I usually just read here; not contribute. But I also went the 'buy once, cry once' route, so here's my thoughts. I stretched my budget a lot and bought a Option-O P64 and a Decent DE1 Pro. A Lelit was my second choice. I am extremely happy with both my P64 and my Decent. Counter space was a consideration for me.
Whatever you choose, be aware that every setup has a learning curve. Be patient. Your first dozen or so espressos might be mediocre. But after that your worse espresso will be very very good. Good luck. And enjoy
I have a P64 with SSP MP and I'm very happy with the result. I think it's my end game grinder and killed my desire to upgrade further. Might try another burr set in the future but that's way less costly than switching up grinders.
Experimenting with different burrs to find your preferred tastes at an endgame grinder gets expensive fast. 98mm or 102mm burrs start around $400ea and go up from there. 80mm is awesome too but not as many options. For experimentation 64mm is the sweet spot. You can get a used Z1 or P64 at a nice discount and burrs around $150. Once you know what you like you can get out of that Z1 or P64 without losing much and move onto 98mm/102mm.
If you’re set on one of these, 80mm has arguably the best light roast pourover burrs. 102HU supposedly best espresso, although I prefer Kafatek SSWs. Mizens 98/102 are probably the best all rounders if you can only have one set of burrs. A little blendy but I tend to use them quite a bit.
The Niche is fine, but i know given it's age and limitations, that i can get more out of my P64 (with changed burrs).
My plan is to keep the P64, change burrs, and use that as my milk grinder.
New grinder will do everything else, running two burr sets.
I know that won't make sense to some, and that's okay, but for me, it's where i'm looking to go.
If i cannot find a grinder that fits my needs, i am fine with keeping the Niche going for another couple of years.
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Great value for espresso, but clogs and poor for pour-over.
1davidhill
