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Coffee addicts, take heed. We know those runs to your local coffee shop for those life-giving cups of perfectly brewed joe are very likely on hiatus for you, and maybe for quite some time to come. Of course, you have a coffeemaker at home. But if you really want it to measure up to the pro stuff, your grounds have to be up to snuff, too.
But when it comes to coffee obsessives, it takes one to know one. And the crew at Fellow Products are most definitely in that category. So when they unveiled their Ode Brew Grinder for pre-order, we were intrigued.
Everything about the Ode is a reimagining of the traditional countertop coffee grinder, from the design to the function. For starters, there’s no huge space-eating receptacle at the top for dumping in huge bags of beans to be ground (and then rapidly lose their freshness). The Ode has a single-load bin to ensure you’re only grinding as much coffee as you need, and the reduced profile makes for an easier and more attractive residency on your countertop.
And unlike most coffee grinders, which only have one or two catch-all settings, the Ode has 31 precise settings. You can choose everything from pour-over to French press, cold brew, espresso and so many more.
All of those settings are only possible with a powerful motor and café-quality burrs — the actual grinding mechanisms, which are far superior to the blades found in cheaper grinders. The burrs are grooved metal surfaces — one stays stationary and the other spins — and the beans are ground between them. This allows for a very uniform and customizable grind, from very coarse to very fine.
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The Ode has 64mm professional-grade flat burrs, usually found only in the absolute highest-grade grinders. Driven by the powerful yet precise PID-feedback motor, it makes for an unbeatable coffee grind. The best coffee comes from uniform grounds, and this combination ensures exactly that.
Add the magnetically-aligned catch which prevents grounds from spilling all over the counter, a grinds knocker to reduce grind tension, and an auto stop to prevent you from over-grinding your beans or wearing down the machine, and you’ll see how the obsessive attention to detail translated into the design of the Ode Brew Grinder.
Fellow Products regards the Ode Brew Grinder as its missing link to the perfect cup of coffee. Having already created the Duo Coffee Steeper and Stagg EKG pour-over kettle — both award-winning brewing devices — the Ode now allows you to go from bean to mug entirely using Fellow products. And to date, nearly 5,000 Kickstarter backers have signed on to the tune of $1.2 million in funding.
The pre-order price for the Ode is $279 — more than your generic big-box grinders, to be sure. But Fellow’s track record for creating elite café-level home coffeemaking products is unmatched. If you’re going to be spending far more time at home, you’re going to want some seriously good coffee to keep you sane. The best coffee comes from the best coffee grounds, and the Ode is one of the best home grinders we’ve ever seen.