Fellow Opus review

Clean, balanced cups for the money, with fines and less clarity as espresso7.5/10

Grind quality is widely liked, and most of the praise is measured against the price. Barista Magazine found the cup clearer and more layered than those from other grinders at this level1. Tom's Coffee Corner reports "nice and balanced, smooth shots" with very little astringency2.

Filter is where it is most at home. Kyle Rowsell treats it as a filter grinder first that can also do espresso, and HomeGrounds has no complaints about it for drip. As an espresso grinder it gives good body and goes fine enough for light roasts.

The caveat is the spread of particle sizes. It throws more fines than dearer grinders, and one long test found the fines got worse the coarser the setting. Home Cafe by Charlie found the espresso muted, short of "that sharpness or Clarity" that would make it worth drinking straight3.

Steps too wide for espresso, and an inner ring that scrambles the numbers2.7/10

Adjustment is the clear weakness. The outer ring offers 41+ grind settings, but only a handful sit in espresso range, and the gaps between them are large. HomeGrounds puts the problem plainly: "One Step finer and that shot is way over extracted"4.

The answer is meant to be the inner ring micro-adjustment, which splits each outer step into smaller ones. It works on paper. In use, moving the inner ring means the printed numbers no longer match the grind, and Stephen Thorsteinsson got different results from adjustments that should have been equal.

“Quite simply, this is a poorly thought out system for an otherwise very well thought out grinder.”

For filter coffee none of this matters much, since the wide steps suit it and a cheat sheet inside the lid tells a beginner where to start5. Seattle Coffee Gear, a store that sells the grinder, describes a revised version that drops the multi-step adjustment and simplifies the system6. Even there, light-roast espresso sat close to the end of the range, so check which version you are buying.

Full doses back on one counter, large losses and static on another4.6/10

Retention divides opinion more than anything else about the Opus. The maker lists it as low retention, and Seattle Coffee Gear agrees: "If I put 19 or 20 g in, I'm getting 19 or 20 g out even without RDT"7. Most other accounts find a small amount held back each dose, which a tap on the lid or a pump of it as a makeshift bellows shakes loose. There is no built-in knocker, and several wish there were.

Daniel Tipping is the outlier, and a large one. His measurement: "10 g in 5.3 g out nearing 50%. That is not good."8 A spritz of water made it worse, and nothing he tried fixed it.

Static splits the same way. The ionizer is praised strongly for keeping grounds fluffy and the counter clean9, yet Stephen Thorsteinsson found it stops coping at the fine end of the dial, where espresso lives10. Chaff also gets thrown up into the hopper, which needs wiping out regularly.

The routine is built for single dosing. The hopper will not hold a full bag, the motor does not stop on its own when the beans run out, and a timed run can need another press to finish an espresso dose. It is also slow. The dosing cup and its espresso insert are well liked, and cleaning is quick because the hopper and burr come out by hand11.

Quieter than its budget rivals, small on the counter and slow to finish8.1/10

Low noise is consistently praised. Lifestyle Lab calls it "considerably quieter and less intrusive" than nearly every other budget grinder it has used12. Daddy Got Coffee found it quieter than a Baratza Encore ESP even with the Opus's lid off, and Prima's side-by-side came out the same way.

It is also easy to place. At 5.07 lb it is light and narrow enough for a crowded counter, and it stays put while grinding.

Quiet is not the same as pleasant to every ear. Daniel Tipping's take: "Not the most pleasant grind to listen to. It's not the worst."13 One long-term account found it relatively loud, and because the grind is slow, the sound lasts longer than it would on a faster machine.

5.07 lb of plastic that scratches, around a strong motor and burrs that lift out by hand5.0/10

The build suits some and not others, and the split is between the shell and what is inside it. The outside is plastic throughout. Lance Hedrick lists it: "the Front plastic the back plastic the base plastic the catch cup is even plastic"14. It looks good from a distance, feels cheaper in the hand, and the base picks up scratches and scuffs.

The working parts get more respect. The 40 mm 6-blade conical burrs turn at 350 RPM on a motor with enough torque that light roasts did not stall it. The burr comes out without tools, though putting the chamber back together is harder than taking it apart.

The long-term record is thin and not spotless. A Home-Barista owner was waiting on a replacement unit for faulty bean sensing15. Seattle Coffee Gear notes a duty limit: "you can run it for 45 seconds straight, then it has to rest for a minute"16. The catch cup can drop out when you carry the grinder, and it will run with the hopper not fully locked, so check both.

Praised at $179.96, as a filter grinder that also does occasional espresso9.5/10

Value is praised almost without exception. Barista Magazine concludes that Fellow "has perhaps created the best $200ish grinder on the market"17. Lance Hedrick and Kyle Rowsell, both sent the grinder by the maker, land in the same place.

The case rests on the feature list. Single dosing, an ionizer, a magnetic catch cup and a range from espresso to cold brew are unusual at $179.96, which is less than most high-end hand grinders cost.

The value falls away if espresso is the main job. Stephen Thorsteinsson counts the coffee wasted on every dial-in and tells espresso buyers to choose another grinder. Kyle Rowsell's limit is kinder and more useful: a good pick for a few shots a week.

Our verdict

Buy the Opus if filter coffee is your daily drink and espresso is an occasional extra; at $179.96 it is quiet, compact and makes a clean cup. Skip it if you dial in espresso every morning, because the wide steps and the inner ring will cost you beans and patience. Before you pay, ask which adjustment version is in the box. In the first week, weigh a few doses in and out so you know how much your unit holds back.