I like the Fellow line of coffee/drink products. They are extremely aesthetically matched to one another, they are generally given good reviews, and while they're a bit more money than their contemporaries, I generally do think the price jump is warranted -- there's a certain "luxury" feeling to their products that I really like.
So after picking up the Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle in white/maple a few years back, I decided last year that you know what, I need a new grinder, might as well get the matching Fellow Ode Brew Grinder in white. I bought it for $295.
(Small note: I bought the Ode Generation 1. This is no longer the most current model, as they've moved to the Gen 2. I have not used the Gen 2 but the differences seem mostly minor, with a couple obvious improvements.)
Here are my thoughts on it after using it for ~a year, about at least 5/7 days of the average week.
The Good
Aesthetics
I love the way this thing looks. It's fuckin gorgeous. I love the way it feels, I love the weighted dial, I love the smart design of including the dial settings underneath the hopper lid. Just very smart design choices all around. Look at this thing. Gorgeous.
I mean, you can see why I wanted to get the matching set, I assume.
Grind Quality
I'm not a huge coffee snob. I bought this primarily because I just wanted a reliable, good looking, relatively quiet coffee grinder. So I'm probably not the biggest expert on grind quality, but what I can say is that when I hit the button to grind some coffee beans this thing does it, it does it reliably, and it does it consistently. I'm a fan!
The smartly integrated grind recommendations underneath the hopper lid.
Sound & Usability
Previously to getting the Ode, I used a Baratza Encore as my daily coffee grinder, and while it was fine, I never filled up the hopper (I usually just ground enough beans for one cup of coffee) and it was extremely loud.
The Ode is a huge step-up in that regard. Not only is it relatively quiet in comparison (especially so with the hopper lid in place), its single-serving hopper is perfect for me (a single-serving boy) and it has an intelligent shutoff on its grind. I just fill up the hopper, press the grind button once, it grinds until there are no more beans to grind. It's really nice.
*The Ode's single-serving hopper -- I usually do about a third-cup of coffee beans give or take.
The Could-Be-Better
Cleanliness
Look, I don't think it is like, possible for a coffee grinder to not get some coffee grounds everywhere when you're using it. You're basically creating a fine dust, and dust gets everywhere.
The Ode attempts to solve this -- there's a rather novel system where the grounds cup has a plastic lid that tries to create basically a seal between the place where grounds come out of the grinder and the cup itself, theoretically minimizing the amount of grounds that end up littering the machine and the countertop.
The Ode's grounds cup -- the top plastic part is removable.
This is coupled with (another relatively novel) integrated knocker on the side of the machine that is meant to be used after a grinding, to knock any excess grounds through this sealed passageway into the cup.
The Ode's silver knocker. It's pretty satisfying to use, gotta say.
Now, in practice... this is sort of a mixed bag. Frankly, I just don't think either of these little novel inventions actually seem to help much. I end up wiping down the machine either with a brush or a sponge after pretty much every grind, which feels kind of ridiculous given the point of these little novelties.
It's hardly debilitating but it is kind of annoying. The 'corrugated' design of the central pillar seems to be a magnet for hanging onto grounds, which is a real annoyance. Now, if you aren't as addicted to Clean Kitchens as I am you might not find this that much of a problem, but for me it's just a bummer on an otherwise pretty stellar device.
The 'corrugated' design on the central pillar attracting grounds like a magnet. They'll come off with a brush, but still, like every time!!
The Hopper
The hopper is like, 90% fine. Every so often, the beans will become stuck in the upper regions of the hopper, preventing them from falling onto the burrs and thus prematurely triggering the shutoff of the grind mechanism, as the machine thinks that all the beans have been ground.
FWIW, this seems to have been a focus on the Fellow Ode Gen 2 (I have a Gen 1), as they changed the design of the hopper for a slightly taller design and a more aggressive internal slope, possibly to solve this exact problem.
Comparison of the two gens, from the Fellow website. Notice the taller hopper on the Gen 2.
Overall Thoughts
I'm happy with the purchase because I wanted a nice-looking kitchen implement that did its job competently. This does that. I'm not smitten on some of the Clever Additions (the knocker and the "sealed gasket" on the cup are middling at best), but it's hard to complain too much. With regular light cleaning and occasional deep-cleaning, the Ode works great and I've had minimal complaints.
Do I recommend getting it? Well... depends on what you're looking for. I'm a single person looking for a single-serving of coffee in the morning and I value the aesthetic match of the appliance. I don't mind cleaning it often since I'm basically always wiping down something in the kitchen anyway (you can take the man out of the kitchen but you can never take the Always Be Cleaning out of the man).
It's also expensive! The Ode is $295 for the Gen 1, and $345 for the Gen 2 ($495 if you want the fancy upgraded burrs). That's not nothing!
If you're looking for just "a good grinder", the Baratza Encore is almost a third of the price, has a larger hopper, and isn't too much bigger overall. It is louder, and much less intuitive on its grind settings, but frankly that might be fine for you. The coffee will still taste like coffee, in my experience.