Customer Ratings & Reviews

Beautiful Machine and extremely quiet operation. Although it's mainly plastic, it's great quality and has a elegant presence. It's a very capable machine that can handle back to back shots while maintaining good heat. It has one boiler with a booster to get temperature operations up and ready in two minutes. There's an app you can download to get the "full" experience (not necessary but adds to the convenience). Everything can be done on the machine. You will need a separate grinder, but if you're looking at this caliber of Espresso machines, then you are most likely aware of that, and possibly own a standalone grinder already. The steam wand is extremely powerful if you're into milk drinks, I'm not, but my wife says it's 10x better than our old Breville. Fellow is an coffee-enthusiast brand, and make good products with good support (both from their site and on Reddit). While pricey, I think it's worth the investment as I can see this lasting a very long time due having the ability to update its firmware for added features and fixes.

The Fellow Espresso Series 1 is my first machine. It’s got a great minimal design and looks beautiful on the counter. It’s simple to use overall after a few software updates. My only complaint is the plastic, with that said the plastic is high quality.

I recently reached out to Fellow customer support regarding some software behavior with custom profiles on my Espresso Series 1, and the assistance I received was absolutely phenomenal. The support team, specifically Kyle, went above and beyond to provide a clear, in-depth breakdown of the machine's global profile system and the underlying logic behind the guided drink menus versus the manual Piano Keys. Instead of just providing a generic troubleshooting script, he took the time to truly educate me on how the machine operates, which completely elevated my confidence in dialing in my espresso. The recommended solutions, including ensuring my firmware was up to date and utilizing the quick-action Piano Key to instantly pull my active custom profile, were incredibly helpful. The level of technical knowledge, promptness, and genuine care for the customer experience was exceptional. Fellow’s customer service sets an incredibly high standard for the specialty coffee industry, making the entire Espresso Series 1 ownership experience truly world-class.

easy to use, excellent results, regular updates to firmware. So many options or just quick delicious coffee. The Best grinder you can afford will make this infinitely better. I love the way it looks and performs. I'm very Happy with this purchase.

This is easily the best home espresso machine I have ever used. It takes most of the guess work out of the process with smart features which are extremely useful. Some of these are built in temperature sensors, water hardness settings, specific milk settings, and more. Pros: - Looks great - Easy to use - Quality shots - Temperature sensor - Build quality Cons: - No grinder - Limited included filter baskets - Slow heating Setup and initial impressions: Using the app, simply give the machine a cleaning, hook it up to Wi-Fi, do a water harness test (with the included strip), and you are pretty much good to go. Build quality is outstanding with a great clean look and high-quality materials. There are only two included baskets so you might want to see if there are more options available on their site if you want more pull options. I thought there might be a built-in grinder at first but there is not so make sure you are set up with your own or buy grinds which are fine for espresso. Use: Keep in mind that since you are grinding your own shots, you will need to make sure you get the right amount for each pull. The manual recommends 18 grams (3.5 tbsp) for a shot of espresso. A scale is useful or just use the tbsp measurement if you grind in bulk. Making a latte, for example, is extremely easy. You power up the device, select the type of drink you want, load the portafilter, press start. It will take a good minute or so to heat up properly for the first shot after powering on (quicker for more shots). It then directs you to heat your milk, this is fun since the temperature is calibrated for the type of milk you select. It shows the current temperature in real time on the screen as it heats. I like that there is no “charging” for the steam which is common in-home units as it is ready to push out steam almost immediately after pulling the shot. It will automatically purge the wand as soon as you place it back in place. Drinks come out very nicely. I usually make vanilla lattes or caramel macchiatos. The flavor comes out very close to what you might get at a nice coffee shop in my opinion. The crema on the espresso seems somewhat thin in my opinion making latte art somewhat hard, but this might just be my skill level (likely). Milk comes out with the perfect amount of micro-foam at the perfect temperature each time. Clean up and maintenance is easy as it is mainly wiping the machine down and cleaning milk off the want after each use. The machine comes with cleaning pellets and two descaling power packets for future use. I am not that great at latte art yet, but if you know what you are doing, I imagine you can get good results here.

I’m not super thrilled with this machine. I think it’s fine for a home espresso machine but you really have to know you want espresso to deal with the hassle of any espresso machine. I hoped this would ease that pain a bit and I generally enjoy fellow products. It’s a bit plastic-y and somewhat loud. Seems ok for build quality; I wish it felt more premium for the price. My biggest complaint is despite being marketed as a better brewing tool with profiles etc, it is just as finicky as any espresso machine. Expect to waste beans dialing it in. The machine also seems to exhaust steam after it’s been turned off and sometimes I get puddled water underneath after. Very annoying. Honestly I just want to return the thing and go back to my Aeropress and pour overs. Unfortunately it isn’t an option because Best Buy has a garbage short return policy. So my advice to you is don’t buy this at Best Buy. If you really want one, get it somewhere with a more generous return policy.

The Fellow Espresso Series 1 is a great espresso machine for the home barista who is looking to elevate espresso brewing to the next level. While the machine has a ton of ways to customize your brew experience, the day-to-day machine is simple: prep your puck and press the brew key on the top of the machine. Steaming milk is also very simple with the machine. The included pitcher has volumetric markings on the inside so you can directly measure in the pitcher. The steam wand has a built-in temperature sensor, which makes it foolproof to get the milk to the desired temperature. Pros: - The machine's startup time is very quick and you can start pulling espresso shots in about 2 minutes - The display on the machine gives you real time information about the current pressure and at the end it shows you a graph of the output - Users have a decent amount of control on how they want to control brewing, you can use the default volumetric, time based, or manual cutoff - Once you get the basics of steaming milk down, it is very easy to produce silky milk with just the right amount of foam. - The machine provides guides on how to make all sorts of drinks, including amount of milk to use for each - Pro users have a ton of customizations in their brew profile. The app makes it easy to build a custom profile with control over Pre-Infusion, Infusion, and Ramp Down steps What could be improved: - The volumetric offsets were way off for me. I generally use medium / medium light roast beans, and my shots were only producing 15ml. I had to bump up the volumetric offsets by 20+ ml to get it to produce 36ml. I really hope they will add support for Bluetooth scales - While the app can build custom profiles, it could be improved to give full control of the machine. Also, it might be nice to be able to see a history of the shots

Verdict. I think I love this machine… ? While I am slightly confused about the target customer for the machine, and I was initially quite frustrated with the quirks of using it, it’s undeniable that if you know what you are doing, you can make very good coffee with it. And there is a lot more to love… It looks cool, footprint is very small, it has some nice tech, the steam wand is fantastic, and once dialed in, it’s really easy to use. The app is substantially disappointing though... but that could potentially be fixed in the future. Experience. I have extensive experience making espresso, owning a dozen machines over the years, and using many more machines, from lever, manual, semi-auto, and full auto machines. I have a passion for coffee and spend a lot of time brewing coffee and reading about it. Please consider that my review will be more critical than most. Pro Tips. If you are going to buy this machine, please research and purchase a great grinder, and purchase fresh beans from a quality roaster (with a “roasted on” date that is less than two weeks old, and not with a “use by” date). The grinder and the coffee are actually more important than the espresso machine because they will always limit the quality of what you can brew. In the end, for the most part, 9 bars is 9 bars, which you can get from a thousand different machines. Initial impressions. This machine is smaller than I expected, but the footprint is actually amazing! It doesn’t take much space on the counter. There is certainly a lot of plastic… but it still looks sharp, and I love the all-black option. So far, everyone who has walked into the kitchen made a comment about how cool the machine looks. I don’t love the rubber mat on top, but I think having the tools under the mat is a nice compromise that justifies the decision. The screen is so small, that I didn’t think it was a screen with any substantial information… maybe just a navigation screen. Setup. I washed and filled the reservoir, hooked the portafilter, turned on the machine by pressing the knob (intuitive enough), and then tried to connect to the app. Connection failed several times in a row, only for the app to show that I was already connected to the machine… ok. I was shocked a how little is in the app. More on that later. While the machine is “ready to brew” at 2 minutes, nothing really is warm… the portafilter is cold, cup tray is cold, and I am sure the internals are cold too (I know they created an offset in water temp to account for cold components). Nevertheless, a manual espresso machine that can brew in 2 minutes is epic! App. First and foremost, I should see an on/off as soon as I click on the machine in the app. Let me turn it on remotely so the components warm up! Besides customizing brewing profiles, the rest of the app is just informational and does not interact with the machine, which is too bad because my phone screen is much bigger than the tiny circle screen on the machine… so let me set my settings from the phone! The only interesting feature in the app is the customization of the brewing profiles. There are a lot options there, including smooth transition between pressure changes, and an auto ramp down to your designated pressure. I like the auto-generated pressure graph too. And that is all for the app… really a missed opportunity to compete with higher end machines. Operating the machine. First and foremost, there will be a learning curve to brew with this machine if you are coming from pod coffee, or from semi-auto or fully-auto espresso machines… It is what it is, and it’s worth it! You will get infinitely better coffee than what you have now (**if** you have a quality grinder and you are using fresh quality beans). For brewing, I like the piano key concept… it’s simple and fast (but implementation could be better, more info below). Of note, the steam key being on the opposite side of the steam wand is not practical. The navigation knob works fine. It’s incredibly annoying at first to navigate the menus on the small screen, but once the machine is setup, I really don’t need to use it much (and don’t want to use it!). The drink instructions are mostly useless since they are sort of instructional only and you still have to do everything yourself. The brewing feedback is not showing up for me anymore for some reason. I really like the fast pre-loaded profiles in the menu… I tried out several and now mostly use 9 Bars and Lever. When brewing with this machine, stop brewing 4.5 grams before your target weight to hit your target weight exactly as the espresso trickles to an end. Espresso brewing quality. The espresso I brewed with this machine was high-quality: sweet, some acid, some body, and some character, with nice looking flow from the portafilter. The puck was incredibly mushy though… not sure why that is. Brewing was pretty consistent with starting dose at 18g, and yield for the last 7 shots coming in at about 36g in 27-29 seconds. The pre-infusion appears to be dynamic (not time-based, but rather first drop based?), which I don’t mind. The lever profile is very cool and I got a very sweet shot out of it. The espresso is actually great, but of course can’t quite compete with a professional class machine in body, mouthfeel, and character/strength. My lattes were almost too smooth in that the coffee could not compete with the milk, despite using the very same recipe as the one I use on my professional machine. Still… that smooth latte will probably be better than any other you have had. Milk drinks. The wand is easy to use and quite forgiving for latte art. It’s not the most powerful steam, but it actually strikes a perfect balance: not too strong and not too slow. You get perfect milk in completely acceptable time. Check out the latte art in the picture from the very first try. Things I love: - Very nice-looking machine (despite being primarily plastic) - Pre-loaded coffee profiles is a nice touch - Ability to customize a brewing profile is great - Markings on the group head for where to insert the portafilter are helpful for new users - The steam is not too strong and not too slow… maybe perfect for most users - Steam wand purging makes no mess! - The no-burn steam wand is remarkable… even right after steaming it’s not really hot! - Thank you for including the backflush cap and the pinhole tool Things I don’t love (remember... I am knit picking here): - To flush the group head, you hold the brew button for two seconds. So flushing the steam wand should be the same… it’s not. There is no dedicated way to flush the steam wand, except by activating it, but it’s a bit clunky because you press it (on the other side of the group head) to start, then press it to end, then you have to press it twice again to start steaming. Flushing the steam wand is required because this wand (and almost all wands) has water in it. - Instead of a long press to flush or rinse, make it a double press, it’s much quicker, and do it for both the group head and the steam wand - The setting in the menu for how long to rinse the group head doesn’t work. I set mine to 7 seconds, and the machine still rinses for just 2 seconds at most… that’s not enough to flush before brewing and not enough for rinsing after brewing - The app is not good. So much potential left unused here. Enable a “pro-mode” to unleash the power of this machine to compete with some of the others at much higher price points - Give me an “on” button from the app so I can warm up the machine and the portafilter! - The basket is not great, I switched mine for a brand name basket and reduced channeling significantly - The cup tray doesn’t heat at all, but it’s ok, I just use the hot water. Maybe it’s not a cup tray, I am not sure - The included milk jug is too small for lattes. With the right milk amount for a latte, if you add a tad too much air, you will struggle not to overflow the milk in your swirl. You have instructions for beginners, so clearly that is a target customer! Just a little bigger for the milk jug! - The plastic double spot attachment… it’s mixing plastic and hot liquids… no thank you! - The group head has some minor play in it when the portafilter is tight and I try to remove it. That makes me worried. That should be more solid in my opinion. - You can get pretty deep into the menus on this tiny little screen. I need a faster way to get back to the very first screen to start brewing something specific (beside using the piano key). Maybe make a double press or triple press on the knob to go back to the first page of the menu - The round screen is too small. I understand the desire to differentiate from other machines that have small square screens or really large screens, and also maintaining the esthetic vision of the product… so in that case, let me use my phone to manage the settings! - The drink instructions may be helpful 3 times for a new user and then never again, and they won’t be used by any users with experience, so that feature really doesn’t add value Overall, this is a very cool machine. If you don’t know what you are doing but you are ready to learn, this is a great price point to start with a “real” espresso machine while still getting a lot of the new tech that is coming to market. If you are experienced, you will enjoy this machine (if you don’t mind small quirks). You can also continue to experiment with it for a long time, or just brew straight 9 bars and steam amazing milk! I hated the machine the first day, and by day five, I actually do love it!! I think that most people who will buy this machine will love it and enjoy amazing coffee at a great price, small footprint, and nice looks!

📦 UNBOXING: Inside the box, you’ll get the Espresso Series 1 semi-automatic machine, a 58mm bottomless portafilter, a tamper, two 18g double shot baskets (one single wall and one pressurized), a shot splitter attachment, and a milk pitcher for use with the steam wand. Fellow also includes a single water hardness test to help calibrate your machine, and some cleaning accessories—some of which are secretly stored under the rubber pad on top of the machine. 💪 BUILD: The Espresso Series 1 is an elegant, minimalist aesthetic espresso machine that looks nice on your counter while also allowing a lot of customization in software. It’s made of both a mixture of plastic (both matte and glossy) and metal. One of its most important design elements is its Boosted Boiler that has three separate heating elements: one for preheating water, another for brewing, and yet another in the group head. This allows the Espresso Series 1 to deliver temperature precision throughout every step of the process while also being able to warm up in 2 minutes or less. Atop the machine you’ll find a rubber pad to hold your accessories and also has a removable lift-out water tank for easy refills. You’ll also find some quick-press buttons for brewing, using the steam wand, and dispensing hot water from the group head. The steaming wand also has a temperature sensor to automatically stop once your milk reaches its desired temperature for a selection of coffee drinks, and will auto-purge itself once lowered back to face the drip tray. The drip tray is easy to remove and empty, and I appreciate that it is easy to wipe down. ⚒️ SETUP: The setup process is laid out in the included quick start guide, including a QR code to download their app, as well as a playlist of videos showing each step of the brewing process. Notably, I had to calibrate for water hardness and altitude—something that many espresso machines do not account for. I was also able to connect to a 2.4GHz WiFi network and perform the first firmware update. For beginners and experts alike, I recommend using the app’s “Learn” tab to learn the basics of making a drink with the Espresso Series 1. Because it is a semi-automatic machine, it doesn’t come with a grinder so you’ll need to bring your own, but it will guide you through each step with quantities and feedback so you can work towards dialing in the perfect shot. 💿 SOFTWARE & CONTROLS: The Espresso Series 1's onboard software is intuitive to navigate. You can scroll through menus with just a turn of the dial, and selection is done just by pressing the dial since it also functions as a button. A lot of the deeper customization features are under a “Nerdy Settings” sub menu so that you can just stick to the basics when starting out. Though it is a little more work than just hitting a single button as you would on a lot of espresso machines, you still don’t have to scroll through 20 customization options just to make your morning latte. You can also use the brew button on top to begin brewing a shot using the currently selected bean profile. More importantly, however, is the ability to customize and save shot profiles. Fellow includes presets based on the roast of your beans (light, medium, dark) or brewing style (9 bar, lever, modern arc, turbo shot). This allows you to start out with a profile based on how you want to brew or your beans and you can customize from there. You can also make custom profiles in the app, and select the active profile. 📱 MOBILE APP: At the time of this review, the mobile app is very limited in capabilities, but Fellow promises that they’re actively working on adding features and improving stability. The app menu is fairly similar to the menu on the machine itself, with profiles and customization settings. It does have a Learn tab which has a few guides and How-to videos. The profiles also have a more detailed description to give you a better idea of when to use certain ones. You can also create a new profile which is great for saving settings for different espresso beans you want to try. The profiles can be set as active on the machine from the app, but for a lot of the customization settings, the app mostly just provides a description. Fellow also has an optional text-to-order service called Fellow Drops where every week they highlight a different coffee that you can purchase through text. Each Drop has a Fellow-made profile that you can save to use on the Espresso Series 1 so you can take the guesswork out of brewing it. I also appreciate that you don’t need to make a purchase through Fellow to use these profiles—so you can always get the coffee wherever available, and you can always modify the profiles to your liking. 🫘 GRINDING & TAMPING: As far as grinding is concerned, you will have to purchase a separate espresso grinder to use with this machine since it is not included. However, the machine does provide brew guidance for a coarser or finer grind based on your shot’s volume and extraction time. So beginners won’t be left clueless. The tamping tool is nice looking and ergonomic, making it easy to provide a nice, even tamp with some practice. ☕ BREWING: Generally speaking, you’ll pick a preset espresso profile (e.g. light, medium, or dark) or custom espresso profile for your beans then select “Make a Drink” and choose what drink you want to make. Series 1 will guide you through the process. It will tell you the quantity of grounds to put into the portafilter, so you’ll want to use a precision scale. Tamp your grounds, insert the portafilter into the group head until it’s locked in, and hit brew. If you need to steam milk for your drink, the display will guide you through that process, as well. The presets allow you to essentially plug and play right from the start, so even beginners can have a good reference point to begin dialing in the perfect shot since there are an overwhelming number of factors that can impact the outcome. Having preset values for more complex settings like shot timing and pressure takes out a lot of initial guesswork so that you can focus on fewer variables like grind size. By default, the “Brew stop” feature is enabled, so it’ll automatically stop when it reaches the expected volume, but this can also be configured to stop based on extraction time. You can also turn this completely off to go to full manual mode if you want to stop extraction by pressing the brew key when you reach your desired output. You can also further customize the volumetric dosing by changing the volumetric offsets in the Nerdy Settings menu. Fellow claims that the default calibration works well for most users, but I did find that the default volumetric settings led my shots to yield way less than the desired 1:2 ratio against a default 25-35 second window for a preset Latte. So I appreciate being able to control these offsets to reach a proper 1:2 ratio. There are a lot more settings I have yet to experience, but I imagine that seasoned brewers will appreciate all the options they have to dial in their perfect shot. With that said, Fellow could certainly do more work in software (both in the app and on the machine) to help users discover deeper customization. As someone who isn’t already an espresso expert, it would have been nice to have some feedback or deeper in-app guides regarding the various settings and their effects. Fellow has many useful articles on their help site that they should port over to their app. I managed to find a guide on volumetric dosing for the Series 1 that was very helpful towards dialing in the right shot, but I imagine a lot of users might not find this. ♨️ STEAM WAND: I could tell an immediate difference in the steam wand and steaming power on the Espresso Series 1 after the first use. The steaming wand is powerful enough to perfectly aerate milk for latte art and I was able to make silky smooth microfoam with just a little practice. That being said, I do recommend at least looking at the instructions in the guide or watching one of the videos Fellow made that gives more information on how to steam milk. Milk-based espresso drinks (e.g. latte, cappuccino, flat white) also have preset milk quantities, so the machine will tell you how much milk to put into the pitcher for steaming, and each preset has a target temperature to reach before it stops steaming. The steam wand has a temperature sensor on the tip, so it knows exactly when it reaches the target temperature, and the display shows the current temperature so you’re not left guessing. This has been very helpful for me, as I can never tell when it’s hot enough just by touch, and putting a thermometer in the milk while steaming is impractical. This steam wand takes a good portion of the guess-work out of getting the perfect milk texture. The wand also auto-purges itself once you lower it back down to the catch tray which is very convenient for making sure it stays clean and clog-free between uses. 🧐 CONCLUSION: The Fellow Espresso Series 1 aims to make it easy for beginners and experts alike to dial in the perfect shot, but its price tag really isn’t for beginners. At its current price, it’s really targeting those who want to upgrade from their existing espresso setups at home, rather than be someone's first foray into espresso. Even so, those with the cash would not be wrong to make the Series 1 their first machine. But it is still in its early stages of software, and while I wouldn’t suggest buying the Series 1 based on what may come in future software updates, I do think that there’s enough here today to make many espresso hobbyists happy.

Without a doubt, the well-designed, good-looking, and very capable Fellow - Espresso Series 1 - Semi-Automatic Espresso Maker is a great upgrade over my older, fully automated Saeco Espresso machine. From the first cup of Cappuccino, I could taste a huge difference: it tasted much richer, and I could taste the chocolaty and caramel flavors of my current coffee beans for the first time. The milk frother handles different milk types (dairy and plant-based), makes voluminous (thick) foam for cappuccinos and fine, velvety foam for lattes, and is easy to clean. The temperature probe on the LCD panel makes it easy to heat milk accurately, preventing it from boiling too hot. The steam wand is especially impressive: its built‑in temperature sensor stops steaming automatically once the milk reaches 60°C / 140°F, and it even performs an automatic water purge afterward. Every espresso shot comes out consistently thanks to the real‑time graph on the LCD panel, which shows time and pressure and gives feedback on grind density. When I ground the beans too fine, the machine alerted me; after adjusting to a slightly coarser grind, the shots were spot‑on. With all these smart features working together, making cappuccinos, café crèmes, lattes, and other espresso drinks becomes effortless. There are lots of customizations available through the LCD panel (and maybe later through the app as well) to match your needs and preferences making espresso brewing more fun. The step-by-step guidance on the device's LCD panel supports a diverse audience, from beginners and hobbyists or enthusiasts (like me) to professionals. [ Verdict ] The Fellow - Espresso Series 1 - Semi-Automatic Espresso Maker unleashes your inner barista and makes every coffee run feel completely unnecessary. You can craft café‑quality drinks at home with ease, consistency, and a whole lot of joy. An absolute 5‑out‑of‑5 stars — very highly recommended for anyone who appreciates exceptional espresso drinks. [ Notes ] - Fellow provides a great "Espresso Basics" flyer (see attached picture) which details "How to grind your coffee", "How to prep your puck", and "how to steam milk", in addition to a "Getting started" guide and other product education and "How to" videos (e.g., "How to Make a Cappuccino") on their fellowproducts.com website, "Academy". - If a "$25 Fellow Drops" credit comes with the purchase, please know that their "Drops" service is a text-based coffee service, and as such, the credit cannot be redeemed for an order on their website. - At the time of this writing, the app integration with the espresso maker was in its beginning phases and is limited to basic set up of the espresso machine, including connecting it to the Internet. A firmware upgrade, though announced, was not yet available for download. I am looking forward to seeing significant app and firmware updates in the future. - There is no integrated grinder, meaning you would need to purchase one, e.g., a "Burr Grinder", that is capable of producing fine grounds (Note: Turkish ground is too fine)

The Fellow Espresso Series 1 makes a genuinely great cup. Shots come out balanced and consistent, and once you've dialed in a bean, the machine just holds the line — no fiddling required to get the same quality pull again tomorrow. What stands out beyond the coffee is how thoughtfully designed it is. The three dedicated buttons for brew, steam, and hot water mean you're not digging through menus for the things you do every morning, and the guided recipes on the screen are actually useful when you want to try something new. The temperature-sensing steam wand is a small touch that makes milk drinks feel effortless. Fellow clearly thought about the whole ritual, not just the specs. And it looks beautiful on the counter. It's a piece of equipment you're happy to leave out — compact, clean lines, no unnecessary flash. Highly recommend.

Having tried a few other machines at this price point, the Fellow Series 1 brings real commercial-espresso elements to your home (58mm portafilter, pressure profiling, and Boosted Boiler system aren't gimmicks). People complain about the outer plastic shell, but what actually matters is what touches your water and espresso, and that's stainless steel here, not the aluminum thermoblocks most machines in this range use. Still learning the ropes, but I'm pulling great shots and making fantastic lattes every morning.

I am a daily coffee drinker and have been on a quest since my work-from-home pandemic days for the best cup 'o joe I can make at home. I've vacillated between coffee makers and espresso machines, and I recognize the inherent flaws with each. I thought I'd found the ideal solution with a superautomatic espresso machine, capable of basic coffee as well as most of the fancy hot (or iced) espresso-based drinks I like... but in practice the machine was noisy, complex and frankly a maintenance nightmare. I've become a regular user of Fellow's advanced coffee brewer, Aiden, and I'm generally a fan. I love the Fellow aesthetic and appreciate the ability of Aiden to work as a simple, straightforward brewer or a highly-customized, intelligent coffee wizard. When Fellow announced their first espresso machine, the Series 1, I was immediately intrigued. Not only is it a looker, but it incorporated my favorite parts of Aiden, with pre-determined profiles and the ability to precisely control just about all aspects of the brewing process. I was also curious if Fellow's claims of rapid, quiet heating and general ease-of-use for a semiautomatic espresso machine would hold true. In typical Fellow fashion the Series 1 arrived expertly packed in layers of strong cardboard. Like other high end brands, the unboxing experience still feels special, with the box unfolding smartly to reveal the machine and included accessories inside. The machine itself and some of the accessories were wrapped in regular plastic film, but the majority of the packing was easily recycled cardboard or paperboard. The Series 1 immediately impresses with its clean design and solid, heavy weight (you might want help unboxing and placing it on the counter). I have the black on black version, which is understated without feeling too plain. That said, some of the available color combos are absolutely gorgeous, and I love the wooden handled portafilter included in some of those colorways. Even so, the all-black version doesn't look cheap, with the mix of plastic finishes and chrome accents. I'm particularly impressed with the size of the machine. It's short and squat, so it'll fit easily under cabinets, but somehow doesn't manage to take up a whole lot more space than the Fellow Aiden on the counter. I especially appreciate the soft rubber mat on top, which is a great place to stack most of the espresso accessories included (and some I've purchased myself). As a small-kitchen-haver counter space is precious and the Series 1 comports itself well in this area. Part of the attraction with this machine is the integration of smart features, which does require downloading Fellow's app and connecting the machine to wifi. You can forgo this, but you'll lose out on software updates and the ability to tweak settings on your phone screen instead of the screen and dial system on the machine itself (more on this later). It took one restart of the machine for me to get the app successfully connected, but after this small initial hiccup everything has been working flawlessly, and a number of software updates have downloaded and installed without issue. I'm not a total stranger to espresso machines, but this is my first brush with a semiautomatic setup that requires manual puck preparation and milk steaming. Where Fellow really shines for me is their approach to providing as much or as little assistance as you'd like. If you're confident in your skills you can forgo any guidance, pulling shots and steaming milk fully manually. If you're like me and don't really know what you're doing, you can use the built-in "make a drink" menu, where the Series 1 will guide you step-by-step to (hopefully) the perfect latte, americano or cappuccino. A key part of making espresso is grinding the beans, which you'll need your own grinder for. The machine will (optionally) suggest changes to your grind based on the speed of your shot pull, so it helps to have a good grinder with lots of adjustments. I've been using my current, relatively-inexpensive burr grinder with some success, but the better your grinder, the better your shots will be. Yes, I already have my eyes on Fellow's latest grinders... but that's for another review. Grinder aside, Fellow includes all the basic tools you need to pull a shot and steam milk, which makes getting started about as easy as can be. The included portafilter, baskets and tamper are all high quality metal-and-plastic affairs, easy to use and easy to clean. Well done, Fellow! I'm a sucker for a good latte, which is primarily what I use the Series 1 to make. The guided drink menu makes things incredibly straightforward and uses a myriad of internal sensors to guide your shot pull and, crucially for me, milk steaming. In my week or so with the Series 1 I've found it hard to achieve the 22-32 second shot pulling target the machine asks me to aim for, which I'm fairly certain has to do with my grind size and/or quantity, which is where I'll need to spend some time experimenting. That said, even though my shots tend to pull too quickly, all my drinks have been hot and tasty. I really like the design of the steam wand system, which includes a temperature sensor to automatically cut off steam at the appropriate temperature for the drink you're making, and auto-purges the steam wand after every use. My steaming technique definitely needs some work, but there are plenty of videos by Fellow and others to help guide my practicing. As a relative espresso novice, I can't compare the Series 1 to other machines directly, but I can say I find it consistent, straightforward, quick and quiet. I'm especially pleased with how quickly it heats up -- the Boosted Boiler system really works -- and how quietly it operates. The superautomatic system I used for a while was loud enough to hear a few rooms away and vibrated the entire counter when in use; the Series 1 is positively demure in comparison. Another area Fellow has aced is cleaning and maintenance. My biggest complaint with superautomatic machines is the amount and difficulty of maintenance; semiautomatics like the Series 1 might involve more work in making each drink, but they're vastly easier to clean (at least this one is). Even better, Fellow's automated systems keep track of usage and automatically notify you when to perform certain maintenance routines, providing step-by-step guidance as well. They even hide some cleaning tools under the rubber mat on top of the machine, so you don't worry about misplacing them. Nice! All told, the Fellow Espresso Series 1 has been a great addition to my kitchen. I like the amount of guidance it provides, while knowing I can eventually learn to tweak every aspect of the brewing process makes it less intimidating than a fully-manual machine and legions more flexible than a superautomatic. Like other Fellow gadgets the Series 1 is gorgeous and, while mostly plastic, also well-made. You can both see and feel all the thought and care put into this machine. Take some time to watch Fellow's excellent Series 1 videos online to see just how much espresso expertise went into the design -- you'll gain a whole new appreciation for the brand and the art of espresso. Of course the Series 1 isn't perfect, but my quibbles are very minor. The small round screen and dial interface feels more form over function; although relatively straightforward, its positioning on the front of the (short) machine makes it a bit hard to read, especially for a tall person. Thankfully the app allows you to change just about all the settings, and gives you the ability to download profiles from other Series 1 users, which (like on Aiden) opens up a world of possibilities. At this price I'd love to see more use of metal on the main machine, but I don't have any concerns with the durability of the materials as-is. Like any espresso machine there's more maintenance than a simple coffee brewer, but I think Fellow has done well with their guided reminders and quality of parts. Overall, I think this is an excellent starter machine for folks looking to get into home espresso. It combines many of the bells and whistles you see in other machines with Fellow's excellent guided approach to making drinks, offering as much or as little help as you need. I love that you can pick preset profiles to start, but also tweak so many brew settings as you learn more. Combined with Fellow's sleek aesthetic and build quality and I hope to have an espresso machine for life (or close to it).

Easy to set up, easy to use, enough simplicity for a beginner and enough options for someone that wants to tinker.

Getting back into espresso after a long break with this one, and it has been the machine that made me remember why I liked the hobby in the first place. Years ago I had one of those silver entry level machines that grinds and extracts. You know the type. It hissed, it took forever to heat up, the shots were all over the place, and half the time I gave up and just made drip. I sold it and stepped away for a while because making shots in the morning was replaced with making bottles. The Series 1 is my way back in, and it is a completely different experience. It does not fight me. It just works, and that alone rebuilt my confidence about actually pulling a decent shot at home. STAND OUT FEATURES: 1)The heating system is the headline. Fellow calls it the Boosted Boiler, and instead of one boiler doing all the work, there are a few heating elements working together. In plain terms it means the machine is ready to go in a couple minutes instead of me standing around waiting, and the temperature stays steady from the first shot to the last. My old machine never held temperature like this, and you can taste the difference. Shots come out balanced instead of sour and thin. 2)The pressure control is the feature I did not expect to care about and now love. You get pre-infusion and the ability to adjust pressure through the shot, which is something I always thought was reserved for machines that cost way more. What it really does for me is make the whole thing forgiving. Even when my grind or my tamp is not perfect, the shot still comes out good. For someone shaking off the rust, this is great. 3)The heated group head is the quiet hero. Water stays at the right temperature all the way to the coffee instead of losing heat on the way there like my old one did. It is one of those things you do not see but you absolutely taste. 4)The steam wand basically steams the milk for me. What I really like is that the display shows the milk temperature climbing in real time. You set the target temperature you want, hit go, and watch it right there on the screen until it stops on its own at the exact point. No more guessing or burning my hand on the side of the pitcher. 5)The shot feedback caught me off guard in the best way. After a shot, the machine tells me if it pulled too fast or too slow and actually suggests whether I should adjust my grind for the next one. Coming back to the hobby, that is like having a little coach built in. Instead of me standing there confused about why a shot tasted off, it points me in the right direction, and my shots got noticeably better in just the first week because of it. And I have to mention what comes in the box. A bottomless portafilter, tamper, steaming pitcher, and both baskets. With my first machine I had to go buy half of that separately just to get started. Here it is all included and they are great quality. ONLY CON: If I am being honest, it is a single boiler machine, which normally means you cannot brew and steam at the same moment. That is the one thing purists will point at. But the Boosted Boiler tech gets it about as close to a dual boiler as a single boiler can get. The switch from pulling a shot to steaming milk is quick enough that it hasnt slowed me down for the couple of drinks I make at a time. For how I actually use it, it is a non issue. CONCLUSION: If you had a cheap machine years ago and it soured you on home espresso, this is the one that brings you back. It heats up fast, holds temperature, gives you real control without demanding you be an expert, and comes ready to use out of the box. I am genuinely enjoying my morning coffee again, and I did not expect a machine to do that.

For context, I'm a Fellow fan of several years now, owning multiple products including the first generation Fellow Ode (with upgraded burrs) and more recently the Fellow Aiden coffee machine (which is incredible). I also own the DeLonghi La Specialista Arte espresso machine, which has a built-in grinder...and spoiler alert, that became an issue for me. I love Fellow's design language. The builds are all a bit plasticky on the outside, but they are seemingly durable machines for the time that I've had them. You might argue at over $350 for a coffee machine and $1500 for an espresso machine that Fellow could do better than plastic, and I think many people have...but it seems good enough, as the machine still looks very premium despite being made with lighter materials. Another idiosyncrasy of Fellow's coffee machines is their onboard software experience, which almost always requires a firmware upgrade upon arrival. And because of this, and the need to connect them to your wireless, you can't get straight into brewing when you pull it out of the box. It seems that since I got my Aiden this process has improved on the Fellow server side, as the ES1 updated pretty quickly. And on the topic of software, while it's not as big of a deal for the ES1, you're either going to love or hate the software experience. The Aiden's app experience is great, but the ES1 is definitely a step down. The brewer has a dedicated brew button that can be set to an active brewing profile on the machine, and I love Fellow's text-to-coffee program and the inclusion of custom brew profiles in the app and directly on your machines. I consider myself a coffee **enthusiast**, although my friends call me a snob. And I thought my setup before the ES1 was pretty decent...but when shifting from an espresso machine with a built-in grinder to having a dedicated grinder *capable of espresso grind sizes*, make sure you do your homework. I have an upgraded burr set that in theory *should* be able to get me the grind size required to effectively use the ES1, but alas, not with any ability to dial in that grind size...so I had to resort to a manual grinder (which is fine, just a lot more work, especially for very find grinds). Alright, so with all the gear in place, how was the brew? Well, it's like dialing in any coffee machine... playing around with sizes, pulling multiple back-to-back shots, tasting, hating and repeating. But the ES1 handles this exact situation like a pro. The onboard water tank is a 2 liter tank, larger than pretty much every coffee machine I've ever owned. It is also removable, although you do need a decent amount of vertical clearance above the unit when you do remove it, so consider counter placement and overhead cupboards. And, the internal boiler is ready incredibly quickly on your initial brew. You can also customize how the temperature is managed for multiple back-to-back brews, which is nerdy at a level I didn't know I needed...but here we are. Anyway, the brews can be great, as is true with most brewers: good water, good coffee, careful control of your brew and you'll like the outcome. I'm not a steamed milk kind of person: I've had an espresso machine in my home for the last 4 years, using the steamer maybe a dozen times total. I don't particularly care for the flavor of milk fats with coffee, so I steer clear of cream in my coffee and generally clear of lattes, cappuccinos and the like. Every now and then, it's nice to have. And for someone who doesn't do a lot of milk steaming, the ES1's onboard temperature probe helps quite a bit. I love this feature, even if I'm not going to use it a ton. It feels in many ways this device is designed for espresso machine beginners, but based on the level of control it gives you in drink design, I'd call it a step up from an all-in-one machine like the La Specialista Arte. That said, even using the canned recipes using the 'make a drink' menu is relatively straightforward if you're familiar with basic espresso puck prep. And, if you just need hot water, you can get that too through a dedicated spout hidden nicely behind the group head. $1500 is not a price tag for the faint of heart, and an espresso machine at that level is starting to really get into "prosumer" grade machines. As a coffee snob...I mean enthusiast...when I get a new piece of gear, I'm usually already thinking about what the next upgrade for that gear will be. With the ES1, though, I'm not sure that's the case... I hope this serves me for years to come. I like the machine a lot, and a week is not enough time to really get to know the ins and outs of the brewer. I have a lot of dialing in still to do, but there's no doubt that the capabilities are there for me to do so.

This is my first espresso machine, and I’m hooked. I didn’t really go beyond grinding beans at home and making drip coffee before this and so I’ve had a somewhat steep learning curve. The science isn’t too bad, the art will take time. The Espresso Series 1 first of all feels like a high quality instrument. Its finish is high end and it is actually looking really impressive sitting on my counter. All of the accessories you need are with the machine. The controls have a satisfying click to them, which also feels high end. It’s feels like a classic espresso machine that’s been modernized. Bringing the water up to temperature is impressively fast, and it seems like it can hold the heat for a consistent brew. I have also noticed that the milk steaming is impressively fast and hot! I was a little intimidated when I first used it, but it has a pretty great walkthrough and pre-programming that makes it super easy. I think that I will be able to customized most aspects down the road also, so it can evolve with me. I am not sure if the price is justifiable though. It’s an excellent machine, but it does pose a value question for me. I think if you have the money to spend in it, it’s amazing, it will give you a professional latte, no doubt. I recommend it if you can afford it.