The Niche Duo is Niche's second espresso grinder. With the Niche Zero, Niche virtually single-handedly developed the single-dosage home espresso grinder market. Now, the Niche DUO follows with 83-grit burrs. Can the British company take it to the next level?
Instead of a conical grinder, flat grinding discs are now installed. Instead of a pair, there are two, one for filter and one for espresso. This is intended to provide the home barista with flexibility and quality, building on the proven Niche performance. We'll test whether this succeeds.
A first impression
The Niche Duo is "a penguin with an appetite," says coffee expert Michel Indelicato, who took a close look at the Niche Duo with Benjamin Hohlmann. A charming description for the robust appearance of the grinder, which has grown by a few centimeters compared to the Zero. It now weighs 5 kg and measures 35 cm high, 23 cm deep, and 18 cm wide.
This isn't significantly more than the smaller Zero, but it's still noticeable. Otherwise, Niche stays true to its roots. Good craftsmanship, shiny black or white metal, and an elegant curve vaguely reminiscent of kitchen appliances. The Niche could have been an orange press or a blender in its last life. We look in vain for sharp edges, and the wood finish contributes to the fact that the Niche, while peculiar—like a penguin—is certainly elegant next to the espresso machine.
The only weak point of the DUO grinder seems to be the plastic lid and its suspension. It doesn't inspire much confidence, although we have to say that none have broken off yet.
Otherwise, we're sticking with the tried-and-tested. The grinder has no buttons, no display, and only operates with an on/off switch or by closing the lid. And then the grinder operates consistently vertically, resulting in minimal dead space.
Performance and handling
The Duo hums at a volume of 77.6 dB , which is quite acceptable for its size and heavy construction. While its little sister, the Zero, is quieter at just 72.9 decibels, that was the absolute peak in our previous grinder tests. At 77.6 dB, the Duo is doing well.
With a dead space of just 1.6g, the grinder is among the best, which is particularly impressive considering the size of the grinding discs. Here, too, we measured 1.1 grams less for its smaller sister , although the smaller grinding cone diameter naturally means there are fewer spaces between them. It's important to note that we measured the absolute dead space, which plays a less significant role in single-dosage grinders.
To do this, the grinding process is interrupted, the remaining beans are removed, and the amount of residue remaining in the grinder is checked. More important with single-dosing grinders is the single-dosing dead space. The Niche Duo achieves 0.16 grams. We grind for 30 seconds and check how much residue we still have in the grinder. In other words, how many grams of the entered coffee quantity aren't making their way back out. 0.16 grams is a very good value.
In terms of speed, the Duo requires some patience: At 10.8g per 10 seconds, it's one of the slowest espresso grinders. This is primarily due to the relatively slow rotation speed of the burrs.
A temperature increase of only 1.5°C during the grinding process over six consecutive grinds demonstrates that the Duo was designed with heat development in mind. Despite the enclosed design, we maintained a constant average temperature of 30.4 degrees Celsius, which is also due to the large diameter of the grinding discs and the low RPM.
Constancy and grind replicability
The consistency of the grinding result, with a standard deviation of 0.16g, is good, although we do see the smaller sister with a slight advantage here (0.11 grams). The grind repeatability was excellent, even after adjusting the grinder. It's easy to set different recipes, switch between them, and return to the grind size.
This makes the Niche Duo a grinder that will delight anyone who likes to switch between coffees and try out different recipes and methods.
Price structure and additional costs
The Niche Duo is available for 549 British pounds with one burr set or 649 British pounds with both burr sets , plus import, shipping, and VAT. Therefore, the total cost is significantly higher than the base price. We paid almost 900 Swiss francs for the package with both burrs.
Speaking of purchasing the grinders: as always, we also purchased the Niche DUO ourselves and paid full price for it. If that were different during a test, we would let you know.
Particle distribution and taste profile
Our espressos with the Niche Duo tasted good. They were relatively well-defined in their nuances of the coffee's various aspects, but had a slightly less pronounced body than we're used to with the Niche Zero.
However, the increased clarity wasn't so pronounced that we would upgrade from the Niche Zero to the Niche Duo.
Even with the filter burrs, we brewed delicious filter coffees that were very clear and transparent. However, our brews lacked a bit of sweetness. This can be addressed by varying the brewing process.
We were surprised that the Niche Duo had a relatively high proportion of fines and a rather broad main peak. In terms of taste, we would have expected the opposite.
Cleaning and grinding disc test
Cleaning the Duo and changing the grinding discs is very easy. It's intuitive and can be done in less than a minute. Even after changing the discs, we were able to easily return to the basic recipe thanks to the marking and calibration.
Conclusion on the Niche Duo
The Niche Duo is a very good grinder that impresses in almost every aspect. Only in terms of speed can it be classified as slow; otherwise, it scores "good" to "very good" in all categories.
Nevertheless, the Niche Duo leaves us somewhat perplexed, as it's not really clear who the Duo is the right grinder for. Those who own the Zero won't experience a real upgrade with the Duo. The option to switch from espresso to filter burrs is nice. But for everyday use, despite its ease of use, it doesn't seem particularly practical. It simply remains a hassle, and in that time, the filter coffee can already be ground with a good hand grinder, which costs just as much as the filter coffee burrs.
Those looking for transparent, clear, and complex coffees may prefer the flavor profile of the Duo. Otherwise, the Niche Zero still seems like a good choice for both espresso and filter, and choosing the Duo is a nice option, but by no means a must-have. But you can't go wrong with it either.
