Look, I know I wrote a rambling post about some coffee gear being overpriced. Although I didn’t name it then, I was thinking about the Fellow Stagg EKG as the really expensive electric kettle when I writing that – and now I just bought one. So maybe I’m just a hypocrite? Let’s find out.

This is not the “My (unqualified) thoughts about the Fellow Stagg EKG…” post but my initial thoughts about it are: it really isn’t cheap; it does look stunning; and it feels premium to use. Why did I buy it? Well I wanted an electric kettle and I just received my 13^th month pay. Have my brews improved significantly because of it? Not really, though there is some improvement primarily since I can control my flowrate better.  

What I will say is that it has added some excitement to my brews, like when I got my Timemore C2 and the Timemore (white) Black Mirror scale, because I feel happy using it – nay I look forward to using it to brew everytime. So although some coffee gear are indeed overpriced (or to be less sensational, expensive), if they spark joy in you and makes you want to continue to support specialty coffee then knock yourselves out. But I still would suggest you don’t break the bank just to buy the best equipment. Plan it out. You may think you need these now during the pandemic, but when you must physically report to work again will you still pay as much attention to your home brewing set-up? If you are undecided, then look for more reasonable alternatives.

Now, real talk, one of my worries about people purchasing expensive equipment (like an actual espresso machine perhaps) is that they expect too much from them to make them good coffee and get disappointed when they aren’t able to. Or worse, they somehow think that expensive equipment will make bad coffee taste good. Lastly, and I hope this is not true, but it seems that “flex culture” has increasingly bled into the home brewing community and thus drives prices higher further (like when resale values inflate because of the demand).

Why the Fellow Stagg EKG? I was choosing between this and the Bonavita variable temperature kettle and I actually consumed a bunch of content about the two for two days. I’m going to be honest, choosing the Fellow Stagg EKG was a mostly aesthetic decision and everything else was secondary. It’s kind of an “investment” for the shareyourkape IG feed. I also wanted to try it, to really know if the thing is overpriced/expensive. Is that a flex? You tell me. The Fellow Stagg EKG and the Bonavita Variable Temp are both available (along with other equipment and good coffee) in coffeephl.com.

If you bought new coffee equipment for the holiday season, happy brewing! Stay safe everyone, Happy Holidays!

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