# Cheap or 2nd hand Mid or Niche



## mho (Jun 7, 2012)

Hi all,

My long term coffee plan was to get a niche zero to use with a lelit mara X. Currently I am not in a position to buy this combination yet but potentially in a year or so will be.

My plan was to just continue using a Nespresso machine until then but I have recently discovered the V60 and love it. I had planned to use the v60 with ground coffee as didn't want to purchase a grinder yet but my wife has ordered a few packs of coffee beans so I am now in need of a grinder.

Here are some options I am considering:

1. Buy a Wilfa svart for under £100 and use this for drip coffee only. When ready, to buy the niche and mara X, although I'm loving v60 so much this may be a few years away now.

2. Buy a second hand Super Jolly, use it for drip coffee and can also use it for espresso when I buy my espresso machine, I just won't be having a niche.

3. Don't buy anything, wait until I can get a niche zero. Could be a year, could be longer... Give the beans away and continue to buy ground coffee.

What would you do??


----------



## BlackCatCoffee (Apr 11, 2017)

mho said:


> Hi all,
> 
> My long term coffee plan was to get a niche zero to use with a lelit mara X. Currently I am not in a position to buy this combination yet but potentially in a year or so will be.
> 
> ...


 There is an option you haven't listed which is an inexpensive hand grinder.

For me personally I would go with the Wilfa (in fact I have). I like the convenience of electric in the morning and they are thoroughly decent for the price.


----------



## Mrboots2u (May 10, 2013)

mho said:


> Hi all,
> 
> My long term coffee plan was to get a niche zero to use with a lelit mara X. Currently I am not in a position to buy this combination yet but potentially in a year or so will be.
> 
> ...


 Going back and forth between espresso and drip on a super jolly wont be all a lot of fun with its worm screw adjustment.

There are some good hand grinders that make great filter for less than £100 . Some like the MBK ones would even do espresso later in life ( although hand grinding this gets boring quickly )

Wilfa has a good rep for filter amongst the people I know who have one.


----------



## Skizz (Feb 10, 2020)

BlackCatCoffee said:


> There is an option you haven't listed which is an inexpensive hand grinder.


 My thoughts too. Much as I hate to keep recommending a company with such appalling customer service, MBK's Feld 47 is - minor ergonomic niggles aside - an exceptionally capable grinder that takes all of two seconds to switch between pourover or espresso grinds (and does it accurately), has practically zero retention, won't wake the house up if you're making coffee in the early hours and can be had for £140-150 if you get one on offer.


----------



## cuprajake (Mar 30, 2020)

1zpresso is very capable also, same price near as too


----------



## mho (Jun 7, 2012)

Thank you for the input so far. I should have added that the solution should be wife friendly, I don't see her grinding the beans herself and tbh a few years ago I was hand grinding and I found it a bit of a chore, although it was a v cheap grinder which probably didn't do the job well.

Update: The beans were ordered from https://kissthehippo.com/ and my wife has managed to change the order to a drip grind so no longer in desperate need for a grinder!

It has got me thinking though, maybe I should get the Wilfa so that we can move to beans. I'm sure beans + Wilfer + v60 combo will keep us happy with the coffee for a long while and it's super easy to do as compared to having to make sure an espresso machine is turned on at least 30mins before you need to use it.

How much difference do you think grinding beans fresh would make to a v60? Are we talking the top end of a plateau gain? Or is there still quite a lot of improvement to be had compared to pre ground coffee? I would be planning on getting beans grounded from coffee websites for drip coffee and not ground coffee from supermarket.


----------



## coffeechap (Apr 5, 2012)

Grinding beans fresh will always make a big difference, so going for the option of the wilfa now will give you significant gains in terms of flavour


----------



## Rapid (Jun 12, 2020)

I have the Wilfa Svart and think it's brilliant. What I'll add is that because it's such good value for money, it seems to retain a significant chunk of it's value on the 2nd hand market. So if I were you I wouldn't hesitate in getting one. Then if you're in a position to get a Niche later down the line you could flog the svart and put the that money towards it. It retails at £105. They're going on the bay currently around the £70-£80 mark. If it costs you c. £30 for a years use it's an absolute bargain.


----------



## Stu Beck (May 31, 2020)

Cuprajake said:


> 1zpresso is very capable also, same price near as too


 I've just got one directly from 1zpresso and it's a lovely bit of kit: smashes through 30g of beans with ease and has the potential for any brewing method. Others compare the grind quality favourably with more expensive electric grinders, so I figured it was a better option than the Wilfa in the long run. Plus, I'm tight for space and quite enjoy the ritual 😀


----------



## mho (Jun 7, 2012)

I have decided that I will get a Wilfa Svart, just waiting for the black one to be back in stock. Really looking forward to grinding beans fresh! Thank you all for the input.


----------



## TomHughes (Dec 16, 2019)

Stu Beck said:


> I've just got one directly from 1zpresso and it's a lovely bit of kit: smashes through 30g of beans with ease and has the potential for any brewing method. Others compare the grind quality favourably with more expensive electric grinders, so I figured it was a better option than the Wilfa in the long run. Plus, I'm tight for space and quite enjoy the ritual 😀


 I agree, I've been very impressed with mine in comparison to my electric grinders.


----------



## mho (Jun 7, 2012)

Received my Wilfa Svart today, really impressed at how quiet it is. So far so good, glad I went with this combo.


----------

