Niche Zero Test: the single-dosing grinder with almost no retention

The first Niche Zero espresso grinder found its way into our academy accompanied by a coffee enthusiast. John Buckman, the founder of the Decent espresso machine, had brought the grinder along as a counterpart to his portable Decent. At just 4.1 kg, the grinder is particularly lightweight compared to professional espresso grinders and travel-friendly – but definitely with the ambition to grind at a high level.

We purchased a first Niche Zero in white in March 2020 for an initial test. At that time, the espresso grinder financed via crowdfunding came to us via Indiegogo for 617 CHF or 580 euros – a crowdfunding price, not a retail price. We were very optimistic back then, and our first test video reflected that enthusiasm accordingly.

As part of our large espresso grinder comparison, the Niche Zero, this time in black, found its way onto our table once again. And once again the grinder performed very well and prevailed in direct price comparison within its category against the ECM S64, the Mazzer Mini Electronic A, and the Eureka Mignon XL.

We have a separate test report on the Niche DUO, the larger sister of the Niche Zero. And because the category has filled up since then: In October 2025, we pitted ten single-dosing grinders in the 500 to 1000 euro price range against each other, and the Niche Zero was there again. You can read about it in the large comparison test – the measured values from back then have been incorporated into this article.

Niche Zero grinder – the single-dose grinder at a glance

The Niche Zero dances at several different weddings as a grinder. It grinds espresso fine. It was primarily designed for this. In reality, however, we have also brewed very good filter coffees with coffee ground on the Niche Zero.

The grinder is lightweight at around 12 cm wide, 31 cm tall, and 21 cm deep. The control consists of a single button lever with two positions: single-dose grinding and "off". Conical burrs with a diameter of 63 mm made of hardened steel form the grinding mechanism of the Niche Zero. The body of the grinder is made of aluminum.

The Niche Zero is designed to grind individual portions. The bean hopper itself holds just under 30 grams of beans. The concept of single-dose grinding was primarily known from professional gastronomy grinders like the EK43 – today single dosing is its own category with dozens of models. While the workflow slows down in the gastronomy context due to individual grinding or pre-portioning, this is less of a problem in everyday home use.

The advantages are obvious. Only as much coffee is put into the bean hopper as is used immediately. Coffee that is exposed to light and oxygen ages quickly and loses flavor complexity. Coffee oils begin to oxidize – not good! This problem doesn't exist with the Niche Zero.

You weigh, add coffee to the grinding mechanism, and close the lid. In single-dose mode, grinding begins automatically when the lid is closed. A clever safety measure!

A big question is: How much coffee comes out if I add, for example, 18 grams?

The "Zero" of the Niche Zero – retention measurement

Retention is the amount of coffee that sticks to the coffee grinder when the desired portion of coffee has been ground. Basically, every coffee grinder has retention. In screw openings, between the burrs, and in the gaps, smaller or larger spaces hold coffee. This residue remains when grinding stops.

If another coffee is ground immediately afterward, this is less problematic. The "retention coffee" is then exchanged and the aging process doesn't start. However, it becomes more problematic when no coffee is ground for a long time or even a day.

In ground form, coffee loses most of its volatile aroma components within minutes. This is because grinding greatly increases the surface area of the coffee. Imagine an apple that you cut in half. While initially only the outer skin was exposed to air and sun, these now act on the two inner halves. Coffee is similar, only multiplied many times over.

This aged coffee has two consequences. First, it tastes different, and often not good, but quickly rancid. It also clogs the grinder more. Second, it extracts differently, which can lead to different extraction behavior when pulling the espresso.

How strong this effect is depends on how much coffee remains in the retention of the grinder and thus comes into play at the next pull. With many grinders this is several grams. With the Graef CM800 we easily measured 4 to 5 grams, and even higher peak values.

This means that a simple espresso made with 8 to 10 grams is brewed half from retention coffee – that is, old coffee. With a double espresso of 16 to 20 grams, we're still looking at a quarter of the coffee amount.

We disassembled the Niche Zero, removed the burrs, and scraped together the ground coffee. When measuring retention coffee, you distinguish between coffee that permanently sticks to a grinder and that which exchanges with every grind. Only the exchanging material is truly problematic. In total, using a precision scale, we arrived at a maximum of 0.82 grams of coffee from retention. About 0.35 grams of that don't exchange.

The exchanging portion is thus, according to our measurement, 0.47 grams. According to the system by which we measure today, the absolute retention is therefore 0.82 grams and the temporary retention is 0.47 grams. That's really, really little! It was the lowest value we had measured at the time. If anyone knows a grinder with less retention, feel free to write me.

So we're happy to keep the "Zero" of the Niche at a decimal number.

In our second test of the Niche Zero, we determined the retention differently compared to conventional grinders. Grinders not designed as single-dosing grinders constantly have coffee in the bean hopper. So they don't grind empty. We tried that with the Niche Zero too and arrived at 1.1 grams of ground coffee that stick around the burrs when grinding stops. Following the grinder's design philosophy, that gets ground out if grinding lasts long enough. With classic espresso grinders this isn't possible since beans keep pushing through.

Grinding and workflow with the Niche Zero

When working with the Niche Zero, a workflow quickly established itself for me. Anyone who works professionally with an EK43 will love the workflow with the Niche. I'm not an EK43 enthusiast myself and have preferred to work with a classic espresso grinder like a Mahlkönig K30 at barista championships. But I quickly warmed up to the Niche.

The Niche Zero is powerful but slow. The slow speed is certainly a reason why the grinder is relatively quiet. For 18 grams, the grinder takes about 16 seconds.

In the 2025 comparison test, we measured this again and arrived at 11.9 grams in 10 seconds and 13.5 seconds for 18 grams – somewhat faster than the first time through, but it remains slow. The tradeoff shows in the volume measurement: at 72.9 dB, the Niche Zero is whisper-quiet and was the quietest of the ten grinders in this field. The ground coffee leaves it at 30.4 °C and thus cool.

The grind size can be adjusted continuously. Very fine grind size adjustments can be made without any problem. From espresso fine to grain sizes suitable for filter coffee, the grinder can be adjusted. The burrs of the grinder are explicitly not suitable for Turkish coffee – so don't overdo the fine setting.

The grind adjustment from espresso to filter coffee was rare even among professional grinders back then. Usually a grinder had to be calibrated for one beverage category.

The design of the Niche Zero is such that you can turn the grind adjustment beyond the endpoint of the coarse marking. It's just important to remember how many turns you've opened the grinder.

In our case, we had very good espresso results in the grind range of 25 to 15, which corresponds to approximately the 6 to 7 o'clock clock position. For filter coffee I ground in the grind spectrum 11 to 1 o'clock, where no grind markings are applied.

How does the espresso taste and how consistent is the Niche Zero?

We brewed very good espressos with the Niche and above all consistently. Even across many pulls we had many good pulls taste-wise. On 10 espressos we had maximum coffee powder fluctuations of 0.2 grams per pull. The powder comes out of the grinder without clumps.

In particle comparison, the Niche Zero lies, as far as the coarse peak is concerned, between the grinders with flat burrs (M2D, Eureka Mignon) and the two grinders with conical burrs (Graef, Sette). The curve resembles the particle distribution of the Sage Smart Grinder Pro. The extraction yield wasn't as high as the Sage Smart Grinder Pro, but was much more consistent across many pulls.

For the 2025 comparison test, there are also numbers: a main peak of 270 µm, an x50 of 343 µm, and a fine portion (Qf under 100 µm) of 19.8 percent. As the only grinder with conical burrs in this field, the Niche Zero had the broadest main peak and at the same time the lowest fine portion. Such values are roast-dependent and don't serve as an absolute rating. But they explain well why espresso from the Niche turns out the way it does: silky, creamy, with body – and forgiving in handling.

In the following table you can see our espresso pulls with various grinders. The grinders were each set so that around 50 grams of espresso extracted in 24.5 to 25.5 seconds. Each time the concentration of dissolved coffee solids was measured (TDS in percent) and extraction calculated. For the test we used our Brazilian Henrique espresso.

With the Niche Zero we measured a strength of 7.14%. The coffee was very balanced and above all sweet. In taste, the Graef CM800 and the Sette 270 WI fell behind. Interestingly, these two grinders also had lower extraction yields.

Precision in the forward and backward setting of the Niche Zero

Especially with single-dosing grinders, an important question is how well they set and reset from one grind setting to another. With the Niche Zero it should even be possible from filter to espresso, since the grinder is designed for both.

In our test, the Niche Zero performed very well here, especially compared to the other three test grinders in the price category (ECM S64, Mazzer Mini Electronic A, Eureka Mignon XL).

We adjusted the grinder from espresso grind to ristretto and further to café crème and then turned back to the starting grind using only the previously marked position on the grind marking. The particle distribution at the main peak was then nearly identical.

Removing the burrs and cleaning

Thorough cleaning of an espresso grinder should be done more often than rarely. But we understand that it's not usually done eagerly. It's usually complicated. With the Niche Zero, the outer burr can be removed without tools, making it easy to clean a larger part of the grinding mechanism. The grind of the grinder is opened toward coarse until the grind adjustment can be removed. Then the outer burrs can be removed with two fingers.

With a fine brush, coffee residue can now be easily removed; for regular cleaning we use a grinder cleaner in the academies. If you also want to remove the inner burr, you just need a wrench or ratchet. Important: especially when reassembling, don't overtighten the central screw.

After cleaning, the bean funnel can be screwed back on. We turned it to the stop and then opened it halfway again. That returned it to the grinder's original position and we could use the grind settings we had previously used.

Where you can buy the Niche Zero

The Niche Zero is still being manufactured and sold directly by the manufacturer. On nichecoffee.co.uk it costs around 559 GBP including VAT, according to the manufacturer ready to ship within seven days (as of August 2026). We don't sell the grinder and have no partnership program with Niche – the link goes without commission to the manufacturer.

In our single-dosing grinder comparison test, we listed it in October 2025 at around 600 to 750 euros in import – depending on what shipping and import add on top.

For context: The price of 617 CHF or 580 euros that we paid in March 2020 was a crowdfunding price via Indiegogo and is not comparable to today's sales price.

Suggestions for improvement for the Niche Zero

• Grind marking around the entire circle.
• Counter for how many turns you've opened the grind ring.
• Cup options for different portafilter sizes, not just 58 mm.
• When using hard beans, the last ones partly jump over the grinding mechanism for a long time.
• On our model, the central screw wobbled optically upon delivery. Didn't negatively affect the ground coffee, but was annoying.

Supplementary images and measurements for the Niche Zero

Technical specifications of the Niche Zero

Measured values from our own tests: 2020 the initial test, 2022 the XL comparison, October 2025 the single-dosing grinder comparison test between 500 and 1000 euros. Price from manufacturer as of August 2026, source: nichecoffee.co.uk.

As always, we bought this grinder ourselves. This test was not requested by Niche.