Actually Fellow are doing us all a great service here with this. We now have a good, objective measure of whether a coffee channel is honest with their reviews or will just market anything for anyone who'll send them free stuff. Cheers Spro for calling it like it is ☺️
Thanks Matthew, I appreciate that. My aim with reviews is to provide insight to the enthusiast and coffee community, not help the manufacture sell anything.
Check out Morgan Drinks Coffee for a more balanced review. She didn’t think it was a game changer either but she actually measured the silt and tested head to head with a Bodum.
As someone who’s a Fellow fan, I totally agree. I think this sentiment applies to more Fellow products than people like to admit. The “sexy” factor accounts for a lot of their pricing. I love their glasses and kettle, but are they worth 3x the price point of similar competitors? Well... depends on how much you value sexy equipment.
I get that and I’m with you. The look is key to their success. Very few things they make are groundbreaking. I do like my Atmos and glass decanter, but they’re are tons of options out there for both you can get for less.
@@Sprometheus some are claiming that the in cup product is improved by it, but I was skeptical. It's definitely a great looking press, guessing some people might be influenced by the look and build quality.
@@Thrilos30 or maybe got it for free and felt that pressure. I mean hard to say, coffee is a subjective thing. It makes a good cup, but not better than any other French press I’ve had.
@@Sprometheus that's my guess too, Fellow has brought out some amazing products so I'm sure some of the reviewers weren't comfortable being critical. I don't mind a good French press brew but over the last couple of years I have found that I rarely reach for it over my V60 or espresso. Thanks again for such an honest and entertaining video!
I personally would not have bought Fellow Clara French press, but it was given to me as a gift. It is way too expensive for my budget. Even so, now that I have one, this French press makes an extremely good cup of joe. While cleaning it a few weeks ago, I accidently knocked it off the counter, after banging, and clanging on the tile floor in our kitchen as it dropped to the floor, there was was no damage done to the carraffe what-so-ever. It still makes that great pot of coffee as it did when it was new. Sure it takes a little more time with making the coffee and then with cleanup, but for me it is a win situation.
I’m not sure if this is the same, but I have a regular (inexpensive) French press that came with a replacement filter so I stuck that in to have a “double walled” filter. It seems to work alright although I can’t compare it to French presses that are actually MEANT to have double walled filters
@@sammarion that doesn't make sense. I always get a clean tasting silt free cup that's still full bodied. Maybe it's your grinder or you got a bad unit. The filter has a silicon seal and nothing gets through grounds wise. Only a paper filter is cleaner.
As always - I want to hear someone compare this to an Espro, like the Espro P7 (at $100+) , which I think is worth the money... For people who want to pay extra for slightly better filtration without going paper filter, it would be good to know if this is better / worse.
I think the nonstick coating is to keep a coffee grime from building up. I have one of their cups and it works well. In my yeti tumbler that I also use, the steel gets a coating of difficult to clean coffee grime after a while.
Honest review, really appreciate it ! Personally I can't understand why they went for the nonstick, these days many people are very conscious about chemicals and what not. But I guess they really needed to also sell the wooden stir spoon, to achieve that pricing 😂
Finally! An honest review. I like the nice RUclipsrs and all, but when my money is at stake I’ll trust you over the rest any day. Proof nice and honest can co-exist. Thank you sir.
Yeah I mean, it’s confusing? Is this for a coffee nerd who’s willing to pay more for a specialized coffee product, or just a “centerpiece” as they even said on their website.
Having a French of glass is the most helpful thing and getting a clean cup. That way you can stop pressing before the filter reaches the coffee which prevents some fines from passing through the filter because of the pressure you apply.
I wanted a press that would brew a 20-oz insulated mugful, and the Clara's capacity (and my fondness for Fellow in general) attracted me. The price gave me pause, however. Then I found one on eBay for USD 50 and pulled the trigger; it'll be here in two days. I want to compare it to my Aeropress XL, it's already way less counter-clutter, but taste also matters and I don't mind a bit of sludge at the bottom of my cup. If it's just like any other press (including the 350ml job I already have) then I"ll be satisfied and happy. Thanks for the review. (And yes, like you, I fully decant my brews each time--in fact, I've never even tried drinking some while letting the rest remain in the press. Why would anyone do that?)
Your spot on with one, its honestly a crash grab for fellow, they're just like hey let's throw on a fellow label and sell it for an absurd price, its the yeti of French presses lol
MSR Products (camp equipment manufacturer) makes a french press (or used to) with a very similar micro mesh design to the press. I used to have one, it was around $40 I think. It also has walls made of plastic, rather than glass or metal.
I use a $70 Friele I got as a wedding present, stainless steel double walled, with 2 particle size screens built into the plunger, and since it's steel I just shake it vigorously over the trash and give it a hearty tap. To get the last few used grinds out, I add an OZ or so of water to the remaining grinds and pour it in the trash, so simple and not too much to create residual liquid. First and last french press I'll likely ever own.
I’ll be honest. I paid nearly $100 for Hario’s double walled olive wood French Press just to match the olive wood theme I had for my brew bar at the time. Now my theme is black/walnut. So if they throw a walnut handle on that sucker and increase the price by $20 I’d still have to snatch it up. Just for the aesthetics.
What are your thoughts of the Hario Switch? It is basically an immersion brewer that produces a clean cup due to paper filter. I have been enjoying it for a while now, and was wondering about your thoughts if you ever used it
I have one and I’ve been toying with ideas on what I want to say about it. So far I like it and the control. Definitely expect to see a video about it once I flush out the idea a bit more.
Dude. Love the content and writing. I think for a visual perspective you might want to add some shots that are wider. It feels crammed and without context while missing wider shots or even wider margins on the talking head or pour shots. Keep up the good work.
I wanted to love this product, both for the look and for the hope of a cleaner French press cup. Looks are not enough to make me drop $100. I think you nailed it at being overhyped and about $30 overpriced. Thanks for the review.
@@Sprometheus is the French press ready for a real redesign? I’ve had a few “great” cups over the years, but most are too gritty for me to fully enjoy.
Get the espro. Expensive but worth it. Opened up single origin coffee for me. I use the glass P5 18oz (it does have a minimum amount which is the one main drawback).
I’m starting to think that the Oxo French press that Morgan featured on her channel is the best one out there. With the Hoffmann method a cheap French Press can still give you a nice clean brew, but the Oxo has that nifty grounds lifter thing that solves the most infuriating part about FP brewing - the clean up. If I ever buy an FP, that’s the one I’m buying.
Morgan’s channel is great. She had a relatively positive review for this press, but her enthusiasm seemed genuine. While there was still silt in the cup in the Fellow, her test showed that the fine micro filter actually did keep a lot of sediment out compared to OXO. $100 though? Nah.
I'm a fan of Fellow, too, but I wouldn't pay $99 for this French Press even if it did do everything it hyped. I have a neoprene jacket (about $12, I think) for my bodum to keep it hot. I have a secondary mesh filter (maybe $5?) I added to it that's every bit what the Clara claims. I suppose if you're into looks as much as results, a shelf display with a Chemex, a Hario syphon, and a Clara would cover the spectrum nicely, but they won't be better than my bodum and my V60, and I'll have money left over to enjoy many months of very nice specialty coffee.
Like you said if you leave your coffee in it, it's going to get over extracted. In addition it hold less than it looks because of the double walls. In the morning I'm either drinking my coffee quickly or putting it in a thermos to take with me. When I have company over it would be nice to keep it warm but buying a thermal carafe makes more sense. I still own the Fellows electric pot. Looks nice whiling do a good job.
I have just received one as a present 🎁. First I love my Espro Ultralight that I use together with filter paper and take it away with me especially when traveling to America. I have the Clara with a wooden handle, it is a beautiful object. Following your comments I will suffice by looking at it only and leave the preparation to my espresso machine, espro ultralight, V60, April brewer or Turkish coffee equipment. Thanks for the heads-up
totally agree... plus I think the cleanest french press you can get is the ESPRO the filter is much finer and twice the filter, plus you could use the paper filter on top of that, also double walled. For cleanup though, the OXO "ground lifter" is actually pretty smart. a mix of ESPRO and OXO with the look of FELLOW would probably be the best... one can dream.
This is a beautiful item, but one thing I like about a French press is that I can watch the grounds swimming around in the water. Yes, I'd like to have insulation as well, but I feel like a double walled glass press would do a good enough job of that.
Hands down best French press. I wouldn’t buy it for myself probably, because most people go for French press to save money on filters anyways. But the lines on it make it easy for non coffee snobs, and the design is incredibly sophisticated especially if you get the hardwood j handles. Think of any other double walled stainless products like yeti, they don’t come at a cheap price. I also dislike the three piece design on tradition presses and this is a huge improvement other than introducing plastic/rubber components.
60 gram dosing for coffee? I use only 15 gram for my 180 ml in my Veken french press and I'm good with coffee for the day. Never had problems with grounds sticking as they are still slushy and rinse out easily. AND I got a beautiful wooden spoon that looks more expensive than that "paddle". And it has an ultra-fine screen for retaining more grounds. And, yes, like all french presses it does leave sludge at the bottom of my cup. BUT I paid only $30.
I rarely batch brew, so my go-to brewing method is generally a pour over. For the majority of what I drink in the light to medium roast range. I do also enjoy the occasional dark roast, and for that, my French press does a better job of even extraction than a paper pour over could. But if someone could come up with a pour over recipe/process tailored to dark roasts that actually worked well, I would switch in a heartbeat. It’s the ease of cleaning that does it for me. French presses are a pain to clean. They make great coffee, but I avoid them because I prefer not to get into the cleaning mess. like the Hario V60, but any paper filtered pour over will do. I have two French presses...a smaller sized cheapo glass/older IKEA unit, and a larger Espro P7, which is comparable to the Fellow in that it is also around $100, double wall insulated and fine metal mesh filtered. Still a pain in the ass to clean, more so actually, and has the same issues with limited dosing markings. It looks nice, but for $100 it does not make a noticeable difference in the quality of the cup of coffee comparing to my $12 IKEA press.
Decanting for a French press through a paper filter is an easy fix for clarity and keeping mid out of the bottom of your mug. Doesn’t make cleaning any easier though, which in my mind is the fatal flaw of the French press.
Normally love fellow products but this is a complete miss. For the price I would have loved to see a range of filter screens of varying fineness. That would feel like an interesting option to play with that isn't currently out there. 🤷♂️
I splurged on the Atmos, and it basically never kept a seal (I think it have been to long for me to request a new top) so I am very wary of Fellow products. I love their astatic, but if you cant to the job.....
I've felt for a good while now that Fellow are overcharging because their aesthetic lets them get away with it and this French Press probably confirms that.
I've shied away from Fellow's products due to complaints on their Monty series where cosmetic issues develop concerning visible cracks after first or second use, according to several troubleshooting forums. It seems to me that the Atmos may be the only thing worth its price tag, an item that I ponder about sometimes even though I already have the Airscape instead. Too bad about the Clara.
It looks like it should be a slight upgrade to the regular-style french press you can grab almost anywhere. Looks like you're paying for the ascetics. Side note, I do have an Espro french press which has an outstanding and excellent filter. It's also not a cheap french press but it really does make a difference and I think it's worth the cost.
Love the real opinion, here. Too often it seems like we coffee nerds want to gush over something and rush to buy it just because it's new and a little bit different and has a cool factor to it. With this product, Fellow seems like they are depending more on their reputation and on a certain cool factor that attaches to their name, rather than on the genuine quality of what they are putting out there. I have the Stagg kettle, two Atmos canisters, and their double wall carafe and like them all very much. Then, I also have a Carter mug and have been rather under impressed with it (especially in comparison to their hype), although I do occasionally use it. Is this an example of a company getting overly greedy as they experience some success and build up a degree of brand recognition, starting to assign price points more because of their brand name and marketing hype, than upon what the customer it truly getting?
Thank you for your review. Thank you for your continued work/video content. I have mixed feelings about Fellow. I have items of theirs that I LOVE and others that I don't. In a way, this review of this product doesn't surprise me. But, thank you for your review none-the-less to confirm my own suspicions. Not a product that was needed. But aesthetically I get it - and would look nice next to the other Fellow products on a table. So, for aesthetics I get it,....for "game changing" coffee,....umm no.
Thank you for watching and the kind words! I’m 100% with you. I do have some Fellow stuff I like, others I don’t. I think they really dropped the ball on his one though. If they would’ve said said this is a French press to go with all your fellow stuff and we did a couple things to make it easier to use it and $30 less I wouldn’t be able to come down on it as hard as I did.
exactly what i thought it would be... fellow has so many odd "small" products. they try to sell it as an invention but its just the same as all the other options :/ maybe i'm a bit harsh but today my fellow ekg broke down ....
Honestly, I would have just dealt with the grum for easy coffee grounds clean up in a French press. Then for silt free I would just use a Hario cloth filter.
I brew cacao. I HATE the spring like rim and mesh that does not stay were it is supposed to on my French press. I didn't buy this right away because I WANTED a little bit of fines and fat in my cup. I was worried that the "better" filter would keep them out. Just bought it after wanting to toss my current press in the trash and watching this that showed I should be good.
I thought about this long and hard and here's my devils advocate comment. Sure, there may be cheaper $20 Bodom presses that work just as well, but I personally have broke anywhere between 3 and 5 of the glass beakers that go into it. From that standpoint I have probably spent close to$100 on Bodom presses in my day. If I break the one I have now I would consider the Clara, but I'm certainly not rushing to buy one just yet.
My dad bought me a $99 fully stainless steel French press after I had broken 3 glass bodied $20 presses. All of them were stupid accidents but in his eyes it was worth spending that kinda money just because of durability.
The second I saw Fellow come out with this, I knew there was no way you could make a $99 french press worth the money. I feel like fellow's marketing recently has promised way too much without enough return to customers
@@Sprometheus Nah they don't care they know all the Instagram crowd will buy whatever overpriced trinkets they get made in China because the "My Coffee Setup" picture takers need to have matching stuff for the aesthetic ! ;-)
I think Fellow products are often worth is for their design. This, however, is a rather homely-looking French Press in a market filled with far more beautiful (and equally functional) products.
When I'm using the French press, it's to make a pretty large batch. Like not just one serving for myself. It's either for my thermos for the day or it's for sharing with others. I'll even brew a pour over into the beaker if it's for multiple people, so right there it's a multi-purpose tool. To me, a 24oz French press just goes against the spirit of the brewer. So okay, it's a little small. But the filter! That's worth the money, right? Surely you can take it apart for cleaning, can't you? In case some fines clog the mesh, you can take the mesh out of the filter plate? And if you really need a cleaner cup, you can cut a filter paper or some cheese cloth into the right shape and put that in the filter plate instead of or along with the mesh, right? Huh, that's weird. I have a stainless steel French press that goes for a quarter of the price on Amazon, has a liter capacity and comes with three wire mesh filters so you can have two spares or a triple-filtered cup. Did I mention there are multiple brands besides the one I bought which are stainless steel, have a liter capacity and have plungers that can be taken apart for cleaning? Oh, and did I mention that they're all considerably less than a hundred bucks?
For this price you'd probably be inclined to look at the Kitchenaid french press, the Precision. That has an integrated scale and timer built into the handle as well as an insulated body. Probably overpriced still at $99 but better value for money than the Clara.
French presses lend themselves to prolonges brew times, with some recipes calling for eight minutes and longer brew times. I know Hoffmans recipe is pretty long. I would be interested to see how the heat retention of the fellow brewer does compared to a glass device. I know that my fellow stag X dripper will keep the slurry about 10° hotter than a plastic V60, and slurry temperature alone may be worth the price. However overall I agree with you, I own several fellow products because they are either very good in usability and design (mugs), or they operate in a place in the market that no other products fill (ode, stagg x), but their French press is neither of those.
Black cats or white cats, they all do the same job. My French Press is only a CAD18 basic Bodum. It makes perfectly "sweet" black coffee. The only difference is the person behind it. Investing your money on a good grinder could make your coffee better. I am using a Rancilio Rocky.
Seems like a fair review, as I was wondering what little extras I would get for a $100. I think I will pass on this and spend $20 for a plain french press ! Thanks
Ah yes 100$ french press... seems like fellow is basically marking it up bcuz "fellow". I swear 40$ timemore frenchpress looks much sexier to my eyes and my wallet I feel like this is fellow's attempt to become apple of the coffee world. Good looking stuff which prolly doesn't perform better than the competition but you pay the big premium for the "ecosystem".
@@Sprometheus i cant ever find any reliable reviews on their stuff... that would be diabolical. Also to add insult to injury, 40$ oxo french press has an easy clean laddle
The only thing that can kinda justify the price tag for me is the construction. I have a Bodum now, but I just KNOW I'm going to smash the glass at some point.
Fellow is allot about design aesthetics, yes some of their products do deliver a new interpretation, but I don’t really think any of their products really revolutionised the respective categories, it mostly just a refinement and making it more accessible for the masses and deliver an aesthetic that allot of people like. I have several Fellow products, and like many other like their products, but it’s not really like I cannot get something similar somewhere else. None of their products where really the first of their kinds, but what Fellow dos well is fine tuning and keep a strict design philosophy so your coffee gear won’t look like a random mess. EsproPress have made a real improvement of the French, today you can even use paper and cloth filters. However if you find $100 for a french press upsetting, you won’t like the price they are charging, in many countries it’s twice as much.
Sprometheus: the clara is extremely expensive for what it is Sprometheus: *buys a linea mini, a machine that does the same thing a 1k dollar machine does but for 5.4k*
@@MrMarki134 better internal components and build which leads to improved temp stability, consistent flow, etc. The ability to pour back to back shots. It’s certainly not 5x better than a 1k machine but it’s also designed for a small cafe where any home machine would absolutely fail when put under the amount of demand
@@Adam-vx6to you can get all that for much less. And sure, maybe the bigger boilers have better temp stability, but much better than a Breville Dual Boiler or an ACS minima? And "more metal" does not mean better componentry. The more stable flow given by the rotary pump can be achieved with much less money as well, and I'd argue that unless you are pushing the boundaries of flow profiling, it makes little to no difference to a vibratiom pump. Lmlm lacks any sort of flow control as well which is to me unacceptable for a machine at that price range. But you are right about something: it is built for small cafes. It can take commercial use which is something that neither breville's or acs' machines can do, but that is exactly my point. I should have said this in the first comment, but the linea mini's problem is that it is terrible value for money for the home user. You make the argument of durability and relaiability through the "better build quality" thing. If you take proper care of a Breville dual Boiler, an expobar brewtus a lelit elizabeth or a silvia pro, they will last as long as you want them to, in a home environment. Using a machine as the linea mini at home is not practical nor a good choice from a value point of view, it then turns into a luxury product because it is extremely expensive for what you are going to use it at home. And my point, which I agree I didn't explain at all in the first comment, is that it's exactly what spro is critiquing about the clara - too much for what it is. Yeah, the linea mini can take commercial use, but is spro giving it that kind of use? No
Fellows generally makes great looking things but they fall short in function. They forgot about form follows function. Take their grinder for instance.
It’s not a hatchet review at all - it’s a hatchet product. Fellow always does such a great job of putting a unique spin on function, not just form, and they dropped the ball here. I was hoping there would be some kind of a ground scoop considering the price tag, to address the worst part of a French press (cleaning), and... nothing.
A double wall press is worth the upgrade if you press a lot, I'd say, but not at this price. I'd rather spend $100 on an Espro which seems to actually brew a cleaner cup. This seems more like a $60 kind of thing. I know presses get a lot of shit for those of us who grew out of them but really they are the gateway into proper homebrewing! PS I'd love to see an Espro pop up on here someday.
I notice on some of these review vids that the reviewer 1) does not stir and let rest just before plunging 2) does not mention if they are using course ground coffee (which you definitely should for a French press).
Well the reason I don’t walk through how to brew a French press is because this is a review, not a tutorial. But yes, I stir, press after 4 minutes and brew French presses with coarse grind if that’s something that you need to hear.
Actually Fellow are doing us all a great service here with this. We now have a good, objective measure of whether a coffee channel is honest with their reviews or will just market anything for anyone who'll send them free stuff. Cheers Spro for calling it like it is ☺️
Thanks Matthew, I appreciate that. My aim with reviews is to provide insight to the enthusiast and coffee community, not help the manufacture sell anything.
Check out Morgan Drinks Coffee for a more balanced review. She didn’t think it was a game changer either but she actually measured the silt and tested head to head with a Bodum.
"...Groundbreaking stuff right there." :)
All that “R&D” went to good use
Grindbreaking...
As someone who’s a Fellow fan, I totally agree. I think this sentiment applies to more Fellow products than people like to admit. The “sexy” factor accounts for a lot of their pricing. I love their glasses and kettle, but are they worth 3x the price point of similar competitors? Well... depends on how much you value sexy equipment.
I get that and I’m with you. The look is key to their success. Very few things they make are groundbreaking. I do like my Atmos and glass decanter, but they’re are tons of options out there for both you can get for less.
So, they’re the Apple of the coffee world?
I typically brew french presses with the Hoffman method: No-Press French Press. But then again, you don't need a $100 press to do that...
I converted so many people to black coffee with this method. Truly the perfect all rounder for daylie no fuss black coffee
That’s how I dipped my toes into specially coffee brewing
I've watched other reviews on this product but as always Spro always comes through with the best and honest review! Keep up the amazing work!
Thank you my friend I appreciate the kind words!
I haven’t searched out other reviews yet, do people like it?
@@Sprometheus some are claiming that the in cup product is improved by it, but I was skeptical. It's definitely a great looking press, guessing some people might be influenced by the look and build quality.
@@Thrilos30 or maybe got it for free and felt that pressure. I mean hard to say, coffee is a subjective thing. It makes a good cup, but not better than any other French press I’ve had.
@@Sprometheus that's my guess too, Fellow has brought out some amazing products so I'm sure some of the reviewers weren't comfortable being critical. I don't mind a good French press brew but over the last couple of years I have found that I rarely reach for it over my V60 or espresso. Thanks again for such an honest and entertaining video!
I've always seen Fellow as the Apple of coffee products... now is clearer than ever.
Thanks for the honest review!. You saved me $100! 🙏🏽
When I saw that price tag I was wondering if it was worth it. Thanks for giving an honest review!
Yeah, I had to know too! Hoping other curious folks will find this review helpful.
I personally would not have bought Fellow Clara French press, but it was given to me as a gift. It is way too expensive for my budget. Even so, now that I have one, this French press makes an extremely good cup of joe. While cleaning it a few weeks ago, I accidently knocked it off the counter, after banging, and clanging on the tile floor in our kitchen as it dropped to the floor, there was was no damage done to the carraffe what-so-ever. It still makes that great pot of coffee as it did when it was new. Sure it takes a little more time with making the coffee and then with cleanup, but for me it is a win situation.
Have you tried the espro french press? I've found its double walled filter does give a cleaner cup than other french presses out there
I’ve had my XL Espro press since 2015 and love it. I can’t say enough good things about it, except that it’s $100+.
I haven’t, but I’ll look into it. I’ve heard good things.
I’m not sure if this is the same, but I have a regular (inexpensive) French press that came with a replacement filter so I stuck that in to have a “double walled” filter. It seems to work alright although I can’t compare it to French presses that are actually MEANT to have double walled filters
I have the Espro press, and I still can’t get a clean cup from it.
@@sammarion that doesn't make sense. I always get a clean tasting silt free cup that's still full bodied. Maybe it's your grinder or you got a bad unit. The filter has a silicon seal and nothing gets through grounds wise. Only a paper filter is cleaner.
As always - I want to hear someone compare this to an Espro, like the Espro P7 (at $100+) , which I think is worth the money... For people who want to pay extra for slightly better filtration without going paper filter, it would be good to know if this is better / worse.
Thank you for volunteering yourself as tribute pal
You’re welcome, happy to do it. I’m here to support the enthusiast, not the manufacturers.
I think the nonstick coating is to keep a coffee grime from building up. I have one of their cups and it works well. In my yeti tumbler that I also use, the steel gets a coating of difficult to clean coffee grime after a while.
Great review! It’s also not possible to use an additional filter paper between the metal mesh. BUT it’s instagrammable, that’s what more important …
Yeah I mean you can probably cut filters, but not sure how it would attach. But overall just a big disappointment.
Anyone with any idea of how brewing works knows that a French press is a glorified container and the same process will happen whether it’s $100 or $15
Thanks for the nice no hype review, sticking with my bodum chambord.
Great informative video, thanks so much for your honest appraisal👍
Honest review, really appreciate it !
Personally I can't understand why they went for the nonstick, these days many people are very conscious about chemicals and what not.
But I guess they really needed to also sell the wooden stir spoon, to achieve that pricing 😂
5:14 “If you can’t say anything nice, you’re probably at the Ice Capades.” - Yakko Warner, ‘Animaniacs’
Finally! An honest review. I like the nice RUclipsrs and all, but when my money is at stake I’ll trust you over the rest any day. Proof nice and honest can co-exist. Thank you sir.
Apreciate the honest review!!
Fellow: Keeps your coffee warm as you work your way through the pot.
Every coffee nerd: 🤦♂️
Also Fellow: we just made a cash grab... cough... I mean improved the French Press!
Sprometheus: It’s just an expensive French Press! 😓
Yeah I mean, it’s confusing? Is this for a coffee nerd who’s willing to pay more for a specialized coffee product, or just a “centerpiece” as they even said on their website.
Having a French of glass is the most helpful thing and getting a clean cup. That way you can stop pressing before the filter reaches the coffee which prevents some fines from passing through the filter because of the pressure you apply.
I wanted a press that would brew a 20-oz insulated mugful, and the Clara's capacity (and my fondness for Fellow in general) attracted me. The price gave me pause, however.
Then I found one on eBay for USD 50 and pulled the trigger; it'll be here in two days. I want to compare it to my Aeropress XL, it's already way less counter-clutter, but taste also matters and I don't mind a bit of sludge at the bottom of my cup.
If it's just like any other press (including the 350ml job I already have) then I"ll be satisfied and happy. Thanks for the review.
(And yes, like you, I fully decant my brews each time--in fact, I've never even tried drinking some while letting the rest remain in the press. Why would anyone do that?)
Your spot on with one, its honestly a crash grab for fellow, they're just like hey let's throw on a fellow label and sell it for an absurd price, its the yeti of French presses lol
MSR Products (camp equipment manufacturer) makes a french press (or used to) with a very similar micro mesh design to the press. I used to have one, it was around $40 I think. It also has walls made of plastic, rather than glass or metal.
I use a $70 Friele I got as a wedding present, stainless steel double walled, with 2 particle size screens built into the plunger, and since it's steel I just shake it vigorously over the trash and give it a hearty tap. To get the last few used grinds out, I add an OZ or so of water to the remaining grinds and pour it in the trash, so simple and not too much to create residual liquid. First and last french press I'll likely ever own.
Sounds like a solid piece!
I see this, and think if my IKEA French press sitting on the shelf, but still just use my Clever.
Fellow needs to share whatever they are drinking... Thank you for the honest review.
thanks for the honest review!
You Spromethe-burned that stupid French press to the ground 🔥 I appreciate the bluntness of your title lol
Haha, I mean I just felt completely disappointed in it, I think it came through.
I’ll be honest. I paid nearly $100 for Hario’s double walled olive wood French Press just to match the olive wood theme I had for my brew bar at the time. Now my theme is black/walnut. So if they throw a walnut handle on that sucker and increase the price by $20 I’d still have to snatch it up. Just for the aesthetics.
On a smaller level, I just ordered their $50 pour over brewer. I don’t need a $50 pour over brewer. But I am curious.
What are your thoughts of the Hario Switch? It is basically an immersion brewer that produces a clean cup due to paper filter. I have been enjoying it for a while now, and was wondering about your thoughts if you ever used it
I have one and I’ve been toying with ideas on what I want to say about it.
So far I like it and the control. Definitely expect to see a video about it once I flush out the idea a bit more.
@@Sprometheus I can't wait! thank you my man
Dude. Love the content and writing. I think for a visual perspective you might want to add some shots that are wider. It feels crammed and without context while missing wider shots or even wider margins on the talking head or pour shots. Keep up the good work.
I wanted to love this product, both for the look and for the hope of a cleaner French press cup. Looks are not enough to make me drop $100. I think you nailed it at being overhyped and about $30 overpriced. Thanks for the review.
I wanted to as well. I’m not a big French press fan, but the promise of a cleaner cup drew me in. I think they played this completely wrong.
@@Sprometheus is the French press ready for a real redesign? I’ve had a few “great” cups over the years, but most are too gritty for me to fully enjoy.
Get the espro. Expensive but worth it. Opened up single origin coffee for me. I use the glass P5 18oz (it does have a minimum amount which is the one main drawback).
I’m starting to think that the Oxo French press that Morgan featured on her channel is the best one out there. With the Hoffmann method a cheap French Press can still give you a nice clean brew, but the Oxo has that nifty grounds lifter thing that solves the most infuriating part about FP brewing - the clean up. If I ever buy an FP, that’s the one I’m buying.
Morgan’s channel is great. She had a relatively positive review for this press, but her enthusiasm seemed genuine. While there was still silt in the cup in the Fellow, her test showed that the fine micro filter actually did keep a lot of sediment out compared to OXO. $100 though? Nah.
The espro press is amazing
I'm a fan of Fellow, too, but I wouldn't pay $99 for this French Press even if it did do everything it hyped. I have a neoprene jacket (about $12, I think) for my bodum to keep it hot. I have a secondary mesh filter (maybe $5?) I added to it that's every bit what the Clara claims. I suppose if you're into looks as much as results, a shelf display with a Chemex, a Hario syphon, and a Clara would cover the spectrum nicely, but they won't be better than my bodum and my V60, and I'll have money left over to enjoy many months of very nice specialty coffee.
Like you said if you leave your coffee in it, it's going to get over extracted. In addition it hold less than it looks because of the double walls. In the morning I'm either drinking my coffee quickly or putting it in a thermos to take with me. When I have company over it would be nice to keep it warm but buying a thermal carafe makes more sense. I still own the Fellows electric pot. Looks nice whiling do a good job.
First time I've seen Spro do an unabashed negative review, I love it.
I have just received one as a present 🎁. First I love my Espro Ultralight that I use together with filter paper and take it away with me especially when traveling to America.
I have the Clara with a wooden handle, it is a beautiful object. Following your comments I will suffice by looking at it only and leave the preparation to my espresso machine, espro ultralight, V60, April brewer or Turkish coffee equipment.
Thanks for the heads-up
totally agree... plus I think the cleanest french press you can get is the ESPRO the filter is much finer and twice the filter, plus you could use the paper filter on top of that, also double walled. For cleanup though, the OXO "ground lifter" is actually pretty smart. a mix of ESPRO and OXO with the look of FELLOW would probably be the best... one can dream.
Hahaha oh god his face when he talked about cleaning with warm soapy water.. hahaha. Loved it and subscribed! 3:50
This was a nice roast, just before 2nd crack. I would recommend it for French press 😂
Man of the people! Those expensive French presses seem to be everywhere right now. And I'm glad to see them torn down lol.
Haha, well deservingly torn down.
This is a beautiful item, but one thing I like about a French press is that I can watch the grounds swimming around in the water. Yes, I'd like to have insulation as well, but I feel like a double walled glass press would do a good enough job of that.
Hands down best French press. I wouldn’t buy it for myself probably, because most people go for French press to save money on filters anyways. But the lines on it make it easy for non coffee snobs, and the design is incredibly sophisticated especially if you get the hardwood j handles. Think of any other double walled stainless products like yeti, they don’t come at a cheap price. I also dislike the three piece design on tradition presses and this is a huge improvement other than introducing plastic/rubber components.
60 gram dosing for coffee? I use only 15 gram for my 180 ml in my Veken french press and I'm good with coffee for the day. Never had problems with grounds sticking as they are still slushy and rinse out easily. AND I got a beautiful wooden spoon that looks more expensive than that "paddle". And it has an ultra-fine screen for retaining more grounds. And, yes, like all french presses it does leave sludge at the bottom of my cup. BUT I paid only $30.
I satisfied with my $8 French press, but still watching this because this guy 1000% honest reviewer 😁
I rarely batch brew, so my go-to brewing method is generally a pour over. For the majority of what I drink in the light to medium roast range. I do also enjoy the occasional dark roast, and for that, my French press does a better job of even extraction than a paper pour over could.
But if someone could come up with a pour over recipe/process tailored to dark roasts that actually worked well, I would switch in a heartbeat. It’s the ease of cleaning that does it for me. French presses are a pain to clean. They make great coffee, but I avoid them because I prefer not to get into the cleaning mess.
like the Hario V60, but any paper filtered pour over will do.
I have two French presses...a smaller sized cheapo glass/older IKEA unit, and a larger Espro P7, which is comparable to the Fellow in that it is also around $100, double wall insulated and fine metal mesh filtered. Still a pain in the ass to clean, more so actually, and has the same issues with limited dosing markings. It looks nice, but for $100 it does not make a noticeable difference in the quality of the cup of coffee comparing to my $12 IKEA press.
Decanting for a French press through a paper filter is an easy fix for clarity and keeping mid out of the bottom of your mug. Doesn’t make cleaning any easier though, which in my mind is the fatal flaw of the French press.
Love seeing an honest review for once and not someone bowing to the man to keep getting free things.
I appreciate that, and that’s exactly my aim. There are too many influencers shilling products and doing the coffee making public a disservice
would love a vid from you on iced pour overs! its getting hot on the east coast and need some guidance from you asap
Thanks! I've always wondered how it compares to the Espro press lineup.
Normally love fellow products but this is a complete miss. For the price I would have loved to see a range of filter screens of varying fineness. That would feel like an interesting option to play with that isn't currently out there. 🤷♂️
It absolutely was a miss. I can’t help but be disappointed in how they marketed it.
I splurged on the Atmos, and it basically never kept a seal (I think it have been to long for me to request a new top) so I am very wary of Fellow products. I love their astatic, but if you cant to the job.....
thats so expnsive for what it is
2:20 the wooden spoon would prevent scratching.
I've felt for a good while now that Fellow are overcharging because their aesthetic lets them get away with it and this French Press probably confirms that.
Their cups may be overpriced but their grinder and kettle are not imo
I think the aesthetics are definitely part of the price, and I feel like this French press is all aesthetics and no substance.
I've shied away from Fellow's products due to complaints on their Monty series where cosmetic issues develop concerning visible cracks after first or second use, according to several troubleshooting forums. It seems to me that the Atmos may be the only thing worth its price tag, an item that I ponder about sometimes even though I already have the Airscape instead.
Too bad about the Clara.
Thanks for the honest review! Enjoy many fellow products, the marketing has been a little over the top on this one.
I’m with you for sure! Thanks for watching.
Ahhhhhhhhh finally, over the last week or so I have seen a few reviewers on this. I feel this is the one and only one to watch
Oh yeah? I’ve avoided reviews until my video was done and out. Anyone liking it?
It looks like it should be a slight upgrade to the regular-style french press you can grab almost anywhere. Looks like you're paying for the ascetics. Side note, I do have an Espro french press which has an outstanding and excellent filter. It's also not a cheap french press but it really does make a difference and I think it's worth the cost.
Nice. Have you ever checked out the Starbucks French Press? The mesh is also different from the usual. Would love to hear your thoughts on that one!
Fellow is the opposite of what I want to see more of in the coffee world
Yeah, I get that. I do like some of what they do. Not sure if this was just a ball dropped, or a sign that they’re getting too big to care.
Love the real opinion, here. Too often it seems like we coffee nerds want to gush over something and rush to buy it just because it's new and a little bit different and has a cool factor to it. With this product, Fellow seems like they are depending more on their reputation and on a certain cool factor that attaches to their name, rather than on the genuine quality of what they are putting out there. I have the Stagg kettle, two Atmos canisters, and their double wall carafe and like them all very much. Then, I also have a Carter mug and have been rather under impressed with it (especially in comparison to their hype), although I do occasionally use it. Is this an example of a company getting overly greedy as they experience some success and build up a degree of brand recognition, starting to assign price points more because of their brand name and marketing hype, than upon what the customer it truly getting?
Thank you for your review. Thank you for your continued work/video content. I have mixed feelings about Fellow. I have items of theirs that I LOVE and others that I don't. In a way, this review of this product doesn't surprise me. But, thank you for your review none-the-less to confirm my own suspicions. Not a product that was needed. But aesthetically I get it - and would look nice next to the other Fellow products on a table. So, for aesthetics I get it,....for "game changing" coffee,....umm no.
Thank you for watching and the kind words!
I’m 100% with you. I do have some Fellow stuff I like, others I don’t. I think they really dropped the ball on his one though. If they would’ve said said this is a French press to go with all your fellow stuff and we did a couple things to make it easier to use it and $30 less I wouldn’t be able to come down on it as hard as I did.
@@Sprometheus Exactly
I love everything about this..😂😂 Despite the title, I wasn't quite expecting this much enjoyment out of a French press review😂🙌
Haha, I’m glad you enjoyed it. As disappointed I was with it, there is something very cathartic about just dropping the hammer 🔨
exactly what i thought it would be... fellow has so many odd "small" products. they try to sell it as an invention but its just the same as all the other options :/ maybe i'm a bit harsh but today my fellow ekg broke down ....
Ooof! That’s a bummer. I use a stovetop kettle purely to avoid that kind of stuff.
Honestly, I would have just dealt with the grum for easy coffee grounds clean up in a French press. Then for silt free I would just use a Hario cloth filter.
I brew cacao. I HATE the spring like rim and mesh that does not stay were it is supposed to on my French press. I didn't buy this right away because I WANTED a little bit of fines and fat in my cup. I was worried that the "better" filter would keep them out. Just bought it after wanting to toss my current press in the trash and watching this that showed I should be good.
I thought about this long and hard and here's my devils advocate comment. Sure, there may be cheaper $20 Bodom presses that work just as well, but I personally have broke anywhere between 3 and 5 of the glass beakers that go into it. From that standpoint I have probably spent close to$100 on Bodom presses in my day. If I break the one I have now I would consider the Clara, but I'm certainly not rushing to buy one just yet.
My dad bought me a $99 fully stainless steel French press after I had broken 3 glass bodied $20 presses. All of them were stupid accidents but in his eyes it was worth spending that kinda money just because of durability.
The second I saw Fellow come out with this, I knew there was no way you could make a $99 french press worth the money. I feel like fellow's marketing recently has promised way too much without enough return to customers
Yeah, I’d be lying if I said it would live up to the price. I think they’ve got some assessing to do in future campaigns and designs.
@@Sprometheus Nah they don't care they know all the Instagram crowd will buy whatever overpriced trinkets they get made in China because the "My Coffee Setup" picture takers need to have matching stuff for the aesthetic ! ;-)
Can you do cold brew with it?
I think Fellow products are often worth is for their design. This, however, is a rather homely-looking French Press in a market filled with far more beautiful (and equally functional) products.
When I'm using the French press, it's to make a pretty large batch. Like not just one serving for myself. It's either for my thermos for the day or it's for sharing with others. I'll even brew a pour over into the beaker if it's for multiple people, so right there it's a multi-purpose tool. To me, a 24oz French press just goes against the spirit of the brewer. So okay, it's a little small. But the filter! That's worth the money, right? Surely you can take it apart for cleaning, can't you? In case some fines clog the mesh, you can take the mesh out of the filter plate? And if you really need a cleaner cup, you can cut a filter paper or some cheese cloth into the right shape and put that in the filter plate instead of or along with the mesh, right? Huh, that's weird. I have a stainless steel French press that goes for a quarter of the price on Amazon, has a liter capacity and comes with three wire mesh filters so you can have two spares or a triple-filtered cup. Did I mention there are multiple brands besides the one I bought which are stainless steel, have a liter capacity and have plungers that can be taken apart for cleaning? Oh, and did I mention that they're all considerably less than a hundred bucks?
Bro woke up and chose violence.. 😂
"I Bought This $100 French Press So You Don't Have To"
You shouldn't have. I'm not blowing a hundred bucks on a feckin' French Press.
For this price you'd probably be inclined to look at the Kitchenaid french press, the Precision. That has an integrated scale and timer built into the handle as well as an insulated body. Probably overpriced still at $99 but better value for money than the Clara.
There's a new french press from Timemore that has another mesh filter up the spout.
My grandmother told me an old Irish saying was 'least said, soonest mended'
French presses lend themselves to prolonges brew times, with some recipes calling for eight minutes and longer brew times. I know Hoffmans recipe is pretty long. I would be interested to see how the heat retention of the fellow brewer does compared to a glass device. I know that my fellow stag X dripper will keep the slurry about 10° hotter than a plastic V60, and slurry temperature alone may be worth the price.
However overall I agree with you, I own several fellow products because they are either very good in usability and design (mugs), or they operate in a place in the market that no other products fill (ode, stagg x), but their French press is neither of those.
Black cats or white cats, they all do the same job. My French Press is only a CAD18 basic Bodum. It makes perfectly "sweet" black coffee. The only difference is the person behind it. Investing your money on a good grinder could make your coffee better. I am using a Rancilio Rocky.
Seems like a fair review, as I was wondering what little extras I would get for a $100. I think I will pass on this and spend $20 for a plain french press ! Thanks
Add the Emporers new cafetiere to the Emporers new kettle (EKG) to the overpriced instagram fodder kit list.
Ah yes 100$ french press... seems like fellow is basically marking it up bcuz "fellow". I swear 40$ timemore frenchpress looks much sexier to my eyes and my wallet
I feel like this is fellow's attempt to become apple of the coffee world. Good looking stuff which prolly doesn't perform better than the competition but you pay the big premium for the "ecosystem".
Timemore is underrated all around. I need to get more of their gear on this channel.
@@Sprometheus i cant ever find any reliable reviews on their stuff... that would be diabolical. Also to add insult to injury, 40$ oxo french press has an easy clean laddle
I think those wanting a clearer cup would be better served by the Espro Press but I didn’t enjoy the cleanup on it.
The only thing that can kinda justify the price tag for me is the construction. I have a Bodum now, but I just KNOW I'm going to smash the glass at some point.
Totally. I look at my stainless steel French press like stupidity insurance. I’d have bought two more by now if it were glass, guaranteed.
Fellow is allot about design aesthetics, yes some of their products do deliver a new interpretation, but I don’t really think any of their products really revolutionised the respective categories, it mostly just a refinement and making it more accessible for the masses and deliver an aesthetic that allot of people like. I have several Fellow products, and like many other like their products, but it’s not really like I cannot get something similar somewhere else. None of their products where really the first of their kinds, but what Fellow dos well is fine tuning and keep a strict design philosophy so your coffee gear won’t look like a random mess.
EsproPress have made a real improvement of the French, today you can even use paper and cloth filters. However if you find $100 for a french press upsetting, you won’t like the price they are charging, in many countries it’s twice as much.
If it was half the price I'd consider it just for the look of it since it's a very pretty french press.
Sprometheus: the clara is extremely expensive for what it is
Sprometheus: *buys a linea mini, a machine that does the same thing a 1k dollar machine does but for 5.4k*
That is absolutely false though. The mini is objectively a better machine
@@Adam-vx6to illuminate me. And please don't say it makes "cafe quality" shots
@@MrMarki134 better internal components and build which leads to improved temp stability, consistent flow, etc. The ability to pour back to back shots. It’s certainly not 5x better than a 1k machine but it’s also designed for a small cafe where any home machine would absolutely fail when put under the amount of demand
@@Adam-vx6to you can get all that for much less. And sure, maybe the bigger boilers have better temp stability, but much better than a Breville Dual Boiler or an ACS minima? And "more metal" does not mean better componentry. The more stable flow given by the rotary pump can be achieved with much less money as well, and I'd argue that unless you are pushing the boundaries of flow profiling, it makes little to no difference to a vibratiom pump.
Lmlm lacks any sort of flow control as well which is to me unacceptable for a machine at that price range.
But you are right about something: it is built for small cafes. It can take commercial use which is something that neither breville's or acs' machines can do, but that is exactly my point. I should have said this in the first comment, but the linea mini's problem is that it is terrible value for money for the home user. You make the argument of durability and relaiability through the "better build quality" thing. If you take proper care of a Breville dual Boiler, an expobar brewtus a lelit elizabeth or a silvia pro, they will last as long as you want them to, in a home environment.
Using a machine as the linea mini at home is not practical nor a good choice from a value point of view, it then turns into a luxury product because it is extremely expensive for what you are going to use it at home. And my point, which I agree I didn't explain at all in the first comment, is that it's exactly what spro is critiquing about the clara - too much for what it is. Yeah, the linea mini can take commercial use, but is spro giving it that kind of use? No
Fellow literally got “roasted”
Sprosted even 🔥
@@Sprometheus ahahahhaha
Fellows generally makes great looking things but they fall short in function. They forgot about form follows function. Take their grinder for instance.
It’s not a hatchet review at all - it’s a hatchet product. Fellow always does such a great job of putting a unique spin on function, not just form, and they dropped the ball here. I was hoping there would be some kind of a ground scoop considering the price tag, to address the worst part of a French press (cleaning), and... nothing.
A double wall press is worth the upgrade if you press a lot, I'd say, but not at this price. I'd rather spend $100 on an Espro which seems to actually brew a cleaner cup. This seems more like a $60 kind of thing. I know presses get a lot of shit for those of us who grew out of them but really they are the gateway into proper homebrewing! PS I'd love to see an Espro pop up on here someday.
Would be interesting to compare it to their old french press that they used to make!
If your coffee in the french press looks like iced tea then you need to add more coffee grinds.
The mesh looks like it’s the same as my jetboil press
*laughs in ikea’s CHÖNKY BØI*
I notice on some of these review vids that the reviewer 1) does not stir and let rest just before plunging 2) does not mention if they are using course ground coffee (which you definitely should for a French press).
Well the reason I don’t walk through how to brew a French press is because this is a review, not a tutorial. But yes, I stir, press after 4 minutes and brew French presses with coarse grind if that’s something that you need to hear.
@@Sprometheus in regard to your testing process, YES, that is something some viewers would like to know. Cheers and have a bright day.