Can a Niche find a place in the wider world of commercial coffee-making? An encounter with coffee-van owner and barista Paul Pidcock at a busy summer festival showed us one intriguing answer.
Introducing Badabean Coffee
In the blazing sunshine of our recent summer, Paul stands by his coffee van where a queue grows for his rich-flavoured coffee. A true coffee lover, Paul is precise, measuring and grinding with accuracy and taking his time to create his customers' drinks that they relish. As he’s keen to point out, it may take a little longer to make the drink when done properly, but the results are worthwhile.
Badabean is a coffee van, normally situated in Watermead Country Park North, Leicester, but also often out on the road where Paul likes to work at festivals. And there, sitting comfortably amid the specialist coffee beans and cakes, contributing to the quality setup of Paul’s enticing van, is a shining Niche Zero.
How can a single-dose Niche Zero grinder be part of the fast pace of a commercial setup?
Using the Niche as a specialist secondary grinder
Badabean’s Niche Zero is not its primary grinder. Even with Paul’s adherence to not being rushed and taking the time necessary to make an exceptional drink, the extra workload that a single-dose grinder would add when making multiple coffees every few minutes simply makes it impractical. So, where does the Niche fit in his mobile van café?
With a Eureka brand grinder as his main hopper-based machine, Paul uses a Niche Zero to provide clean decaf grinds. As he explained:
‘We were doing up to a dozen decafs a day. I don’t need it sitting in a hot hopper, and I don’t need it taking up loads of space. I’d read about single-dose grinders and just thought: that seems perfect.’
As perfectionistic about his research as he is with his coffee, Paul looked to other experienced baristas and reviews to see what would fit his needs the best.
‘I started doing my research and came across the Niche. I just could not find one bad thing about it on all the forums – literally not one word. I thought, well, I’ve got to get it. And that was it: it was purchased.’
Once it was, Paul was more than happy to line the Zero alongside the other equipment, and not just because of its grind quality and ease of use:
‘I like the styling of the Niche because it’s nice and sort of vintage-looking.’
That’s fair - we’re rather pleased with the styling, too. The important question though was, once bought, did the Niche Zero live up to its reputation? On Paul’s second van, he also has a competitor’s grinder, bought when his budget was tight.
‘The Niche definitely wins out. There’s no doubt about it. Every time, it’s honestly just consistently good.’
A Niche Zero set up for secondary beans such as decaf makes perfect sense. A hopper-based grinder delivers faster when needing to meet a demanding workflow, but the occasional request for a decaffeinated drink that Badabean gets plays to the Niche Zero’s strengths.
A favourite among baristas for decaf and pour-over
Badabean is not alone when it comes to using a Niche Zero for single-dose needs. Exploring a little wider, Eric Mann of The LeverCraft Trailer in Austin talks about using one for both decaf and pour-over needs. As well as its relative quiet and efficiency when going from one type of bean to another, Mann is another who appreciates the physical qualities of the Zero, commenting on its small footprint. There, it sits alongside a vintage copper and brass La Pavoni Europiccola - good company, indeed.
Pinhole Coffee in California supports the same idea, with their kitted-out coffee catering van. Once more the Niche grinder is called in for decaf and possibly pour-over; while, in their bricks-and-mortar café, CTRL Z in Chicago boasts that ‘dual Niche Zero grinders stand by for single-origin espresso, decaf espresso and manual pourovers’.
A quality, reliable single-dose grinder is well-loved for those more niche needs.
From coffee van to café
Paul hopes to move Badabean from its van-based origins to an inner-city café one day. He talks passionately about how he’d like to work without worrying about the whims of the weather – something that is of particular concern to mobile baristas, and not just because of the drop-off in customers:
‘Once water or moisture starts getting inside the van, everything starts to clog up. Coffee starts to clog, moisture gets inside the grinder, and you have to grind more and more coarse to compensate. If you’re getting wet, it just doesn’t work.’
Of course, the Niche Zero is no better here than any other grinder – it certainly doesn’t like getting wet and we don’t recommend trying to use one outside in the rain.
For a café though, would Paul still use the Niche?
‘I don’t think I’d go to a hopper grinder now for decaf. There’s no reason to. Single-dose grinders, I think, have proven themselves.’
And could it go further? Paul likes the idea of providing different specialist coffees to his customers.
‘You could have a little list – four coffees. You’ve got your Saint Martin’s there, you’ve got your North Star, different roasters, and then mark the setting on the niche.'
What about cross-contamination? Paul isn’t worried about retention:
‘When I first took it apart to clean it, I couldn’t believe how little coffee was in there.'
From home coffee bar to a mobile barista van
For most home users, a Niche Zero isn’t a secondary grinder brought in for occasional orders: it sits at the centre of the coffee setup. In Paul’s van, the demands may be different, but the importance he places on getting the grind right remains the same. Asked whether the grinder is the most important part of coffee-making, he is quick to confirm:
‘Yeah, definitely. Without a doubt.’
That belief connects the home coffee bar with Paul’s professional one. The Zero doesn’t need to replace his hopper grinder or handle every drink ordered during a festival rush. It earns its place by ensuring that decaf receives the same freshly ground care as every other coffee.
Paul began as a coffee enthusiast himself:
‘I thought I knew a bit about coffee – which I did – but I know a lot more now. A lot more.’
His customers agree, returning to Badabean time and again. We did the same, visiting Paul every day of the festival until it was time to pack up the tent – and for Paul to pack up the van – and move on.
Can a Niche find a place in professional coffee-making? Paul’s experience suggests that it can – not necessarily as the grinder doing everything, but as the one trusted to make specialist coffee when individual attention is needed.
Badabean was back at Watermead Country Park the next day, its Niche Zero prepped and ready for duty. Want to learn more about Badabean? Check them out here.