Fellow Stagg EKG Review: Is This $180 Kettle Actually Worth It?

Sometime in 2023, our prior gooseneck kettle (the Bonavita—popular with coffee nerds and reviewed here), just stopped heating. It still turned on and it still knew the temperature of its water. But for reasons we never really solved, it just stopped heating the water. Which was, anyway, a nice excuse to finally get the electric kettle we’d been coveting: the Stagg EKG from Fellow.

And if there’s one thing I’d been envying about the Stagg EKG, it’s the way you set the kettle’s temperature. While my dedication to dialing in precisely 185F for my AeroPress recipe has waxed and waned over the years, my certainty that the Stagg has a much better system for setting that number than the Bonavita did is clear.

Three years later, I’m still happy enough that we bought it. The Stagg’s dial is easier to use than our old Bonavita, holds its temperature without making me think about it, pours well, and looks much better sitting on our counter. That said, my biggest complaint is also a pretty significant one: the 0.9-liter capacity is annoyingly small if you’re regularly making coffee for two people—and the top “geysers” when you pour too fast.

In the rest of this article, I’ll go into a lot more detail about the Fellow Stagg versus the Bonavita, including features of the latter. We’ll highlight the things I really enjoy about it, the things I’m a bit annoyed by, and finally I’ll work on the answer of if it’s the right kettle for you (and if it is worth $180).

The pros and cons of the Fellow Stagg EKG

What we like	What we don’t
Very intuitive temperature dial	0.9L capacity feels small
Excellent pour control	Easy to overfill
Holds your set temperature	Overfilling/design can cause hot water to sputter from the lid
Fast reheating	Handle attachment can get uncomfortably hot
Looks fantastic on the counter	Expensive (roughly $200)

What we like about the Fellow Stagg EKG

Overall, we’re 100% happy with our purchase of the Fellow Stagg. First and foremost (as I highlighted above) I just love that it actually gets the water hot. 🙃 But more importantly, it’s got some really nice perks, which I think are significant.

Knob-viously Better Design

The Bonavita had what I’d describe as an awkward button interface. There were plus-and-minus buttons to change the set temp, but also a memory feature where you could cycle through three (or so) common set-points. The Stagg has a more intuitive system: a big knob you turn to make the number go up or down. Beautiful in its simplicity!

It is a really fun interface, and fairly satisfying one to use. You just simply twist that knob to whatever temp you want the water. Nothing more to it.

Keeps Your Temp, Even After Lift-Off

Another way that the Stagg kettle is an upgrade compared to the Bonavita is that if you pick up the kettle and put it down, it’ll keep heating your water back to the same temperature.

I feel like this is kind of how a kettle like this should work, but it wasn’t how the Bonavita we were migrating from did. There, I had to hit the “start/heat” button on each re-setting-down. So if I took the kettle off at 212F, and then used it for a while—even putting it down on the base—its temp would slowly drift down. In fact, it was virtually guaranteed that it WOULD NOT be at 212 because of physics.

This was especially true if, as I have the habit of doing especially when making coffee for more than one person, I was add more water to the kettle half-way through. (See “Low Volume” below for more…)

Needless to say, this feature alone has saved me from more than a few lukewarm disappointments.

It’s Pretty—and Feels Good!

Other than the functionality, I also think a real place the Stagg kettle excels is that it just looks really good. We have the most common black one, but in addition to that, Fellow makes a number fun colors—and has also done some cool collabs.

But even in the black, this is a HANDSOME kettle. Partly I’m just riding the trend that says black is in and stainless steel is starting to look dated. But it’s also that the shapes and angles of the Stagg are just much more of a statement than my much-loved but quite rotund Bonavita kettle.

While I loved the practical attractiveness of Bonavita, it never looked like it would win a design award. The Stagg looks like it deserves some especially cool-shaped sculptural trophy for its excellence in design.

And beyond the looks, it just feels good in your hand. The gooseneck spout pours in a way that feels almost instinctive, and gives you precise control without having to think about it.

Learn the best pour over kettles we’ve found (and where the Stagg ranks) »

What we don’t like about the Fellow Stagg EKG

While there’s a lot I love about the Stagg, it’s not all great. And that, after all, is probably what you’re excited about reading. This is where I make the money and prove I’m not just some Pollyanna shill for Fellow.

Low Volume

My biggest complaint about the Fellow Stagg kettle is a pretty simple one: 900ml of water is simply too little for me to fill-and-forget in any variety of morning scenario. This is the pain the kettle causes me on a daily basis. And the kettle DOES NOT come in other sizes.

While I was just remarking my prior Bonavita was more workmanlike in appearance, it was also much more workmanlike it its volume. It’s “small” size was 1L, with an option for a bigger (and even more round) 1.7L.

900mL is not enough water for our normal morning coffee routine, I make us 600mL of brewed coffee each morning. Add the water I use to rinse the V60 filter, a little inevitable spillage, water stolen for oatmeal, etc., and this kettle’s capacity depletes pretty fast.

I will note that the temperature hold feature makes these mid-brew-session refills of tap water a lot less painful (no need to make sure the kettle is on and heating), but it’s still a bit of a hassle. It also does heat back up pretty fast, in a way that means I rarely poor way-too-cold water. But I do sometimes pour colder-than-I’d-like water, depending on how attentive and aligned my timelines are.

Hot Water Geysering Out the Top If (Even a Little) Over-Filled

Do not fill the Stagg above its interior max-fill line.

To somewhat add to the hassle of the Stagg’s low-volume, when you dare to mistakenly overfill it (past the fill line on the inside, NOT over-topping it crudely) it becomes a hot sputtering geyser in a way I just never experienced with YEARS of using our Bonavita.

One other design difference worth mentioning: the Stagg has a built-in flow restrictor where the base of the spout meets the kettle body. That’s intentional—it limits how much water can move through the spout at once to give you the slow, steady pour that’s so nice for pour-over coffee. I don’t know that this contributes to the geysering problem, but it does seem correlated.

Perhaps this is all 100% user error, but the flatness of the lid is my best guess about the source of this annoyance. The Bonavita lid was (inner) concave, so any over-full boils would kind of just intrude into the lid’s own “bonus space” versus spurting out the vent holes. On the Stagg, it’s got no place to go but out the vent holes. So a roiling boiling there is SCARY!

Handle With (Some) Care

Similarly, I think the Stagg’s handle looks great! But it’s also the case that the way it attaches to the kettle is a little scarier than the way that the Bonavita attached.

Looking at the Bonavita, the whole “protruding” part of the kettle was simply black plastic. It looks less sharp to me than the Stagg gooseneck kettle, but also means no parts transfer heat from the metal kettle body very well. On the Stagg though, the handle attaches through a metal ring right next to the metal kettle body. This means if any of your fingers slip a bit, they’re liable to get a little uncomfortably hot.

It’s not a burn you’ll think about for minutes or even hours after (I’m not a scientist) but it is one you’ll feel and probably not like.

How to use a Fellow Kettle

Using the Fellow Stagg EKG Electric Kettle is refreshingly simple, which is part of why people love it a little too much.

Fill it with water (stay under the line lest you risk the aforementioned geysering), set it on the base, and turn the knob to your desired temperature, up to 212 degrees. Press the knob once to start heating.

That’s it.

Pour slowly out of the gooseneck spout and you’ll get precise control without trying very hard — which is exactly the point.

Fellow Stagg EKG alternatives we’d consider

There are A LOT of ways to boil water. I imagine I could find at least 1000 reasonable electric kettles wired to work for Americans. But let’s be honest, competitors we should think about here aren’t “any kettle that makes water.” If you thought about the Stagg, you should consider “any kettle a pour-over snob might reasonably comparison shop with.”

Bonavita

Honestly, when I need to replace my Fellow Stagg, the first kettle I’d consider is the one we had before it: the Bonavita. I really liked that kettle. And while I think the temperature-setting functionality is worse, I’ve been fiddling with brew temperature less lately. Since I heard James Hoffman say, in a video I won’t track down for you, that he thinks you should mostly always boil the water and not worry much about water temperature.

All that is to say, I think this remains a good solid option that served me well for about 7 years. I realize I might have named enough downsides that you’re looking for something else, here are few other kettles I’d also consider but haven’t personally used.

The OXO Gooseneck

I’m overall a big OXO coffee gear fan, and like both the (slightly, but notably better to my mind) larger 1L size.

Plus, it’s got that nice big knob just like the Fellow Stagg.

The Greater Goods 1L “knockoff”

It doesn’t look the same, I’ll give them that. But this kettle looks weirdly a lot like the Stagg. But notably, it is about $30 cheaper.

Cosori 800mL Kettle

I have a friend who uses and likes a kettle from this brand. Personally I find the controls look like a worse version of the Bonavita, but that just may be my personal history biasing my opinion. I also feel like I’m wanting something bigger the Fellow’s 900mL, and 800 is less 🤓.

Stagg Kettle FAQs

How to turn off the Stagg Kettle

Just press and hold the main dial (the circular knob on the base) for about one second. The display will go dark, and the kettle powers down.

If you forget, the Stagg EKG will automatically turn off after about 15 minutes of inactivity or once it reaches the set temperature (depending on whether the HOLD mode is on).

If you’re storing it or won’t be using it for a while, go ahead and unplug the base. No harm in being extra safe.

What material is the Stagg kettle made of?

The Stagg EKG’s built like a tank, but a really pretty one. Its body and lid are solid 304 stainless steel, while the base and seals use sturdy, food-safe materials that can handle years of daily brews without getting weird.

How we clean and descale our Stagg EKG

We don’t do anything especially elaborate to keep our Stagg clean. For everyday use, we rinse out the kettle as needed and wipe down the exterior with a damp cloth. When we start to see mineral buildup inside, we descale it with equal parts water/vinegar.

We follow Fellow’s cleaning guidance and avoid submerging the kettle or getting the base wet.

How our Stagg has held up after three years

Honestly, there’s not much to report here—which is a very good thing. After about three years of near-daily use, our Stagg basically still works like it did on day one. The dial works normally, the screen hasn’t developed any issues, and the lid still fits exactly as it should. We haven’t noticed any meaningful scratching or deterioration in the finish, either. It heats water just as quickly as we remember, and the controlled gooseneck pour hasn’t changed.

In short: We’ve had no reliability problems… yet.

Is the Fellow Stagg worth it?

Yes, I think the Fellow Stagg EKG is worth it—especially if you’re usually brewing one or two cups of pour-over coffee at a time. But there’s also a small-but-sincere asterisk. If you’re someone who likes the idea of having precise control over your water temperature, it’s kind of a no-brainer. It looks good, it works well, and it makes the coffee brewing feel a lil more intentional. (And dare I say… elevated.) It does all it promises, and looks good doing it.

However, if you’re making coffee for multiple people every morning, or if you’re someone who routinely multitasks yourself into boiling chaos, the Stagg’s limited capacity and overfill drama may start to wear on you.

So yes, it’s worth it. Even if I do occasionally curse its volume limitations mid-V60.

Plus there is that cool snake style game in there somewhere…