Timeline arc: Coffee

I've been on my coffee "journey" for a while now and have finally taken the plunge to upgrade my coffee grinder to a Niche Zero. With that in mind, I thought I would post about where I've been so far with my coffee experience and how I ended up spending so much money on a grinder.

It's worth noting that I am, by no means, a coffee aficionado. However, I am a coffee hipster and will forgo having one while I'm out because "I can make one better at home". I struggle to identify the nuances of a coffee, but do know if one is good or bad and well extracted.

My coffee history

I entered into coffee via the french press (or cafetiere) when I was in my early twenties. Forever a tea boy, I slowly started reaching for the coffee in the morning.

After getting more and more used to the french press, I started exploring coffee shops and appreciating the world of what was available. Beginning at a latte, I eventually started favouring a flat white from the legal crack-dens.

Machine: Gaggia Baby Class

Slowly, with the egging on from a friend, I started looking into purchasing a coffee machine of my own and, in Jan 2017, purchased a Gaggia Baby Class.

After picking it up off someone on Gumtree, I don't think they were aware how much they generally went for as some searching when I got home revealed I'd picked up a bargain.

The next day I leapt out of bed and made my first "flat white" at home - it was great. Later that day I went to make a second and the machine stopped - not a single drop of water made it through.

I then spent a month or so hitting my head against the wall and fully taking the machine apart, descaling, replacing parts - I even got a multi-tool to grind off the limescale from inside the boiler. I learnt a lot about how coffee machines work and even upgraded the steam-wand which seemed like a common mod for Gaggia machines.

I eventually got it working again and starting learning and honing my coffee-making skills.

Grinder: Sage Smart Grinder Pro

After reading copious amounts of coffee forums, I realised I needed a proper coffee grinder. It wasn't long (March 2017) until I had purchased a Sage Smart Grinder Pro.

I was flying now, each coffee I made getting better and I was starting to appreciate the craft and skill required to make a "good" cup of coffee.

Machine & Grinder: Sage Barista Express

After getting a book published I used some of the money from that to upgrade my coffee equipment. Selling the Gaggia (after making a good profit, even after the upgrades) and my Smart Grinder Pro, I purchased a Sage Barista Express in November 2017.

I chose it because of both the asthenic and features. Being able to turn it on and have it warm up in seconds was a dream - not to mention the pressure gauge and timed water function made it much easier to dial in and get great coffee from it. It was a great machine and would recommend to to anyone.

Machine and grinder: Sage Bambino Plus and Sage Smart Grinder Pro

After 4 years of the Sage Barista Express and plenty of great coffees, I wanted to explore different coffee options further. I was already drinking french press & V60 in the week (saving the flat whites for the weekend) and wanted to freshly grind the coffee for those mid-week drinks.

As the Barista express coffee grinder couldn't go course enough for a V60, I need to get a different grinder. I couldn't justify having the Barista Express and a separate grinder (nor the space), so I needed to do some selling.

In July 2021 sold the Barista Express and purchased a Sage Bambino Plus with a Sage Smart Grinder Pro (again) to go alongside (yes, ok, I'm a Sage fanboy). The idea being I could grind different varieties. I managed to do it without costing me too much as the price of the two was comparable.

Both of these bits of equipment are excellent and I would still recommend either of them to people looking to up their coffee game at home and get into espresso-based drinks. I'd (at the time) unknowingly picked up a Bambino Plus which comes with some extra features like the auto-frothing. This is a game changer, along with the quick start up, when kids are around as you can set it frothing your milk while you deal with making weetabix or entertaining a child.

The same goes for the grinder - both of these tools allowed me to make pretty good baseline coffees in a pinch while still giving me the freedom to really geek out and dial-in if I needed to

The different grinding was a fad and quickly subsided when I started learning about retention and what a hassle it is to keep changing grind sizes between week day and weekends - especially on the Smart Grinder Pro. I stuck with pre-ground coffee for the weekdays and left the grinder to the weekend.

I settled into home barista life, measuring and, generally, getting good cups of coffee out of my equipment.

Grinder: Niche zero

And this is where we are now, May 2025 having just purchased a Niche Zero.

I have been weighing my output from the grinder for a while as the Smart Grinder Pro gives different results depending on how full the hopper is. The coffee I was getting was fine but now my kids are bit older and need less attention, I can really focus on getting it bang-on.

This grinder has a different workflow, weighing the beans in instead of weighing the output.

I'm still getting used to it and learning how to dial in, but already I've made a couple of spot-on coffees and even drunk a couple of "neat" espressos - something I've never done before.

So far...

I doubt this will be the end of my coffee journey - I'd like a coffee machine with a bit more customisation but the convenience of the Bambino still wins.