Pour Over Gear Review: Fellow Stagg X

Although there are various pour over coffee drippers, Hario V60, CHEMEX, Kalia Wave, Bee House ..., the brewing processes more or less work similarly except for two factors: the grind setting and brewing time. 

• Coarse Grind Setting

You need to grind the coffee beans really really coarse. Otherwise, the coffee would stay inside the dripper and take forever to drip through. Even though Fellow website says use medium-coarse grind setting, which is supposed to be similar to CHEMEX. But it did not work for me - it simply dripped too slow to finish the second pour in time.

How coarse should it be?

My Mazzer Mini grinder won't even grind that coarse, and I have to use Porlex hand grinder. 

Surprising, isn't it? It has go that far in coarseness. Depending on the amount of coffee beans you use, the grind setting shall be adjusted accordingly.

• Longer Brewing Time

The total brew time is 4~5 minutes. That's around 1.5 minutes longer than Hario V60. 

• More Controlled Slower Water Flow

Since the Fellow dripper requires longer brew time, with the water amount stay the same as other brews, it means it require slower pouring water flow - in other words, it needs more control.

The Fellow Stagg EKG kettle pairs with its Stagg X dripper very well. Comparing to the Hario or the Bonavita kettles, the EKG kettle has a longer and slightly thinner spout, so the water comes out slower, which makes it easier to control the water flow. This is especially true when you are trying to brew a smaller amount of coffee, for example a 6 OZ cup.

To brew 10 OZ of coffee, you will need:

• 20 grams of fresh roasted coffee beans
• A burr grinder
• The Fellow Stagg X dripper set
• A coffee scale
• A goose neck pour over coffee kettle

And brew with the following steps:

Step 1 - Heat up the Water and Grind Beans

Heat up the water and hold it at 197℉ ~ 200℉; and grind the coffee beans coarse.

Step 2 - Wet the Filter Paper and Warm the Brew Set

Note: I found the dripper could be slightly tilted and did take some effort to fit it snugly and leveled. Although it's hard to say if the slight tilt could result in uneven extraction, it's always safe to level it.

Step 3 - Add the Coffee Grinds

Step 4 - First Pour for Around 10 Seconds

Slowly pour around 40 grams (double the bean weight) of hot water to cover all coffee grinds.

Step 5 - Wait for 30 Seconds to Let It Bloom

Bloom wets the grinds evenly and let the CO2 release. It is essential for even extraction and better flavor clarity. 

Step 6 - Second Pour for Around 2.5 Minutes

Continue to pour hot water using a slow circular motion from the center to outwards. And repeat until finishing 300 grams (15 times the bean weight) of water. Control the water flow for the second pour to last 2.5 minute.

Step 7 - Wait for Coffee to Drip Through

The remaining coffee should drip through within 30~60 seconds. If it takes shorter time, it could mean that your grinds are too coarse; if longer, it means your grinds are probably too fine. 

Step 8 - Ready to Serve

Remove the dripper and serve. For such a awesome cup, I'd recommend you to drink black.

Another nice thing worth mentioning is: it comes with a dripper cap, which you can dump the hot water to after wetting the filter and warming the dripper set, and after the brew, you can also neatly sit the dripper on top. This is very convenient. Whereas with other pour over drippers, you have to find an extra container by yourself. The Fellow guys got it covered - I give them a thumb-up.

To brew a smaller or bigger cup, reference the following table for bean and water ratio:

For anything 12OZ and beyond, you would need to go for the larger Fellow Stagg XF.

The brew tastes really clean, probably due to the dense-textured filter paper filtered out most of the coffee oil. The sweetness of the coffee shines. The slower pouring process may have contributed to it.

For all the rest of the cupping traits, I would say the quality is comparable to the coffee that I brewed using other pour over brewers. For example, the brightness, the clarity, the complexity, the finish ...... They are all about the same.

After I shared some photos about my brew, quite a few Voca Coffee friends expressed interest in getting the Fellow Stagg X set for themselves. Before you get it, you might want to consider the following:

Capacity

The smaller Stagg X can brew up to 10OZ - pretty much personal size; the bigger Stag XF can brew up to 20 OZ - 2~3 person size. You can check out Fellow's official website for more information. 

Price

The smaller Stagg X set is $69; the XF is $99. A little on the expensive side, comparing to other pour over drippers. Besides, the Fellow filter papers also cost a few bucks more than other brands. You may find it on  Amazon. You may always find your best deals by doing a Google Search of "Fellow Stagg X". 

Gears

To be on par on the gear quality, you want to use a burr coffee grinder, a gooseneck pour over coffee kettle and a coffee scale which measures down to 0.1 gram.

Beans

Forget about grocery store or big daddy store coffee beans. You want to check out beans from small artisan coffee roasters. Voca Coffee offers a collection of boutique quality roasted coffee beans that would brew excellent cup using the Fellow dripper. Check out our coffee catalog at:  https://vocacoffee.com/categories/.