Fellow Opus Grind Settings Chart

Fellow's own guidance puts espresso between 1 and 2; the other starting points sit inside the ranges Opus owners report and follow the sizes in our coffee grind size chart. Fellow also prints recommended settings under the Opus lid. Your beans, roast date and brewer will move the ideal number a step or two, so adjust by taste and brew time.

The outer collar runs from 1 (finest) to 11 (coarsest), with three tick marks between each number, 41 clicks in total. In CoffeeGeek's measurements, each click changes the burr gap by roughly 28–30 microns. That's plenty of resolution for filter coffee. Write settings as decimals so you can repeat them: one tick past 5 is 5.25, two ticks is 5.5.

Under the hopper sits a second, inner adjustment ring. It shifts the whole outer scale in small increments, about six micro-steps either side of centre, each roughly a third of an outer tick. It exists for espresso, where one outer click can be the difference between a gushing shot and a choked one.

• Filter coffee: leave the inner ring at its centre mark.
• Espresso: use it when one outer click runs too fast and the next runs too slow.
• Always note its position (for example "outer 2, inner +2"), or your filter numbers will drift next time you switch methods.

1. 1

   Weigh 18g of a medium roast and spray the beans once with water to cut static.

2. 2

   Set the outer dial to 2 with the inner ring centred.

3. 3

   Grind, tap the grinder to clear retained grounds, and weigh the dose again.

4. 4

   Pull a shot and aim for about 36g out in 25–32 seconds.25–32 seconds

5. 5

   Fast or sour: go one click finer. Slow or bitter: go one click coarser.

6. 6

   Stuck between two clicks: stay on the faster one and move the inner ring 1–2 steps finer.

7. 7

   Light roasts usually need 1–1.5; dark roasts often sit at 2.25–2.5.

Change one thing at a time. Our dial-in guide covers ratio and taste in depth, and shot running too fast or too slow lists every fix.

• Your machine uses a pressurized basket

  grind a step or two coarser than 2; pressurized baskets choke on very fine coffee. See pressurized vs non-pressurized baskets.

• V60: 5.5. A cone with one large hole drains fast, so it needs a finer grind. Aim for 2:45–3:30 total for 15g : 250g.
• Kalita Wave or flat-bottom: 6.5. Three small holes slow the flow, so go a little coarser.
• Chemex: 7.5. The thick filter slows drawdown a lot. Too fine and the brew stalls past 6 minutes.

Use water just off the boil, around 92–96°C (198–205°F), and a 30–45 second bloom. Drawdown is your best clue: much faster than the target time means go a step finer; water still sitting on top long after your last pour means go coarser. New to the method? Start with what pour-over coffee is and why the bloom matters.

• AeroPress: 4–6. Use 4 for short, concentrated brews and 6 for longer, lighter cups.
• Moka pot: 3.5. Finer than filter, coarser than espresso. Sputtering and burnt flavours mean too fine. See how to use a moka pot.
• Drip coffee maker: 6.5. Cone-basket machines may prefer 5.5–6. The 100g hopper may need two loads for a full pot.
• French press: 9.5. Coarse grounds keep silt out of the cup. See how to use a French press.
• Cold brew: 10.5. A 1-litre batch (100g) fits in one hopper load. See how to make cold brew.

Still unsure? Why coffee tastes bitter and why espresso tastes sour cover the other causes. For a quick starting point on any grinder, try the coffee grind size calculator.

Because the scale, burrs and adjustment all changed, setting 5 on one is not setting 5 on the other. If you own an Opus 2, start from Fellow's printed guide for that model and use the taste table above to adjust. Quick check: a clicking dial with three ticks between numbers and an inner ring under the hopper means you have the original Opus.

• Weigh every dose. The lid scoop is handy, but bean density varies.
• Season new burrs by grinding and discarding 30–50g of beans.
• Keep a log: bean, roast date, method, outer setting, inner ring position, taste.
• Purge after big changes. Grind a few grams when switching from French press to espresso.
• Clean monthly. Brush the burrs and chute; never use water inside the grinder.
• Store beans well. Stale coffee needs a finer grind. See how to store coffee beans.

Still choosing a grinder? Compare the Opus with the Fellow Ode Gen 2, browse the best coffee grinders, or read how to choose a burr grinder.

The grinder this chart covers

Fellow Opus

41-step conical burr grinder for everything from espresso to cold brew, with an inner ring for espresso fine-tuning.

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