I will say this until I am blue in the face: Your cup of coffee will only ever be as good as your choice of grinder.
You can buy the fanciest glass V60 or a hand-blown Chemex, but if you smash your beans with a cheap blade grinder, your coffee will taste like ash and sour lemon juice. To get that clean, articulate flavor that pour over is famous for, you need particle consistency. You need the best burr grinder for pour over.
For years, I searched for a grinder that excelled at filter coffee without costing as much as a used car. The answer is the Fellow Ode Gen 2.
Most grinders try to do everything, espresso, drip, french press. The problem is, "jacks of all trades" are usually masters of none. The Fellow Ode 2 is unapologetically designed for brewed coffee only.
It uses massive 64mm flat burrs. In the world of grinders, flat burrs are prized for creating a "unimodal" grind distribution. This means all the coffee particles are roughly the same size. Why does this matter? Because it means they all extract at the same rate. No boulders (under-extracted/sour) and no dust (over-extracted/bitter). Just pure, sweet clarity.
Check out the Fellow Ode 2 on Amazon
One of the best things about pour over is that it is portable. A plastic V60 fits in any bag. But hauling a 10lb electric grinder to a hotel or campsite? Not happening.
For the road, I use the OutIn Fino Portable Electric Grinder. Most travel grinders are manual, which means you spend 5 minutes frantically cranking before you get your caffeine. The OutIn is battery-powered, compact, and crucially, uses real burrs.
It grinds slowly but consistently, giving you a surprisingly clean cup for a device that fits in a water bottle pocket. If you refuse to drink hotel lobby sludge, this is a lifesaver.
I often get asked, "Can't I just use my espresso grinder?" You can, but you shouldn't. Espresso grinders are designed to create "fines" (dust) to help build pressure. If you use that for pour over, those fines will clog your paper filter, stall your brew, and leave you with a muddy, bitter cup. You need a dedicated burr grinder for pour over to do it right.
If you are taking the time to stand over a kettle and hand-pour water over your coffee, you deserve to taste the fruit of your labor. The Fellow Ode 2 unlocks the flavor profiles that cheaper grinders hide.
To see how the Ode fits into my wider brewing ecosystem, check out my Work From Home Guide to the Best Coffee Setup.
And as always, a great grinder needs great beans. I trust Trade Coffee to send me the light, complex roasts that the Ode 2 handles so beautifully.
Disclosure: This post contains affiliate links. If you buy something through them, I may earn a small commission, at no extra cost to you. It helps fuel the coffee, the testing, and the writing. Thanks for supporting the work.