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.

Yep, I hate mine. I’ve had it since November and it’s just got worse and worse, even with regular cleaning. I just use mine for Aeropress and anywhere between 4 and 6 grind size it takes 90+ seconds for an 18 gram dose, while retaining 2 grams, and causing me to have to beat up my grinder to get even 1.5 of those grams out. I’d love to know what alternative people are going for for Aeropress and filter grinds. I don’t really feel like giving Fellow my money again for an Ode 2, although they’re some of the only good looking grinders (and come in white) so I’m little stuck.

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.

I commented on the video but wanted to add my thoughts here. I’ve had an Opus for about a year and only used it for espresso for about 3 months. Even as a filter coffee grinder I had retention issues and it takes forever to grind a dose - 18 g takes around 90-120 seconds. I’m not sure if it’s my grind setting or the grinder itself but I’m disappointed.

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.

Fellow opus? The espresso dialing is supposed to be a pain, but possible. I’ll figure that out when the flair go ships, but it’s held up really well and works great for filter, pour over, aeropress. I have no reason to upgrade.

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.

Yeah that’s not my experience. 18 g for filter around 6-8 should be under 30s. Going finer does take more time. Aeropress I grind at 4 and 18 g takes maybe 45 s. I have an espresso machine on order but obviously haven’t used it for that yet.

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.

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!

I’m in a love-hate relationship with my Opus. Honestly, I end up using my 1ZPresso more, even though it’s more work. The Opus is almost exclusively used for filter coffee now.

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 😀

I completely agree with this! I had the Opus for about 10 months before I finally called it quits. There was even a time there that I stopped making espresso because I dreaded using this grinder so much. So now I finally have a Eureka Zero and it is leaps and bounds better.

I’ve had mine for over a year now and to put it simply, I hate the machine. I got it because it was reasonably priced and, unlike just about every other grinder ever made in its price range, it actually looks good. Pretty much every other competitor like a Sette or whatever which is around this one looks ugly as sin while this is the only device that seemed to have given any good thought to the fact that this sits out in the open on a countertop. However, that’s where the good ends. This machine has an unholy amount of retention. It’s just amazing to me that they found a way to design the machine to retain that much coffee. It feels as if they had to actively try to get it to retain grounds. I’m talking like 2-3 grams even after giving it a knock or a couple of puffs of aftermarket bellows. The only way to get it all out is to furiously punch the machine at all different angles along with a shake or two of the whole device itself. Even if I can put up with the level of punishment I have to put the machine through just to knock out the retention, an even bigger problem presents itself which is the mess it makes. This machine fires grounds every which way imaginable and even in other unimaginable ways. It’s wild how many grounds it blasts all around itself and where it all goes. It’s so bad that the static will even have grounds fall out the mouth at the bottom and somehow travel sideways in between the narrow catch cup gap and then fly back up and around the outside of the machine. Yes, it literally begins to cover the outside shell of itself several inches away. If you know how the mouth is designed and where it is located, you’d understand how insane this is. It’s not like a niche zero spout that protrudes. It’s surrounded by like several inches of lateral plastic before you get to the edge of the cylinder. And then the grounds make their way up the exterior of the cylinder by several inches. What’s more is they even added these grooves near the back of the machine which do a great job of catching more grounds out of the static vortex the machine creates around itself just to make it harder for you to clean the thing. No amount of thorough cleaning resolves any of this. I’ll literally get it spotless and it will immediately proceed to soil itself and the counter around it. Do not buy this machine. Save up and get a Niche or Eureka which also look nice and hopefully aren’t as obnoxious to use as this thing. Would love to hear about some recommendations in the $200-$500 range which don’t have these issues. Mainly I’m worried about the mess the machine makes.

I’ve used mine for filter for quite some time and just started using it for espresso. I haven’t timed mine but that seems unusually long. I don’t think mine takes nearly that long. I do have the retention issue also and find bellows and smacking the top lightly to be necessary.

Yes the smaller dose hopper makes a great bellows and, like the opus, it's the actual lid it doesn't look like a spring. One of the better coffee upgrades I made.

Avoid Opus, I’ve had nothing but issues. Replaced unit and now replacing the outer burr all in only 8 months

Same here, had the Opus for about a year and it’s been alright but leaves much to be desired. Going back I certainly would’ve chosen something different. However, on the topic of static, two things make a massive difference for me. 1) Beans. Super dark roasted cheap beans are a static nightmare for me, exactly like you described. Legit beans from a good roaster that are fresh and medium-ish roasted don’t give me any problems. I literally switch from one shot to another with the junk beans (for milk drinks where people won’t taste a difference) and good beans for straight espresso - night and day difference in static. 2) RDT. This one speaks for itself. Good beans + RDT and I have literally zero static. Retention… I also just slap the shit out of the machine after each dose. I cannot imagine it’s good for the longevity of the machine but it’s the reality we face.

Agree with retention problem, but my workarounds helps. First RDT spritz. Make sure no beans stuck in hopper. Use bellows. Most importantly, after cycle move the dial all the way to right, as coarse as it will go, then run for a few seconds. Bellows again. Make sure to weigh before and after, to get within 1g. If not, then the tapping, bellows, knocking, run for a few seconds. Then carefully bring the dial back to your setting for next time. And do a thorough cleaning every week, no exceptions.

Yeah retention sucks. But if you don’t manage it, it gets worse! By day 5 you can be completely screwed missing 6g. I’ll be shopping for a better grinder come Black Friday or Christmas.

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 second this, owned the Opus for a year but hated every bit of it.

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’ve had mine for a year as well. For filter coffee it’s good enough. Yes it holds so much ground coffee inside its insane. I’ve had to clean it a few times and ended up with enough ground coffee to pull an espresso with. I’ve started using it with espresso 3 weeks ago…. So glad the df64 gen 2 sits in its place since yesterday 😂. Will continue to use the opus for daily filter though.

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.

I got rid of that machine and got a DF54, then upgraded that to DF64. It’s wild that the Opus does not even meet the standards of a Fellow product to me.

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

I've had similar issues and it's definitely frustrating. I never had big issues when grinding light roasts for pour over, but since I got an espresso machine retention has been more apparent (1g even with a comparatively dark decaf). I have found a solution though. I take out the inner bur and dislodge any remaining grounds with a toothpick. Takes a few extra seconds and I wish I didn't have to do it, but it has reduced my frustration immeasurably. I was considering getting a Timemore Sculptor 064s as a replacement/upgrade, but I'm going to hold on to the Opus for a while longer.

I had total weirdness with an Opus I bought in early September. Yeah, retention is frustrating - at least a gram unless I bang the heck out of the top and use the lid as a bellow. But my issues with it are much bigger. I had a Oxo conical grinder for pourovers and a Sette 30 for espresso. The Oxo wasn't cutting it so decided to believe the marketing that the Opus could do from espresso to cold brew. Out of the box, first thing I tried was espresso. They say 1-2 setting for espresso. Nope - got up to 3 before I could get a decent 30 second pull but I was happy with it. Moved over to pourover. Long story short, got all the way to the 11 setting and no joy - 20g/300ml v60 was taking almost 5 minutes. I changed the inner ring (after hours and hours of research to figure it out) and I'm at a "virtual" 12 setting (inner ring/outer ring combo) and I'm getting 4:15 pourovers. Still not great. They send me an outer burr, convinced this is the issue. No joy. Then a new Opus. No change. I decide to send the "new" unit back because I paid for it (support was going to refund me when I returned my original one) and put my old one back in service. Reset the inner ring back to the coarsest setting and viola, suddenly when I'm at 12, I'm getting just over 3 minute pourovers. But this is still the coarsest setting and no way I could get a cold brew or French press grind out of it. Today, I tried espresso. Dialed it all the way down to 1 (with the inner ring at coarse, so really like it's at 2) and my shots are taking 10-12 seconds. WTH? So maybe some user error but I doubt it b/c of all the adjusting, cleaning burrs I've done over 2 months. I've been playing with the inner ring, outer ring with espresso and pourover and it's clear I can't get any more coarse than just good enough for a pourover. So it's going back to Fellow for a refund as soon as the DF54 I bought on Friday arrives.

I have the Opus. I have been waiting for James to review it. He said exactly everything I thought he would say about it.

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.

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.

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.

I had it for a few months to try it out and had the same issue. I purchased from Nordstrom who has a really good return policy… I returned it. I couldn’t take it. I bought the DF64 and am very happy. No issues, miles better in terms of quality, and looks arguably better than other grinders in that price range.

I feel justified in having gotten my Fellow Opus. Spritzing the beans helps with the retention issues, and yeah it looks well used considering how easily the plastic tends to scuff.

Have the opus right now, and went from .2g of retention to 3g in about a year. Upgrading next year though-- I want the niche "workflow" king vibe. The opus has a market audience, and it's people who stick to williams sonoma products and don't look beyond that. Not a bad thing (I do that with a lot of kitchen appliances) but Fellow's other products make the opus look like burned money.

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

Encore is good, its design is dated, and its a bit lousy to use. But its still a solid entry to grinding for Espresso. I've heard decent things about the DF64, but personally, at that stage, I'd get something from Fellow, looks a lot cleaner, something like the Fellow Opus.

Its cooler looking :) But that aside, its more of a cost thing. The opus is a lot cheaper, and grinds above its price class. Being cheaper means, you feel less bad about modding it. The DF64 has its own set of issues, like retention, static etc. While both of them are really good options, I've always had a thing for how Fellow designs their stuff, everything from their mugs, to their kettles, to their grinders are designed beautifully, and I've a softspot for that. Edit : Also would like to add, one of the things I like to focus on is the user experience, for example a Niche, or a Fellow Ode is a pleasure to use, even if the results are not as precise as the DF64, because making coffee is meant to be as good of an experience as consuming coffee. That's why the review also, we all know that a C2 will give you the absolute best results in terms of price to grind quality ratio, but a cheap electric grinder can make the experience a lot more pleasurable, And that's something I take into account.

My experience has been different. I’ve had zero retention lately although I had to work out my own procedure. I tap the side lightly few times with my tamper as it grinds and do some aftermarket bellows work. The final step is to grab the dosing cup and bounce it up against the bottom of the grinder rapidly 4x5 times—whackety whackety. Voila, my 17 grams is in the cup (I weigh every grind). I like the grind, I like the flavor and texture of the dark beans I use. But I have had to have the outer burr replaced under warranty, 10 months in. Do I sound like a Cybertruck owner? Right now I’ve found my sweet spot.

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.