Fellow - Opus

I have a fellow opus and baratza vario. Although I like the vario, it’s just so loud. The fellow has a nice fit and finish to it.

Flat burrs seem to bring out the fruit notes more. I have an opus, ceado, and vario.

🤣🤣 after a while I learned to recognize the difference. To me, I taste much more sweetness on the flat burrs.

I got the Fellow Opus, but that seems more geared towards pour-over coffee. It is capable of doing espresso as well; however, dialing in the coffee is finicky. The other one, which is similarly priced, would be the Baratza Encore ESP, which is made especially for espresso. James Hoffman recently made a video regarding coffee grinders in this range. You may want to check that on YouTube as well.

OMG, why is this app not on the official Opus website? It should be. Thank you so much. This is going to make my life much easier! (But that kind of proves the point that you need an app and to take off the hopper to actually dial in, rather than just moving the dial one tick to the right or left) Also, I must be doing something wrong because nothing seems to be helping with retention.

Honestly, I went from a hand grinder to the Opus Gen 2 and can't imagine going back. Weigh beans, feed, press button, and in a matter of seconds, it's done. And I think generally at a lower decibel level. Have tried using hand grinder on certain days but don't feel the pull to alternate. It's one of few quality-of-life upgrades that I'm glad I made.

People keep saying it’s finicky but literally all you have to do is download the Beanie app and it’s brainless. A little annoying to take the hopper off while dialing in but otherwise great. And I’ve found that using the RDT fixes most of the retention issues

Yeah I just happened to read about the app in another thread, of all the videos I’ve watched on the Opus I think I heard Lance Hedrick mention like once in passing in one of his videos. Otherwise no one seems to mention it and I find it to be basically required! I use a bit of water on a spoon, mix the beans, and then give the machine about 10-12 solid slaps on the lid when it’s done. I’ve found that usually gets most of it. Not super hard slaps but firm enough to knock out the remainder. It doesn’t feel great and I’m probably shortening the life of the machine at least a little bit I get all my coffee out lol.

Gave the Fellow Opus a Go, got it on sale @170. Seems to be a jack of all trades but especially good at filtered coffee which is what I want it for. Tried it out already and it seems pretty good. Biggest drawback is retention.

I’ve been impressed with my Fellow Opus. A lot quieter than my previous electric burr grinder. Seems to be very consistent and easy to use.

Well three taps, maybe. I usually top out at 45 g which is a double tap, I think it could do 110 with a triple tap.

My budget espresso startup choices included a $75 hand grinder. It is a great grinder. But it’s also retired now. After 9 months I was just done! The Fellow Opus is my grinding delight now.

I love my Fellow Opus.

I did this, Fellow Opus is currently on sale yet the Baratza isn't. Just purchased it today after reading many threads and watching videos.

I've had it for over 2 months now, works just fine really. Only has a bit of retention but nothing crazy.

Fellow Opus. I've seen good enough reviews/videos of the KitchenAid smart grinder, but I think the Opus is offers value where you want it: good burrs, neat dosing cup, find adustability of grind. There's an iOS app, Beanie, that helps you figure out the course grind and fine grind adjustments; bit of a puzzle otherwise. It seems to have roughly 3-6 grams of retention, which you can mitigate with tapping. I've taken the advice of experts to run cheap beans (about 10 grams) through after adjustment, to clear out the "old grind settings" grounds before running through a new dose. I think I've learned that the most important, "don't skimp" accessories are the grinder, and an espresso scale.

Opus actually does very well for filter, especially if this is going to be your first electric grinder. Hard to beat the cost. I’m sure you wouldn’t be able to tell much of a difference unless you’re really into coffee. The Baratza encore is also good for filter (not the esp version).

I found it interesting that no one has mentioned the baratza encore esp since it's about the same price as the opus, and in head to head comparisons, many times preferred or tied to the fellow opus. I'm trying to decide between them, and I will be looking out for any upcoming black friday deals. I am almost hoping one is on sale and the other isn't because I am indecisive. I like the way the fellow looks on the counter better, but I like that the Encore esp is tried&true and is very serviceable. I haven't read much with the Fellow being serviceable.

Which did you end up buying? The Opus or Barazta? I ended up buying the Fellow Opus because it was the one on sale at the time. After EACH use, I did the little tap tappy, smack, boopity bop thing to the side of the Opus, that everyone on here mentioned to do to help with retention. ALSO, after each use, I did the thing where you use the lid as a kind of bellow or hopper. After about 7 uses the motor was working but the beans were not getting fed into grinder. I did a more aggressive and targeted tap tappy, smack, boopity bop protocol to no avail. Find a YouTube video saying to use a new makeup brush and brush the bottom where the grinds come out and I took off the top part to brush the grinder part. Just the slightest retention was unlodged. But after all that, the beans still where not feeding into grinder. So I emailed fellow customer service. While I await Fellow customer service reply, I am cleaning my glass straw with my dedicated glass stray wire bristle brush and I think🤔 let me delicately try using this around the gears to my fellow opus grinder. So I took the top off the Opus to expose the grinder part, moved the brush sround the gears and again TO NO AVAIL, there was not a lot to unlodge. Then I throw caution to the wind and shove my little glass straw bristle brush into the underside of the grinder where the grinds are suppose to come out and the gates of hell opened! There was SOMEHOW almost 2 catchcup loads of coffee grind retentions lodged in every corner that just continues to pour out as I wiggle the little brush around and hold the Opus up at ever angle, from side to side and flip upside down to try and get ever piece of coffee retention out of this machine. I was shocked! It's over 30 days so I can't return so I have no choice but to keep it. But why the heck does it not just come with a thin little wire brush to clean to unclog retention?

# **Without philosophizing in the answer, you have two options: a handgrinder, or electric grinder.** — ## **🔹 Hand Grinders** ### **High-End Options:** - **1Zpresso K-Ultra** – External adjustment, versatile for both pourover & espresso. - **1Zpresso J-Max** – 8.8-micron steps, optimized for espresso but handles pourover. - **Kinu M47 Phoenix / Classic** – Precise & durable, great for both. - **Comandante C40 MK4** – Ideal for pourover; needs *Red Clix* for better espresso dialing. - **Timemore Chestnut S3** – Stepless adjustment, more suited for pourover. - **1Zpresso ZP6** – Produces ultra-clean grinds, excelling in filter brews. ### **Mid-Range Options:** - **1Zpresso JX-Pro** – Espresso-friendly with finer adjustments than JX. - **Timemore Chestnut C3 ESP** – Budget option with espresso-compatible burrs, decent for pourover. - **1Zpresso X-Pro** – Compact, external adjustment, slower but espresso-capable. — ## **⚡ Electric Grinders** ### **High-End Options:** - **Mahlkönig EK43** – The gold standard in specialty coffee shops. - **Weber EG-1** – Premium single-dose grinder for all brew methods. - **Lagom P100** – High-performance, SSP burr options for precision grinding. ### **Mid-Range / Prosumer Options:** - **DF64 Gen 2 / DF64P / DF64E** – Affordable single-dose grinders, great for both. - **Niche Zero** – Top-tier single-dose grinder for espresso & pourover. - **Eureka Mignon Specialita** – Stepless adjustment, solid for espresso & can handle pourover. - **Fellow Opus** – Budget-friendly, designed for both espresso & filter brewing. - **Baratza Vario+ / Sette 270** – Great entry-level grinders with micro-adjustments for espresso. - **Timemore Sculptor 078 / 064S** – New contenders with solid grind consistency. ### **Budget-Friendly Options:** - **Fellow Ode Gen 2** (Needs *SSP burrs* for espresso) – Excellent for pourover, but needs mods for espresso. - **Baratza Encore ESP** – Beginner-friendly with stepped adjustments. - **Eureka Mignon Crono** – Simple & effective for both espresso & filter. — 🔎 **Check reviews before buying**—grind quality & user experience vary. Preferences are subjective!

A $20 ceramic burr grinder was a huge upgrade over my blade grinder. My Timemore C2 was a huge upgrade over that for ~$120 CAD. I'm now using a Fellow Opus, which I'd say is about as good as the Timemore, but it's electric so it's more convenient and cost $280 CAD. In short, yes, even if you spend very little money for a generic ceramic burr grinder from Amazon, it will be an immense upgrade, as long as you make sure to dial in the grind setting.

Am I the only one that doesn't like Baratza grinders? My Fellow opus is much faster and quieter and easier to clean. I've had an encore and a virtuoso and wouldn't go back to that brand.

So, one good grinder that is all metal that works for drip/press/etc is the lagom casa. The least expensive would be something like the df54 or 64. I think they may have a plastic spout where the grinds come out, but that's it. They are possibly more aimed towards espresso. Quality control isn't great from what I know. If you're OK with a bit of plastic outisde of the grind chamber, then something like the fellow opus or any of the baratza grinders would be great.

What this guy said ^ to echo I bought a fellow opus as well. I wanted to upgrade my pourover grinder . So I got the opus pourover mainly during the week and use the opus for espresso on the weekends . When I have time to savour the whole process better. I also wanted a single dose grinder, I prefer them over inadequate dose from the entry burr grinders and noise. One can just add exact beans to the empty hopper. The opus gets the job done but find has retention issues more so for espresso. I really like the different catch cups on the opus . It makes adding fine ground espresso so easy to my portifilters /dosing funnels . @ Alienfever I feel your pain ! As well @op the ESP was my second choice ! It's a solid grinder ! More solid than the opus ! I'm going from other coffee store recommendations as well as others ! Not to mention a pro like James Hoffman ! The ESP was another sixty bucks and doesn't really do pourover well ! So I couldn't justify the extra as my goal is to get a better grinder. Sooooo my response !t ! Op I'd suggest your budget ! What you want your grinder to all do ! How long you will have it ! I wasnt ready to invest in a better grinder than what I got. The opus will get used strictly as pour over once I get the espresso grinder of my dreams 🤩😍😅 this way my funds won't be totally wasted ! My espresso game stepped up amazingly with a 200 dollar grinder . Can't wait win a I get 600 to 800 dollar grinder. Choose wisely 😀

Yeah I had a 200$ gift card to burn up so I grabbed one of these used it for the first time this morning made excellent coffee. This is my first grinder though so I have nothing to compare it too

Really the best option (with nothing else coming close IMO) is the Encore, as others have commented. I’d stay away from the Opus, personally. The Ode Gen 2 is probably the best you’re going to get at that price point, but it’s quite a bit more than you’d like to spend so I wouldn’t recommend it. It’s also really best for filter brews, you’re not going to be able to grind fine enough for espresso. Save yourself the hassle, get the Encore. A lot of my barista friends have it and swear by it. You’ll absolutely love it as it’s a huge step up from what you’re using and their customer support is excellent.

I have an Opus and drink pourover and Aeropress. It’s just… fine. But I would buy a  hand grinder if I were you:  1zpresso ZP6 if you are sticking with pourover or 1zpresso K-Ultra for an all-rounder or maybe a Kingrinder K6 for best price. That’s if you want to optimize for taste at the expense of effort, which is the kind of compromise you’ll have to make at this price point (no shade, it’s my price point too).

I got a Fellow Opus

Its very similar to C3 which I have, I was just tierd of grinding manually everyday, and also I wanted to have a separate grinder for pourover and espresso. c3 -> travel, df64 -> espresso, opus -> pourover

Its okay okay.. not the best not the worst. probabbly similar to Encore ESP.

Yes, probbaly I will offload my opus someday.

as a fellow unhappy owner of the opus, it's wild how this is universally the most mentioned "do not buy" grinder. It fully deserves this kind of reviews though, mine is frustratingly _almost_ broken despite spending $50+international shipping on replacement burrs, so i can't financially justify replacing it yet i wonder if ode gen 2 is as bad, i haven't really seen negative reviews about it from filter coffee enthusiasts

My current rotation is: 1. Fellow Opus (my daily driver) 2. 1Zpresso ZP6 3. Timemore S3 4. Timemore C2 (only really using this for travel) Opus is a pretty capable grinder for both espresso and pourover, and imo can get you excellent balanced cups of coffee. Good amount of sweetness and clarity in each cup. I once had the Ode 2, and I sold it to a friend after deciding I am better off with the Opus + ZP6 combo. I do have to say, what you heard about the retention is true: the retention problem is **HORRIBLE**. Even if you RDT, 1-3 grams of coffee will get stuck in there and you constantly have to smack/hit the top of the grinder 5 to 10 times just to get the grinds out. Was annoyed at it at first too but just got used to it as it is still a very good grinder for the price.

The Fellow Opus is limited when it comes to adjustments in the espresso range.

Ah yeah I would agree, it’s probably not very good. If you’re looking for manual, the lineup from 1zpresso or Kingrinder is great. For electric, Baratza Encore ESP, Fellow Opus, or something from the DF series. All of these (aside from the DF) are conical burrs, and will be a massive upgrade from a $20 hand grinder.

The Opus is great. The only thing I’d consider is the grind adjustment system, there is a standard dial for macro adjustments and then a second internal dial for more precise dialing in, which could be a bit confusing for beginners. But it’s pretty head-to-head with the Baratza Encore ESP. The Opus is certainly quieter and easier on the eyes.

Unless you’re open to a hand grinder, the best electric recommendations in that price range are going to be the Fellow Opus and Baratza Encore ESP. I tend to lean towards the Baratza because their brand has a reputation for longevity (and customer support, if you’re in the US). The Fellow is good, but the dialing system can be a bit more challenging for beginners, and I find the build quality to be a bit less sturdy (re: there have been cases of the plastic base starting to crack from tapping/hitting grinds out). Though, if volume and overall sound of grinding is important to you, you may prefer the Fellow. It’s more of a low hum, as opposed to a loud, more high-pitched sound on the Baratza.

I have chronic pain so I "upgraded" my hario hand grinder on black Friday to a Fellow Opus. Yes, I know that isn't a popular grinder on this sub, but it was the best electric I could afford at the moment. It's been a huge upgrade for me as far as quality of life goes, and a small upgrade in quality of coffee.

I would get an electric one, it really is worth the convenience on the days you don't want to hand grind. But the main reason is I don't think hand grinders make as good espresso, well most. They can make a soup shot so if you like light roast and dont want milk in it, they are good. If you want traditional espresso an electric would be good. Before the Sage I would look at the fellow opus or even the baratza esp which is the same brand as sage. Or if you can get a flat burr probably that 400 range unfortunetly. They have the df-54 which is cheap and the fellow ode gen 2. Not sure what type coffee you make but as long as you don't use an open face portafilter or want Turkish it works best.

The esp or the fellow opus are good options in that price range. I would pick them above the df54.

Taste profile and probably longevity, especially with the opus. The 54 is sharp in acidity and a little hallow. If its espresso, and you like a traditional cup, I think the other two would be a better choice.

The ode would be good for the brevel. Depends on the style pour over you want. It can make pour over, but if you want a cleaner or balanced cup, then there are better options. For pure flavor and cup quality, the c40. I would choose electric though, so maybe an opus. Or I personally would get an ode gen2. With the esp doesn't your breville come with the same burrs? Maybe you can upgrade the burrs in the l the machine, but its calibrated for espresso and not great for pour over. With that, i would go ode gen 2, c40, opus, esp. And BTW, with pressurized baskets, the ode works great. It's not good at espresso with an open face basket.

Before going with Opus, make sure you understand its Byzantine adjustment mechanism with macro and micro adjustments. I would much prefer a Baratza ESP or DF54 to the Opus.

Please whatever you do don’t get the fellow opus, i did and it is a nightmare with retention and will drive you insane within 3 months

I can’t tell you which grinder to get, but I can definitely tell you which one not to get; the Fellow Opus! I also wouldn’t recommend a manual grinder for espresso unless you enjoy a workout before pulling a shot. From my experience, it gets tedious after just a few days.

I got it too and like it. But it makes a god damn mess!

Within your budget: - Kingrinder K6 or 1zPresso X-Ultra for manual grinders - Baratza Encore ESP or Fellow Opus for electric. I personally really like hand grinding, and I think it's superior in grind quality at this price point, but if you don't know if that's his thing, you can't go wrong with the Baratza. It's an excellent grinder. I'd also include the single dose hopper for conical burr series.

No no, in my first reply I gave you 2 good options, that should be under $200: Fellow Opus and Baratza Encore ESP. If you can, get the Baratza.

Hand grinding is pretty easy, that would be my first choice, especially because it's pretty quiet. Kingrinder K6 or 1zPresso X-Ultra. They can grind for espresso if you want. For more money, there's also 1zPresso K-Ultra or Comandante. For electric, you could go with Baratza Encore ESP, that can use a large hopper, or the single dose hopper that's way prettier. But it's loud. Fellow Opus is maybe a little quieter, but I wouldn't count on it. If you can spend more and forget about espresso altogether, the best option would be Fellow Ode 2.

I dont know about the DM47 but as a former owner of the opus and a fellow kettle I would strongly suggest avoiding buying products made by Fellow. They make really bad quality stuff. My Opus broke twice each one after about 6 months of use. I sold the the last replacement. Not only was it cheaply made but the grinder was terrible at retention and consistency. Also the grind adjustment is really poorly executed and annoying. My kettle was also a piece of shit and the finish started peeling off after a few months of use and it also doesn’t work with induction stoves due to the cheap material design. They do have decent customer service but after your warranty period ends I wouldn’t expect much help.

There is a teardown video on YouTube and I think the weakest part of the grinder is the plastic gears that increase the torque of the motor. The company seams to prioritize spending money on marketing rather than quality.

These. Or check out the Fellow Opus and Fellow Ode Also OP, most modern hand grinder these days, you can already grind for less than 30secs and you already have a dose of 15-20g. So it has become less tiring. And its portable too. With your budget you can get one on an endgame model that will last you years and has better grinding than those brands mentioned above

Yep. There are decent conical burr grinders out there especially for espresso. The Baratza Encore ESP and Fellow Opus are two good ones around $200. The DF54 is a good flat burr grinder for just over $200 but I think its sold out.

Possibly helpful video [https://youtu.be/G7xGhGtvYIs?si=XVv0Of46e3rvBs4U](https://youtu.be/G7xGhGtvYIs?si=XVv0Of46e3rvBs4U) I do like the looks of the Opus the best which is also important, all things equal.

For that budget I'd go for 3 options depending on preference/workflow. - Turin DF54 (54mm flat burr, single dose, dosing cup) - Fellow Opus (44mm conical burr, single dose, dosing cup) - Eureka Manuale (50mm flat burr, hopper or single dose, direct to portafilter) Those are all great options that are towards the top end of your budget with Eureka coming in a bit higher with the Opus being the cheapest option. IMO the Eureka is probably the best built quality and durability wise.

I got a Fellow Opus in part because it has the ability to grind espresso in case I ever want to get into that in the future, but mainly because I prefer its aesthetic over other grinders in the same range (Baratza Encore, OXO, etc). I’ve only had it for a month, but I have not been disappointed so far.

Is your dad a coffee nerd or does he want to be? If he doesn't this might not be the best place to look because people will suggest to get the breville with something like a kingrinder to make the best espresso for your price point. Don't get me wrong, that's the setup I have and its excellent, I make coffee daily with it, but there is a learning curve and its time consuming. I like it because its like a routine for the morning and I've been experimenting with all sorts of beans from costco beans to local specialty stuff. Its really fun and therapeutic to me, just another way to appreciate the small things in life but I developed this hobby because I wanted to. If your dad doesn't want to get into this hobby but just have nice cup of drip coffee, I'd suggest you get him a good grinder, maybe something automatic like the fellow opus and a nice drip coffee machine. Maybe if he prefers the taste of drip coffee compared to espresso/espresso based drinks it would be worth exploring pour over. If you still insist on getting him an espresso machine that can do a bunch of things and think he wouldn't be into learning, I think the Luxe would be a good option

I’ve been using the Opus daily since January this year and love mine. I’m sure it’s not the best grinder but overall I get better clarity out of my cups than ~90% of cafes locally in my opinion. I would argue it’s a good enough grinder for most people aside from the biggest of enthusiasts. It’s supposed to do espresso grind as well so more of a jack of all trades master of none grinder.

Avoid the Fellow Opus, I upgraded to DF54 and I am happy with it.

I would avoid the Opus at all costs; it is a poorly designed product. I got DF54 for 239 pounds from sigma coffee uk and it is a life changer compared to the Opus.

If you are switching from manual to electric then you’ll like it for the convenience. It has some issues, which don’t bother me enough to not use it or sell it but definitely significant enough to second guess before recommending it to others. The main and only issue you need to be concerned about is retention. It’s a guessing game of how much comes out. It’s almost funny sometimes, feels like there’s a white hole in there. For filter coffee is totally fine if you don’t mind cleaning it often. For espresso, the grind settings have a learning curve. Once you get used to it, it’s quite good. I kinda like the difficulty (I’m an engineer), there’s also an app for it called beanie, though I used it only once or twice. I absolutely love it, but this also is my bias as I moved from a timemore to this. I got it mainly for filter coffee, and wanted something that can also do espresso which I brew very rarely. It looks beautiful imo, and is so simple to just press the one button. I also think that the retention discussion is a bit exaggerated online, it exists don’t get me wrong. I read and watched some reviews where they don’t spray the beans and claim that 4-5gms of coffee are stuck. Maybe slightly unfair to test that way, it’s closer to +-0.2-0.5 with mine and over time it’s replacing that amount with older retained coffee. I don’t notice that in the final brew for sure

I bought the Bodum as well as an “upgrade” to the $50 department store one I started with and it broke on me within a few months. Ended up getting the Fellow Opus as I’d received a Breville Bambino as a gift so wanted something that could do espresso too. The opus has a weird system for fine grind adjustment, but it’s been working well for me for almost 2 years now of daily use for espresso, Areopress and chemex. I’d recommend it.

Get the best grinder you can afford. There's no substitute for freshness in coffee grounds, no matter what the bag says! I have an Etzinger etz-i, but if you're unwilling to spend £200 on a hand grinder, there are plenty of other choices! James Hoffmann did a review on the [KinGrinder P1](https://youtu.be/EPbVUR6Y83k?si=LdQ82LSeqs3EpFdm), which only costs £30ish. It's reviewed well, it might be a good starting point if you're on a budget. Stepping up, you could look at other offerings from KinGrinder, Timemore or 1Zpresso, they're the big names for budget grinders. Check the reviews, but it's my understanding that you can't go too badly wrong with their offerings. If you want to go electric, look at a Sage, Baratza Encore or Sette, Fellow Ode or Opus, or Wilfa Svart for good starting points, they can all be had second hand for not a lot, but I do see the odd Fellows going for £150 or so new. There are bargains to be had here and there! I kind of gloss over electric grinders not because they're no good, but because the money you spend is put to better use if the manufacturer doesn't need to pay for electric motors. Grinding as coarsely as a moka pot needs isn't too onerous, and the money just goes into making a decent grinder. Electric grinders start at well over £100 for anything worth looking at, so unless you're grinding for 4 espressos every morning, you'll get much more bang for your buck grinding by hand. I do make 4 espressos every morning though, for which I have a DF54. Worth a look for an espresso-capable grinder you can grow into, and you want a nice kitchen gadget. (Who doesn't?) Another wise investment is a jeweller's scale, or drug scale, depending on your upbringing. It doesn't need to be anything expensive or fancy, as long as it measures to 0.1g. Use it to measure out your beans before grinding them, and weigh the water into the base, so if you find a recipe you like, you can repeat it. A standard kitchen scale is no good for the coffee world if it only measures to the nearest gram. If you're weighing out 500g of flour, you'll end up between 499.5g and 500.5g. Pretty negligible in a loaf of bread. When you're working with 20g of coffee, you'll taste the difference between a 19.5g and 20.5g cup. Amazon is the place to look, they're a tenner well spent. Finally, when you make the leap, hand or electric, get yourself a burr grinder. If it costs three eighths of bugger all and has a little spinning blade at the bottom, don't waste your money on it. Blade grinders are near-universally regarded as crap by the coffee world because the "grounds" they produce are so horrendously inconsistent. You want a nice uniform(-ish) particle size, which blade grinders just aren't capable of by their design. You'll have coffee particles ranging in size from half a bean to icing sugar in the same batch. Unusable for making anything you'd want to drink. Also, avoid grinders with ceramic burrs like the Hario Skerton. They aren't as awful as blade grinders, but they don't produce good grounds either. Ceramic burrs are the very cheapest you can get, which shows how much thought and effort went into the rest of the grinder, and the quality of coffee it'll produce. You get what you pay for.

Yes, conical burrs are good especially for medium and dark roasts, because they provide a more blended flavor.

Works fine also for moka pot. I have moccamaster and Opus 2 and its great combo. I you want espresso, you also need new brewer so you will be just fine with opus 2

don’t get tricked into thinking you need a $900 grinder unless you’re chasing micro-adjust god mode(we see and we dont judge lol). what actually matters is burr alignment and how easy it is to dial between brew types. ig for middle zone id recc the opus one, true conical burrs, 41 clicks, and the grind retention’s low enough that switching from espresso to v60 doesn’t feel likehell. not perfect, but for everyday espresso and pour-over its way more than enough

I use the Fellow Opus paired with a small weighing scale for single-serve. $200 machine + $50 scale (though I believe there are cheaper ones for $30-40). You can easily take the lid off the opus and place beans directly in there and onto the scale. It works fine and you can make a decent amount of adjustments to grind size. I'm neither recommending it nor dissuading you, as I've never owned another coffee grinder. Just letting you know my experience. The downsides are 1) there is quite a bit of static, so the workstation gets messy, and 2) I've noticed the ground beans sometimes gets caked up with coffee residue when grinding fine for espresso. It's a 30-60 second fix but a little annoying. I undo the grinder's head and poke a zip tie into the Burr grinder and release some of the beans. It probably happens every 10-20 pulls or so. I've experienced it with multiple different beans too, so Idk if it's a bean issue. Honestly I think it's kind of reassuring that it's such an easy fix, whereas other grinders might be much more difficult to "disassemble." DF54 seems to be more popular though, so I'm sure there's a reason for that.

It's gonna depend somewhat on your budget. In the range of $150-$250 US, there are several good electric options. Off the top of my head, the Baratza Encore ESP, the Fellow Opus, and the DF54 are all solid options in this range. Size wise, the Encore ESP is smaller footprint but taller. The standard hopper adds some effective width and especially height to the unit. If you buy the single dose hopper then you can cut that down (but then you bump the price point up to about the same as the DF54). The DF54 is next up in size, and the Fellow Opus is the biggest of the three. None of them are huge. Of these three, it is sorta objectively hard to argue with the value for money on the DF54. Whether you like them better or not, flat burrs cost more to make, and it has those whereas the other two are conicals. But with that, you're buying from a middleman, which means you are counting on them to continue providing customer support, which they might just not do. I personally landed with a Baratza Encore ESP because the DF54 seemed to be sold out from distributors that could reach me when I was shopping, and because I knew that I would not be willing to do the microadjustment process for the Fellow Opus even if I found myself in a situation where it would be relevant. Baratza's general inclination towards right-to-repair is a nice bonus, but it makes less difference if you don't live in the US. For cheaper than that, you should probably consider a manual grinder, especially if you want (or might want in the future) the flexibility to make espresso without another machine. For more expensive than that, you open up even more options.

Second the Timemore C2. You can probably find it on sale around now. The standard model can carry up to about 28g of beans, which is more than enough for Aeropress. I think I picked mine up for about $60. A few other options to look for: Fellow Opus or Fellow Ode Gen 2. I started my journey on a French press, with a blade grinder. Then it was an Aeropress Go and the Timemore C2. Now I focus mainly on pourover (v60 01, Switch) and have an Ode 2. If you think you may be interested in expanding your coffee setup at some point, the Opus or Ode would be perfectly good options. Another point to consider is that a hand grinder is portable. I love being able to take my setup with me (Aeropress, grinder, coffee) for vacations or to friend’s houses. As far as coffee beans go, look for a local roaster at your farmer’s market or maybe on Facebook. They’ll have plenty of options for you to consider. I started Aeropress on medium-dark roasts, and am now entering the world of light roasts. Take it all one step at a time. I know the entry into the coffee world can be a little overwhelming. Don’t focus on too many variables. Try two or three recipes and see what yields the most consistently enjoyable results for you.