Coffee Data Science
Coffee Grinders: Momentem vs Niche
A small comparison
This summer, I had a chance to do a small comparison set between the Niche Zero and the Momentem grinder. I left the Niche at my in-laws house to pair with a Kim Express that I have there, and I happened to bring my Momentem grinder for a week.
Caveat: the data set is very small, only 8 shots using 7 roasts. One roast had 2 shots.
The Result: Momentem outperformed the Niche. However, the Momentem has an unfair advantage of a chaff collector because it is a double burr grinder. Additionally, hand grinding is slower, and the Momentem allows better bean flow control as a result of the double grinder to where it is closer to a slow feed grinder.
I previously compared the Rok hand grinder to the Niche, and the Rok won out.
Tasting Equipment/Technique
Espresso Machine: Kim Express, Thermal Pre-infusion
Coffee Grinder: Niche Zero and Momentem
Coffee: Home Roasted Coffee, medium (First Crack + 1 Minute)
Pre-infusion: Long, ~25 seconds, 30 second ramp bloom, 0.5 ml/s flow during infusion
Filter Basket: 20 Wafo Spirit
Other Equipment: Acaia Pyxis Scale, DiFluid R2 TDS Meter
Metrics of Performance
I used two sets of metrics for evaluating the differences between techniques: Final Score and Coffee Extraction.
Final score is the average of a scorecard of 7 metrics (Sharp, Rich, Syrup, Sweet, Sour, Bitter, and Aftertaste). These scores were subjective, of course, but they were calibrated to my tastes and helped me improve my shots. There is some variation in the scores. My aim was to be consistent for each metric, but some times the granularity was difficult.
Total Dissolved Solids (TDS) is measured using a refractometer, and this number combined with the output weight of the shot and the input weight of the coffee is used to determine the percentage of coffee extracted into the cup, called Extraction Yield (EY).
Data
Across 8 shots, the taste was noticeably better with Momentem.
The TDS and EY also had a big impact.
The taste improvement was across all taste metrics, and the jump reminded me of the Rok grinder.
At a statistical level, the results were statistically significant for a two tailed paired t-test. However, the major caveat is a small data set.
This difference could have been influenced by the roasts I was using, how I roast, or other parameters optimized for my espresso setup. This could also be influenced by how worn the burrs are. A better setup would be to use the exact same burr set in both grinders to isolate burrs from grinder as well as burr use. The Niche has had more coffee run through it than the Momentem.
The number of variables to control for in such an experiment is vast, so take these results for the size of the dataset that they are.
If you like, follow me on Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram where I post videos of espresso shots on different machines and espresso related stuff. You can also find me on LinkedIn. You can also follow me on Medium and Subscribe.
Further readings of mine:
My Second Book: Advanced Espresso
My First Book: Engineering Better Espresso
