, which seems either a bold or an ignorant choice, since the conventional wisdom is that the Kony burr set is superlative for espresso, but not really designed for anything else. Am I missing something, or are most of the early adopters using it for espresso only?

I'm using it for espresso only so far. My shots have been around a grind setting of 10 out of 50, but the scale is just for reference. You can operate it.far beyond 50 if needed, but I haven't yet.

another_jim wrote:I have a very general question: how many people are using he Niche for espresso only, and how many as an all purpose grinder?

I am using it as an all purpose grinder. Love it for espresso and V60/Kalita pour-over. Can only compare it to Virtuoso, Vario, and Sette, but the Niche is superior in every aspect IMO. Not sure I could parse the nuances of manual brew from the Niche versus a top of the line like the EK, but it produces less fines and a more uniform grind than my Feldgrind and all Baratzas. (And as I've said before, I am/was a Baratza fanboy before the Niche. Still love and appreciate what they make.)

I am one of the few to receive when it was first launched and using it daily for my espresso on the robot and filter style on the mocca master in the office.. switching back and forth on such a wide range I do not see much variation in the espresso range. I can easily switch back and forth without much worry of losing my grind settings.. conicals are also known to have a wider range of sweet spot too.

Some time back there is a post about a cafe using Kony for filter style coffee, Owner Experiences with the Able Kone III

There is a safety feature whereby you have to close the cap to run the motors, a little troublesome I must say when changing from filter to espresso , but it could easily be over ride with a paper clip so no big deal.

So what's left to love about the niche? Plenty! This little grinder is most likely for many the first truely single dosing grinder other than the monoliths and eks which will likely take months of savings and another months of decision and convincing oneself.

Below is some of the reasons for me loving the niche.

1) ease of grind adjustment. The adjustment ring feels very solid and tight , making mirco and macro changes very easily. I have not encountered any grind setting shifting during or after grinding.

2) size and design. The design of the niche is definitely not going to turn heads but at the same time it's not trying to. There is this simple quietness to the design which will slowly grow on you.

3) noise. I am using it in the open small office room, so the whole environment is particularly sensitive to it.the noise coming from the grinder is more of a low tumbling growl. It's loud and noticeable but not irritating or makes you wanna throw something at it.

4) durability. I am no engineer or expert in product designs. But the niche feels very solid with it's all metal construction ..no squeaking or rocking during grinding. The weight feel substantial for it's size. There is no fancy timer/lcd or weight grinding system , just a simple on/off switch. Having dismantled mutiple grinders in the past, I am fairly confident if need to and having the right parts I could swap out parts in the niche.

5) grind quality. The niche spits out totally clump free fluffy grinds. Its very easily to distribute and comes with stainless steel container to catch the grounds.

Below I is video I posted in the robot thread, which made me realise how much the niche becomes "forgotten" in the espresso making process. It just does it job and excels at what it does without any worry from the user. Grinding starts at the 2.15 min

another_jim wrote:I have a very general question: how many people are using he Niche for espresso only, and how many as an all purpose grinder? It is being marketed as an all purpose grinder, which seems either a bold or an ignorant choice, since the conventional wisdom is that the Kony burr set is superlative for espresso, but not really designed for anything else. Am I missing something, or are most of the early adopters using it for espresso only?

Espresso only for the moment. But once I've gotten through all my pre-ground coffee... will probably use it for pour over as well.

another_jim wrote:I have a very general question: how many people are using he Niche for espresso only, and how many as an all purpose grinder?

Espresso only, due to the fact that I drink only espressos at home.

another_jim wrote:I have a very general question: how many people are using he Niche for espresso only, and how many as an all purpose grinder?

I am an early adopter and use the Niche every day for espresso. But I do not have another decent electric grinder for other brew methods. So, possibly once or twice a week I may adjust it for cupping or aeropress. It does a decent job with extractions with these other than espresso methods. Since I got the grinder, my espresso grind has not moved. It nicely returns to the precise grind required.

I have a Bunn G3 which may be upgraded to a Bunnzilla some day. When done, I may have something to compare the Niche to with other than espresso brews. I'm quite sure the Niche exceeds the flavor from my Lido E with all brews. But not to a huge extent.