Fellow Series Espresso Machine Review (2026): Excellent, but a work in progress

Another big innovation of the Series 1 is the patented heating system. Most espresso machines use boilers or thermal blocks to heat the water involved in making espresso. Boilers have great stability, but take a long time to get hot. Thermoblocks are almost instantaneous, but less stable.

Fellow’s heating system falls somewhere in between, with the boiler supplemented by a thermal unit that heats the water before it enters the boiler, and a preheated group head that helps stabilize the temperature in the portafilter. This theoretically provides the best of both worlds: greater temperature stability across an espresso shot, without the cold starts and hot finishes that can plague some home Thermoblock machines.

The water tank is 2 litres, and is removable for easy filling, with one caveat: the tank can only be removed from the machine straight up. Therefore, if you place this machine under your cabinets, you may find it difficult to remove the water tank – a simple thing that could make a lot of sense depending on your kitchen setup.

Fire selection

Well, on to the thing that got me hooked on this device: its shooting profiles. She has them. Seven of them, each one completely different from the others.

Does Series 1 offer very different profiles for light, medium and dark beans? Yes, of course. How about a “lever” shape that has six infusion stages that mimic the syrup and large crema texture of a manual espresso machine? Sure, why not? Turbo shots? I got your back, ‘spro bro. It’s a whole new ball game.

Most espresso beginners will probably never have to go beyond the light roast, medium roast, and dark roast modes. Dark roasts are simple, straightforward, and almost traditional. Medium adds pre-pumping for better extraction. Light roasting adds ramp pressure after the shot, to prevent shots from escaping as the espresso deteriorates. For fun, you can track your pressure as a “shot curve” that appears on the Series 1’s circular display.