Monolith Flat SDRM

The OP said milk drinks primarily. The SDRM is fantastic for straight shots and great for milk drinks. But the MC6 is better for punching through milk since it highlights some notes in the coffee in a blended way and rounds out the acidity more. The SDRM is predominantly a 80mm flat grinder so it highlights acidity more.

As someone who recently moved from a Niche Zero to a SDRM there are a few things to consider. The taste difference between grinders is going to depend a lot on your taste buds. The Niche made a wonderfully viscous espresso that worked well for Cortados and Caps. The SDRM has opened up a different world for me. The world is not necessarily better. I am enjoying the flavors in lighter roast beans like a DAK Milky Cake or Creme Donut. There is more clarity of flavor. The SDRM grinds faster. But, the SDRM stalls sometimes when grinding very fine. It is still not completely seasoned with about 15lbs through it so far. The stalling will supposedly improve. So, the inability to grind as fine as I did with the Niche forced me into different ways to pull shots. I went with a Graph Step-Down basket since it helps reduce flow rate with a deeper, narrower puck. On my Decent I started pulling more Turbo style shots instead of the Lever-type profiles like LRv2. The SDRM has also been excellent for drip. So, now my wife can use the SDRM for drip and I use it for espresso. That has supported having one grinder instead of two. In the end, I have learned more about coffee prep. I have embraced the grind coarser trend being advanced in many places. And, I am enjoying the new nuances in my coffee. Is he SDRM really better? I don't know. It is different. It has helped me learn more about coffee. I have learned to appreciate some coffees that I would have probably just SMH about with the Niche. The Niche though produces a really nice espresso with medium roast beans that is enjoyable straight or with frothed milk. The SDRM has opened up a different world that one could argue isn't better - just different. You will never really know unless you try it. The good thing about Kafateks is that they hold their value very well. You could get a SDRM and if you decided it wasn't your cup, then they are easy to sell a year later and only take maybe US $500 haircut. Personally, I went back and forth on this decision for about two years mostly driven by FOMO. I really like the design of the SDRM because it is similar to the Versalab and Titus. Intuitively, the design of a conical pre-breaker and flat burr makes sense to me. The SDRM is much less $$$ than those two. So, I got it. Here is a vid on the SDRM that is a very comprehensive review. Even in expensive grinders the differences start to become very subtle. Like in most areas, the law of diminishing returns is in full effect. [https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nglSAkybKQE](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nglSAkybKQE)

I used a Niche Zero with my Decent DE1Pro for 5 years and it worked just fine. A couple months ago upgraded to the Kafatek SDRM. The SDRM is a nicer grinder for sure. Do the shots taste $1500 better? IDK. Once getting above a Niche you are entering the law of diminishing returns territory. If you have the extra cash then sure. If not, the Niche will be fine especially for medium roast and darker. If you are a light roast espresso drinker then there are other grinders I'd suggest. This guy does lots of grinder reviews and very informative........ [https://www.tomsgrinderlab.com/reviews/](https://www.tomsgrinderlab.com/reviews/)

Kafatek for your needs. Personally I don’t think there’s really any downside to go sdrm but admittedly there’s not a ton of benefit based on the beans you’re drinking. Key is good too but the profile is more clarity leaning than you’re gonna need.

I use my MC6 for pour over and it’s my favorite pour over grinder. I like body and prioritize it over clarity but it is still really good at highlighting the tasting notes — best of both worlds in my view. The Max is more clarity focused. I have a flat burr grinder as well and prefer it for americanos (it dilutes better to my taste) but for espresso and pour over my favorite grinder of all is the MC6, even for light roast. Everyone’s tastes are different and of course if you can try all of the options, even better. The Kafatek SDRM is also an interesting option for you as it’s designed to work great for everything but it does come at the expense of body in my view.

Was about to point out that most people here aren’t thinking about the one option that would actually make a tangible difference. A hybrid style grinder. Could be the SDRM or VersaLab (Titus is just too expensive). I love the straight shots and when doing the occasional milk drink, still get punched in the face with the espresso shot underneath. Especially the funky stuff. In relation to OP, I’ve had Zerno Z1 with CV2 and MP2 (so similar to Philos). The SDRM produces better shots for sure. MP2 could get astringent if pushed too hard, SDRM is nearly always good. CV2 doesn’t have the same velvety mouthfeel of the SDRM, let alone the MP2 which is even more clean than CV2. Adding milk isn’t completely masking nuance, think of it as putting an 80% opacity lens over it. So if you have shots from a separate grinder that you say are 30% better, when you put milk over it, you’ll perceive it as 6%, so not fully a waste. Just made up numbers to explain a point. But you do get texture through the milk, so i200D might be less pleasant if you like the texture from the 189.