Coffee & Espresso review
Fellow Stagg EKG Review: Precise for Coffee, Careless for Tea
One lab measured it half a degree off target at coffee temperatures and more than five degrees off in the green tea range. The same kettle, the same test session.
By Paulo GerchonPublished 2 min read
Illustration, not a photo — we don’t have a licensed image of this product yet.
Fellow
Fellow Stagg EKG
Good · researched from 5 sources
If you brew coffee at boiling-adjacent temperatures it is close to flawless, and the build justifies keeping it for years. If you drink green tea, the one lab that tested that range specifically found it overshooting, which is the whole point of buying a variable kettle.
- Buy if
- Daily pour-over drinkers who want a repeatable temperature · Anyone who values pour control over capacity · Kitchens where the kettle is also an object you look at
- Skip if
- Green tea drinkers, on the evidence of the one lab that tested it · Households boiling for more than two cups at a time · Anyone who wants water held hot for a whole morning
We don’t list prices, because Amazon’s change hourly.
The split that matters
TechGearLab did something most kettle reviews do not: they tested accuracy at two different target temperatures instead of one.
At the 200F coffee target the kettle averaged half a degree of deviation, and they scored that 9.0. In the 170 to 180F green tea band it regularly settled more than five degrees high, and they scored that 6.1.
That is the same kettle in the same session. A variable temperature kettle exists so you can ask for 175F and get 175F, and on this evidence you get something closer to 182F.
If you only ever brew coffee, none of this touches you. If you bought it for tea, it is the whole review.
The display is optimistic
Coffee Review put a thermocouple against it and found the number on the front reading one to three degrees higher than the water actually was, specifically during active heating.
That is a smaller error than the green tea result and it points the same direction: the kettle reports hotter than it is. It settles once heating stops, which is why the coffee target result is so tight.
Neither finding makes the kettle inaccurate in a way that ruins coffee. Both make it less absolutely precise than the marketing implies.
Everything else is very good
Coffee Review rated it 9.5 out of 10 and called it best in show, praising the build down to the lid design and the hidden physical switches for the Celsius toggle and hold mode. TechGearLab ranked it second of fifteen kettles overall.
The gooseneck is the reason people buy these. The Furnished Review describes controlled trickling at one to two grams a second without the stream breaking, which is what lets you wet a bed of coffee evenly rather than punching a hole in it. TechGearLab scored pour feel 8.0, though they scored precision pouring only 6.0, which is an odd gap and the one place their two pouring metrics disagree.
The things that will annoy you
Hold mode stops after an hour. Not a warning, not a beep, just off. The Furnished Review flags it as the thing owners discover the hard way.
The base takes up more counter than the kettle suggests, and 0.9 litres is one teapot. If you are making a round of drinks for four, you are boiling twice.
What it is really competing with
The Furnished Review makes the comparison nobody selling this kettle wants made: a Cosori gets you roughly 80 percent of the performance for about 30 percent of the money.
That is probably true and it is also not the whole story. The 20 percent you are paying for is the gooseneck and a build that Coffee Review rated near perfect, and if you pour by hand every morning you will feel both. If you want hot water at a chosen number, the cheap kettle is the rational purchase.
How it scored
The overall 7.8 is the weighted average of these five criteria — we never adjust it by hand.
Temperature control
TechGearLab scored coffee accuracy 9.0 with average deviation of half a degree at 200F, then scored green tea 6.1 after it settled more than 5F above the 170 to 180F band.
Value
The Furnished Review is blunt that a Cosori delivers roughly 80 percent of the performance for about 30 percent of the outlay.
Build quality
Coffee Review calls the build first-rate down to the smallest details and scored it 9.5 out of 10, singling out the lid and the hidden physical switches.
Ease of use
TechGearLab scored ease of use 7.0. The Furnished Review flags a hold mode that quietly shuts off after 60 minutes and a base that crowds small counters.
Pour control
TechGearLab scored pour feel 8.0. Coffee Review describes the spout as making the subtlest dribble a matter of intention.
Pros and cons
What we liked
- TechGearLab measured average deviation of half a degree at the 200F coffee target
- A counterbalanced gooseneck that The Furnished Review controls at 1 to 2 grams per second
- Coffee Review rated the build 9.5 and called it best in show
- TechGearLab ranked it second of fifteen kettles
- The display keeps showing temperature and timer after you lift it off the base
What we didn’t
- TechGearLab found it settling more than 5F above the green tea range
- Coffee Review measured the display reading 1 to 3F high while actively heating
- Hold mode shuts off after 60 minutes, which The Furnished Review notes catches people out
- At 0.9 L it is one teapot or two pour-overs, and no more
- TechGearLab scored precision pouring only 6.0 despite the strong pour feel score
Specifications
| Capacity | 0.9 L |
|---|---|
| Power | 1200 W per TechGearLab |
| Temperature range | 104F to 212F per TechGearLab |
| Boil time | 3 min 6 sec for 500 mL from 57F per TechGearLab |
| Coffee accuracy | About 0.5F average deviation at 200F per TechGearLab |
| Green tea accuracy | More than 5F above the 170 to 180F band per TechGearLab |
| Display accuracy | Reads 1 to 3F high while heating per Coffee Review |
| Hold mode | 60 minutes, then automatic shut-off |
| Body | Matte powder-coated stainless steel |
| Warranty | 2 years |
How we researched this
We have not had this unit on the bench. This review synthesises the manufacturer’s published specifications, independent measurements and owner reports listed below. Every figure on this page comes from one of those sources rather than our own measurement.
5
sources reviewed
TechGearLab is the only source that tested accuracy at more than one target temperature, which is what surfaced the coffee against green tea split, and they supply the boil time, wattage and category scores. Coffee Review used a thermocouple against the display and identified the reading offset during heating; they name the exact unit tested, model EE01AA1A, which is the standard EKG. The Furnished Review contributed the hold-mode behaviour, the pour rate and the ownership caveats. Fellow's own product page now lists only the EKG Pro, so no manufacturer specification for this model is cited; every figure here comes from a reviewer.
What we read
Common questions
How accurate is the Fellow Stagg EKG?
Does it have a PID controller?
How long will it hold temperature?
Is 0.9 litres enough?
Is it worth the money over a cheap variable kettle?
The bottom line on the Fellow Stagg EKG
If you brew coffee at boiling-adjacent temperatures it is close to flawless, and the build justifies keeping it for years. If you drink green tea, the one lab that tested that range specifically found it overshooting, which is the whole point of buying a variable kettle.
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