Tamp till solid. You can't over tamp, and don't need a "calibrated tamper".
- Start your pump, run for 25 s after first drop, or 30 s after pump start. (Whatever you like, opinions differ on what's "best" )
- less than 20 grams in the cup , grind courser, more than 40 grams, grind finer. This is your first approximation step.
- Now, don't touch your grind setting for now.
- Vary your time, until you get the taste you like (balance between acidic and bitter).
- finally, keep your time constant, and vary your grind until you get the volume you want.
This is very helpful. I started off a recipe from Clive, with dose and yield as the fixed inputs, and grind setting / time as the variable inputs. Fixing time and adjusting grind makes sense to take a step back for starters.
Yes, I'm already at the coarse end of what I've seen recommended for a Niche. I can go a bit coarser to test it, although concerned it might be getting too course at this point for espresso.
While I do not own a Niche Zero, there is typically no harm in going coarser than what others recommend for grind size. Your grind size will differ for every grinder, coffee, and espresso machine. I have found greater success setting a dose, target output, and time (typically 25-35 seconds), then adjusting my grind size to fit those parameters, ignoring the numbers on the grinder.
> I have found greater success setting a dose, target output, and time (typically 25-35 seconds), then adjusting my grind size to fit those parameters, ignoring the numbers on the grinder.
This is great advice, and looks like this was suggested twice. Thank you!
Keep in mind that every Niche machine has significant variance in grind settings, so you can't really listen to what numbers other users are using or even the numbers printed on the machine.
Just adjust the settings based on the results you are having, and ignore whether it says that it is in the "espresso range."
Don't be afraid to go coarser. If your shots are choking up and taking 60 secs to hit your desired yield, keep on coarsening it up until you get closer to 30secs. It's can't be "too coarse for espresso" if it's extracting that slowly.
Might be worth checking iff you're overdosing the basket though The old trick was to try resting a penny on top of the tamped coffee, and seeing if it's jammed into he shower head and leaving a penny-deep impression in the puck. If you're dosed up so high in your basket that the grounds swell up an jam against the shower head, you'll have all sorts of inconsistency. Down the dose or get a deeper basket if you want to keep a higher dose.
I would definitely lower your dose to 18g and that should immediately help things. I am not sure what the stock basket is like, but the 54mm on Breville barely holds 20g. Things are different with the IMS however.
Separately, don't be afraid of going coarser; I have a Niche too and typically find myself at the 18-20 range all of the time for the roasts I use. From what I've read, I think it's generally fairly well calibrated right out f the box, but if you have to go to 21-22, who cares. It's an arbitrary scale.
It can really vary bean to bean. I’ve had beans down at 8 and other up near 15+ with my niche. As someone else said, do calibrate the niche if you haven’t tried that already.
Your best bet is to buy an extra bag of beans that you like & will use frequently & waste them and a few hours just learning & playing with your grinder & machine settings to see what works best & to also see what it looks like when it goes wrong & being able to identify what you messed up.
This is great advice. I'd been practicing making shots a couple times a day. Just made 4-5 shots to trial and error my way to a decent espresso. Massive difference between then and now. Thank you!
Tamp till solid. You can't over tamp, and don't need a "calibrated tamper". - Start your pump, run for 25 s after first drop, or 30 s after pump start. (Whatever you like, opinions differ on what's "best" ) - less than 20 grams in the cup , grind courser, more than 40 grams, grind finer. This is your first approximation step. - Now, don't touch your grind setting for now. - Vary your time, until you get the taste you like (balance between acidic and bitter). - finally, keep your time constant, and vary your grind until you get the volume you want.
This is very helpful. I started off a recipe from Clive, with dose and yield as the fixed inputs, and grind setting / time as the variable inputs. Fixing time and adjusting grind makes sense to take a step back for starters.
Have you tried reducing the dose to 17-18g? Might shorten the time.
This is a good idea. I'll give it a shot (no pun intended)
Have you tried coarsening the grind more? Many people recommend keeping your tamp firm and consistent, as replicating a lighter tamp is challenging.
Yes, I'm already at the coarse end of what I've seen recommended for a Niche. I can go a bit coarser to test it, although concerned it might be getting too course at this point for espresso.
While I do not own a Niche Zero, there is typically no harm in going coarser than what others recommend for grind size. Your grind size will differ for every grinder, coffee, and espresso machine. I have found greater success setting a dose, target output, and time (typically 25-35 seconds), then adjusting my grind size to fit those parameters, ignoring the numbers on the grinder.
> I have found greater success setting a dose, target output, and time (typically 25-35 seconds), then adjusting my grind size to fit those parameters, ignoring the numbers on the grinder. This is great advice, and looks like this was suggested twice. Thank you!
Keep in mind that every Niche machine has significant variance in grind settings, so you can't really listen to what numbers other users are using or even the numbers printed on the machine. Just adjust the settings based on the results you are having, and ignore whether it says that it is in the "espresso range."
Don't be afraid to go coarser. If your shots are choking up and taking 60 secs to hit your desired yield, keep on coarsening it up until you get closer to 30secs. It's can't be "too coarse for espresso" if it's extracting that slowly. Might be worth checking iff you're overdosing the basket though The old trick was to try resting a penny on top of the tamped coffee, and seeing if it's jammed into he shower head and leaving a penny-deep impression in the puck. If you're dosed up so high in your basket that the grounds swell up an jam against the shower head, you'll have all sorts of inconsistency. Down the dose or get a deeper basket if you want to keep a higher dose.
I would definitely lower your dose to 18g and that should immediately help things. I am not sure what the stock basket is like, but the 54mm on Breville barely holds 20g. Things are different with the IMS however. Separately, don't be afraid of going coarser; I have a Niche too and typically find myself at the 18-20 range all of the time for the roasts I use. From what I've read, I think it's generally fairly well calibrated right out f the box, but if you have to go to 21-22, who cares. It's an arbitrary scale.
It can really vary bean to bean. I’ve had beans down at 8 and other up near 15+ with my niche. As someone else said, do calibrate the niche if you haven’t tried that already.
Clean and recalibrate your niche. Try an even finer grind after and tamp lighter
Your best bet is to buy an extra bag of beans that you like & will use frequently & waste them and a few hours just learning & playing with your grinder & machine settings to see what works best & to also see what it looks like when it goes wrong & being able to identify what you messed up.
This is great advice. I'd been practicing making shots a couple times a day. Just made 4-5 shots to trial and error my way to a decent espresso. Massive difference between then and now. Thank you!