Why We Love the Fellow Series 1 Espresso Machine

If you are passionate about coffee, you are no stranger to Fellow. The brand has a well-earned cult following amongst at-home baristas and professionals alike. We have been fans of their kettles and coffee grinders for years. Until now, their coffee equipment has been focused on pour-over coffee. The Fellow Series 1 Espresso Machine – and a range of espresso-making accessories to go with it – marks their foray into the world of espresso.

So far, it’s been a runaway success, due to how it matches the needs of both coffee nerds and people who just want a low-effort, high-reward coffee that tastes on par with what you’d order at a cafe. You can choose items from a menu that includes flat whites and cappuccinos, as well as set custom parameters like type of milk, dark-roast beans, or lever-style, which changes the pressure to mimic what you’d get in a traditional lever-pulled espresso machine. You can also opt for manual mode, which lets you control the full experience. It’s great for households where some people love experimenting with variables, while others just want to press a button and go.

'This is an espresso machine built by people who really, really love coffee,' says pro barista and latte art champion Ben Lewis. 'They’ve designed it in a way that makes it easy for other people to turn coffee into a hobby, if they want to. You’ll have great coffee either way.'

Fellow makes coffee equipment designed for home use, rather than making home versions of commercial coffee gear. This small nuance makes a big difference, because the design is mindful of counter space, different levels of expertise, and ease of maintenance. You do not need to be an expert to make a good cup of coffee with a Fellow coffee machine – but if you want to level up your skills, their tools make the beginner-to-expert pipeline a breeze.

Their products are beautifully designed, but not just for the sake of aesthetics. Each element solves or improves an issue related to functionality. Their Stagg and Corvo kettles, for example, have weighted handles that shift the center of gravity back toward your wrist, making water easier to pour over the course of a few minutes (essential for pour-over coffee). In a similar vein, the Fellow Series 1 Espresso Machine has a shorter and wider footprint than most home espresso makers, so it’s easier to fit under kitchen cabinets. Fellow tends to avoid complex multi-button panels, opting instead for single push-dials and on the Fellow Series 1 Espresso Maker, ‘piano key’ buttons to switch between brewing, steaming, and hot water modes.

In short, Fellow tools are extremely user-friendly and designed to minimise common coffee-making annoyances (i.e. trapped grounds in coffee grinders), while also looking beautiful.

A good cup of espresso depends on so many different factors, including consistent extraction pressure (how hard the water pushes through beans) to thermal stability (water staying at the exact same temperature throughout brewing). Fellow has designed the Series 1 Espresso maker to make these more scientific factors something you don’t have to think about, so you can focus on the fun stuff, like the grind size and bean-to-water ratio.

We’ve narrowed down the features we love most about this machine – what we believe are the most useful, relevant details for home brewers – into three key points below.

Espresso machines can take up to 15 minutes to heat up properly, because both the boiler and group head (the part above the portafilter) need to reach the correct brewing temperature. If you want a quick coffee before heading out in the morning, that wait time is an easy way to lose patience.

Fellow solves this issue with their patented Boosted Boiler technology. Instead of bringing a single large tank of water to temperature, the system combines three separate heating components: a traditional internal boiler, a rapid flow-through heater, and a heated group head. This allows for to-the-degree thermal stability as water moves from boiler to group head and into your cup – in just two minutes.

Home espresso machines usually fall into one of two extremes: basic pod machines that take away all control, or all-metal machines covered in dials, toggle switches, and pressure gauges that feel intimidating to operate. Fellow sits comfortably in the middle, offering structured guidance for beginners and full manual control for seasoned brewers, with:

• Pre-Programmed Drink Styles: The round, full-color LCD digital display and clicking rotary dial walk you through step-by-step recipes for over 10 classic café drinks (like flat whites, cappuccinos, and Americanos). The screen tells you what to do at each stage, eliminating guesswork.
  
  
• Tactile 'Piano Keys': A row of three tactile buttons clearly separates the machine's core functions: brewing, milk frothing, and dispensing hot water (e.g. for an Americano or tea).
  
  
• Full Manual Mode for Experienced Brewers: You can bypass the pre-set guides completely in manual mode, which lets you customise pressure, duration, and temperature in single-degree increments. The machine even provides shot feedback based on volume, letting you know if the pull was too fast or too slow.

Frothing milk is notoriously tricky, requiring precise wand positioning and constant oversight to avoid scalding. Fellow simplifies this process with a steam wand that monitors the milk's temperature in real time. It is mounted on a flexible ball joint, which makes it easier to manoeuvre. It includes tailored pre-sets for dairy, oat, and almond milks – which have different burning points – or lets you set a custom target temperature. Once that threshold is reached, the machine automatically cuts off the steam to prevent scorching, then automatically purges residual steam to keep the tip clean.

Beyond its automated safeguards, the wand delivers the actual steam pressure required for silky microfoam. According to pro barista Ben Lewis, home machines often struggle to produce enough velocity to properly circulate milk. While home brewers typically look to commercial multi-boiler machines for that kind of steam power, the Series 1 generates the velocity needed to create a tight vortex, even when using larger milk pitchers. You don't have to scramble to shut off the valve at the exact right second to avoid the milk burning – you can simply focus on your pitcher tilt and wand depth (essential for latte art). Alternatively, just pick your drink and milk type and let the machine work its magic.

The Fellow Series 1 is ideal if you want to brew the kind of espresso and coffee drinks you’d get at a specialty cafe, right from the comfort of your own home. The learning curve is minimal, the machine is fast, and it is relatively small for being so powerful and versatile. However, it’s worth noting that it does not include an integrated coffee grinder, unlike the more traditional La Pavoni Domus Bar. We recommend pairing the Fellow Series 1 with a grinder capable of grinding ultra-fine for espresso, like the Fellow Opus 2 Conical Burr Grinder. (Espresso requires finely ground beans so water can pass through the puck properly.)

The Fellow Series 1 is built for morning routines at home. When used in commercial settings, such as offices, or to make a dozen coffees back-to-back while entertaining, it will slow the process down, as the internal heating system needs time to recover.

If what you are looking for is a versatile home espresso machine that is equally adept at automated and manual coffee-brewing, the Fellow Series 1 is ideal. Just keep in mind that you will need a separate coffee grinder that is capable of fine grinding, since using pre-ground coffee simply won't do this machine (or any cup of coffee) justice.