Mischief 71mm Conical Grinder

I didn't see much information online about this grinder so I figured I would post my experience with it for others to see.

I was originally planning to purchase a Niche Zero to go along with my Fiorenzato AllGround Sense. After seeing how that would cost over $1k CAD after shipping and taxes I started looking around at other options around that price point and noticed the Mischief Workshops grinder. It seemed like a better version of the Niche for a similar cost. I had previously purchased a few other items from Mischief before and was happy with both their quality and customer service so I reached out to them via WhatsApp and shortly afterwards made the purchase.

Everything came packaged super well and it was pretty much ready to grind out of the box. All I did was put the anti-popcorning lid on and give the hex screws a bit of a tightening. Everything was incredibly well aligned and the concentricty of the main grind shaft seemed impeccable.

The entire grinder is very heavy and feels very well and precisely built. You can feel how tight the tolerances are with how tightly parts fit together. Taking the grind chamber apart to clean is a breeze and only requires removing 2 hex screws. The best part is you don't lose your grind setting by taking it apart this way.

This grinder has 2 sets of conical burrs: a top pre-breaking burr set and the 71mm final grinding burr set. This burr configuration was the main reason I chose it over the Niche as I had read that it helped with both flavor separation as well as preventing some of the harsher flavors from getting into the cup. After having used it for a little over a month now and comparing it side by side to my AllGround as well as my friend's Niche, I can attest to both of those claims being true.

In the cup, I am getting more body and better texture than my AllGround while somehow also having better clarity. I don't drink a ton of ultra light roasts but I do drink a lot of medium-light to light. I love the way this grinder presents those beans. They are super smooth, very sweet and have great body. The body is comparable to the Niche but there is less bitterness and a sweeter finish. On medium/dark roasts there is more body and less bitterness than both the AllGround and the Niche. There also seems to be a huge sweet spot as far grind range is concerned making the grinder super easy to dial in.

It is also very quiet and has very low retention when using the bellows. Everytime I have opened the burr chamber to clean it, there are very few leftover grounds. I've attached a picture of the burr chamber after grinding 2kgs of beans to season the burrs so you can get an idea of the retention.

My one critique of the grinder is that it is a bit messy. There is a fair bit of static generated and using the bellows can cause grounds to blow around the area. Even with RDT I still notice static with most beans. About a week ago I put 2kgs of beans through the grinder to speed along the seasoning of the burrs and this certainly helped but didn't eliminate the static. I am hoping that this will continue to improve as I use the grinder. It isn't a huge deal but it certainly requires a bit more cleaning than my AllGround.

All in all I am very happy with the grinder and the customer service from Mischief in general. They are very responsive and easy to talk to. The grinder itself is an absolute beast and I am very pleased with the cups it produces. I can't see this thing leaving my kitchen any time soon. My friend who owns the Niche actually ended up listing it for sale and ordering one of the Mischief 71mm conical grinders after we did the head to head.