Brew Guide

Fellow Stagg

Getting started with Fellow Stagg

Introduction

The Fellow Stagg brewer is a paragon of design. Despite its elegant looks, it has unmatched functionality too. Being a flat-bed brewer, it already has more consistent and even extraction capabilities than conical brewers like the V60, but its fast steady flow rates just make it even more consistent. In addition, it has a unique, vacuum insulated double wall design, which has highly responsive yet stable thermal properties, giving the user more control over temperature. Furthermore, its base serves as a three-fold tool: it can be used to weigh your coffee into, as well as a cap to retain heat inside the brewer after pouring, and finally as a place to put the brewer once extraction has finished. We love this brewer so much, we used it in the UK Brewers Cup 2022 Semi-Finals, and the following recipe is an adaptation of the recipe used on the day, designed to be more suitable for home-brewing. The brewer comes in two sizes, X and XF, and we prefer the smaller X model to achieve these wonderfully complex, vibrant, clean, and balanced brews.

Method

What you’ll need

Fellow Stagg Brewer
Any flat-bed filter papers, we prefer Kalita 185s
14.5 grams of coffee
Grinder
Water
Kettle (preferably gooseneck)
A scale/timer
Decanter
Your favourite cup

Steps

Grind 14.5 grams of coffee to a medium-coarse setting.
Heat your water up to between 93°C and 99°C.
Remove the base from the brewer, place the filter paper inside and rinse it with hot water, then cold water to cool down the brewer. Discard of the water.
Place the brewer and decanter onto the scale and weigh in the coffee, level out the bed by giving it a gentle shake, then tare the scale.
Start the timer and begin by quickly pouring 60ml of water (40grams in a circular motion and the last 20grams into the centre of the brewer). Then swirl the brewer 3 times to saturate all of the coffee grounds. Place the base on top of the brewer to retain the heat.
At 55 seconds, remove the cap. Very slowly and gently pour 35ml in a circular motion to reach 95ml of water.
Once all the liquid has drained at around 1:25, again pour 35ml in a slow circular motion to reach 130ml of water.
Once again, when all the liquid has drained at around 1:55, pour 35ml in a slow circular motion to reach 165ml of water.
All the liquid should drain around 2:25, then pour another 60ml pour (this time 20ml in the centre, and the final 40ml in circles), to reach 225ml of water.
When there is about 1cm of liquid still above the bed, cut the brew. The total brew time should be approximately 2:55 – 3:10.
Clean the brewer.
Swirl the decanter, serve and enjoy.

How to adjust

Using hotter water temperatures will give you a sweeter cup, whereas using cooler water will generate a brighter, more acidic brew.
Try finer ground coffee for a sweeter, thicker more bodied cup, and coarser ground coffee for a lighter cleaner cup.
You can increase or decrease your dose to get a stronger or weaker brew.

In Brief

0:00 – 1st Pour – 60ml
Swirl brewer 5 times / place on cap

0:55 – 2nd Pour – 35ml

1:25 – 3rd Pour – 35ml

1:55 – 4th Pour – 35ml

2:25 – 5th Pour – 60ml

2:55 – Finish

For the Geeks

This section is for those who want to go all in. It provides the extra details regarding our method, as well as the results we get when brewing, and are to serve as both guidance, and reference for those who want it.

Extraction

Grind: 750μm
Yield: ≈85 % [190ml]
TDS: 1.4%
EY: 18.34 %

Water content

pH: 6.6
PPM: 120