This is sophisticated stuff, previously reserved for the richest and nerdiest of nerds, attainable only with commercial-caliber machines like Slayer that start at $10,000 and work up from there. Fellow offers this capability for a seventh of that price. And it's still easy to use for espresso beginners who've never even heard the word “pre-infusion” before today. Just select a preset shot profile for light or medium or dark beans, and the machine will do the hard work for you.
If I sound excited about this machine, I am—even as many features remain under development, and the phone app remains a placeholder for now. The device also has a couple peevish quirks, but the Fellow Series 1 is quite simply the most impressive espresso machine I've tested in the past couple years.
The Basic Specs
OK, first things first. The Fellow is a handsome and distinctive machine, in a Silicon Valley sort of way. My editor, after seeing a picture, said she wouldn't have assumed it was an espresso machine at all. It is a smooth-lined, minimalist box with a big stainless steel, brass-core group head floating in front. It's just 11 inches tall, fitting handily under pretty much any cabinet.
These streamlined aesthetics are par for the course for San Francisco–based Fellow, whose Aiden drip coffee machine is also a minimalist Steve Jobsian box. Fellow also shares a tech startup's habit for launching quickly and sending out a barrage of early firmware updates: I received three firmware fixes during a few weeks of testing.
Specs Dimensions (L x W x H) 17.25 x 12.5 x 11 inches Weight 22 pounds Heating element Boosted single boiler, supplemented by a thermoblock and heated group head Water tank 2 liters Portafilter 58-mm bottomless, with optional shot splitter; 18-gram pressurized or non-pressurized baskets Additional accessories Tamper, stainless steel milk pitcher, back-flush disc and tablets, steam wand tip claner Colorways Chocolate or Sesame with Maple ($1,600); Cherry Red, Marine Blue, or Woodland with Walnut ($1,600)
But if the app and firmware are still under development as of late February, the Series 1's hardware is in lovely shape. The portafilter and group head are machined with admirable precision, sliding into place easily and satisfyingly without feeling loose. The haptics on the dial are pleasant. The steam wand has good heft and maneuverability, and its power is optimized to get dense milk froth without risk of hot spatter. It can also be heated up to a preset temperature rather than risk burning the milk.