These posts are transcribed from my YouTube video scripts, sometimes they might be worded oddly in a written format.
In this post, I’m going to be sharing my thoughts and full review of the Aiden, a $365 premium coffee brewer from Fellow.
I've already posted the unboxing and my first impressions of the machine, so if you haven’t seen that yet - I suggest going to check that post out first.
Fellow did send me this unit for review, however this post is not sponsored, they are not paying me, and all thoughts and opinions remain my own.
BUILD
The best way to describe the Aiden is a plastic black box that brews good coffee. Now I’ve said this before, plastic itself is not inherently a bad material. It can be done very, very well and it can be done poorly. The Aiden feels like a mix of both.
For most of the machine, the plastic panels don’t feel too bad. There are some panel gaps and very slight misalignments, but given the extremely flat shape and right angles, it doesn’t look bad at a distance.
Comparing it to something like the Stagg kettles, it feels cheaper for sure, but visually, it fits right into the Fellow aesthetic.
I do think the top lid with the integrated shower head could have been a bit more rigid and sturdier, especially given how important this specific component is to the machine.
Like mentioned in my first impressions, the hinges are excellent with a nice snappy feeling to it. The dial itself is also great and easy to use, just like the Stagg kettles.
The removable components like the carafe and baskets all feel well-made, and I don’t think these parts will have any issues over time.
COLD BREW
The first thing I want to talk about and quickly get out of the way, is the cold brew function. It works by doing a hot bloom phase followed by slow drips of room temperature water from the reservoir, over a set period of time, to produce ready to drink cold brew.
Or, you can create a custom profile and ratio to produce something more like a cold brew concentrate.
Generally speaking, I’m not a huge fan of cold brew unless it’s with some nice sweetened cold foam - so I don’t plan on using this function often. I did run it once, and got surprisingly decent results with a cold brew that was a lot less bitter than the traditional fridge steep method.
But that’s all I’m going to say about the cold brew offering. Now into the more juicy stuff.
WORKFLOW
The Aiden has a few different settings. There’s instant brew which is your set it and forget it mode, which will default brew whatever water is in the tank in a pretty standard coffee brewer method. You can customize this mode with water and coffee ratio, but that’s about it.
Then you have the guided modes which includes Fellow’s pre-determined profiles for light, medium, and dark, as well as your roaster specific profiles from the app.
These profiles, as well as custom ones you can create for yourself, allow you to modify temperature, overall brew ratio, bloom ratio, bloom duration, bloom temperature, number of pulses, time between pulses, and pulse temperature. A lot of variables that are usually not customizable on most, if not all, other batch brewers.
I’m not going to go into detail on what each variable here does, because these are fairly standardized variables in a typical pourover already - and for that there is loads of informative content out there discussing it.
But say you want to try something new. Say you learned about the Samo Bloom recipe and want to try it, with the much cooler temp bloom phase - you can program that right in on the Aiden which I’ve done here. And based on my extremely scientific method of sticking a temp probe under the spout with no filter in, the hot water dispensed is very accurate, seemingly within a 2 degree celsius range.
I do wish you could also add in a “drawdown” time feature to sort tell the machine, hey this brew should be done in about 3 minutes 30 seconds. But you can’t, and the resulting time is automated based on the set parameters. I think adding in this feature would help people better dial in their grind size to fit the brew parameters. You can also change the settings based on a single serve vs batch brew basket.
You can’t change the volume of water of each of the pulses, so the machine seems to default to dividing the pulses evenly based on the total amount of water you have set. This means you can’t program specific recipes that might require let’s say 4 separate pulses of varying amounts of water.
Because this machine heats water up basically instantly, similar to Breville’s thermojet technology, I have a profile saved that literally just shoots out a cup of hot water at 90C for things like brewing tea or hot chocolate. Way faster than a kettle.
Now, this was all programmed on the machine, and ideally you can do all this and more with the app.
APP
But, there’s not a lot to say about the app because, well, it still doesn't exist. At this point in time, the Aiden is shipping, but the app is nowhere to be found.
Custom brews were seemingly automatically loaded into my machine including the custom profile for the bag of Prodigal beans it arrived with, and a few other random ones popped up as well.
I do hope with the app this is customizable to better clean up the menu options on the display itself - although you can go in and delete the profiles if you want to - but again, because of the lack of app, you won’t be getting these back.
But now let’s talk about the most important feature, the coffee itself.
COFFEE
The coffee produced by the Aiden is great. Despite being primarily a batch brewer, its strengths lie in single serve brews with cups very comparable to a pourover done by hand. More often than not, if I was served a single serve brewed cup from the Aiden that was advertised as a pourover, I would not be upset.
As a batch brewer, it works alright, if you’re willing to put in the effort to dial in a custom brew profile. It is also important to note that the single serve brewer is cone shaped, while the batch is flat bottomed.
When it comes to the grinder, I actually found that having more fines produced helps produce a better brew, more often than not. The Aiden is able to achieve better agitation in the brew by increasing the pressure of the water jets in the brew chamber, and added fines in the grinds helped me produce a better cup versus a more uniform grind size.
On my EG-1, I increased RPM relatively high into the 1100-1200 range to help achieve this, and the same grind size and settings at this higher RPM with the added fines, definitely gave me better results.
In multiple batch brews, I’ve noticed the bed rarely settles uniformly, potentially as a result of the stronger pulses of water that are intended to agitate the brew. This does translate into a cup that while has decent flavor and clarity, suffers in texture and mouthfeel compared to the single serve basket brews.
And in programming, you can’t actually tell the machine whether you want these stronger pulses vs. gentler ones that you may want like when you have full manual control.
But, overall, I am extremely happy with the results from this batch brewer. Comparing it to the Moccamaster I’ve been using for years, the results here are definitely better when properly dialed in. That’s not to say anything bad about the Moccamaster, it still produces a very pleasant brew more often than not, but it has practically no customizability.
And regarding temperature with the stainless carafe, my current ambient room temp in the morning is pretty chilly, around 62-63 fahrenheit these days. So, the carafe starts relatively cold. However, I found that brewing a 600ml batch, it stayed at a great drinking temperature for about 30 minutes, and then started to ever so slightly get cooler from there, to a less enjoyable temperature. Overall though, no complaints about keeping coffee hot for a reasonable amount of time without a hot plate.
So with all that being said, let’s now talk about some of the negatives.
NEGATIVES
In my own opinion and personal aesthetic preferences, the machine is a little bland. For some, it might be exactly what they’re looking for with the minimalistic design, but for me, I prefer the look of something like the Moccamaster.
Honestly, a clear version of the Aiden would’ve been an extremely cool brewer to own and see how it actually brews, assuming the steam wouldn’t fog up the brew chamber (it would).
A glass carafe would have also been great, but stainless steel makes sense when there is no hot plate to keep your brew hot, and glass would likely dissipate the heat quicker. Also, hot plates tend to start cooking the coffee if there’s a very small volume left in the carafe.
Because of the matte black plastic finish, this will be very prone to picking up dust and fingerprints in a very short period of time. So lots of wiping will also be needed.
But, aesthetics aside, there are definitely some workflow, software, and design kinks that you should be aware of.
First, the Aiden doesn’t seem to be able to tell if you don’t have enough water in the tank for a brew. I started a 600ml batch brew with about 400ml in the tank, and it gave no indication that it wouldn’t be able to achieve that amount.
Once it does reach the point of figuring out there’s no water, it starts to beep, alerting you that there is in fact no water.
Which leads me to my first design kink, and it’s that if you have this machine pushed up into a left hand corner somewhere, you won’t be able to tell if your water tank has any water or not.
A, because there is no visual water meter from the front, and B, because the tank itself is also tinted dark, it’s hard to see without a source of light nearby.
The second design kink to be aware of is that both the single and batch baskets have a built-in auto stop feature when you remove them from the brew chamber, so that they don’t drip everywhere - this is great.
However, with each basket installed, the Batch basket does feature a more pronounced tip that integrates seamlessly with the carafe, so you can’t actually see the drips and would have to pay more attention to sound to determine when your brew has fully drawn down. But, this also means that removing the carafe prevents the coffee from dripping further.
On the single serve basket, there’s a gap between the bottom and the carafe, so you can actually visually see your brew as it draws down. However, removing the carafe does not stop the brew and it will keep dripping. Again, this is a single serve basket so it’s recommended to brew straight into a cup or a Fellow mug.
I did notice with a cup that you will get some splashes, so it’s better to use something taller in this case.
Also important to note, the batch brewer will not brew without the carafe and will tell you to insert it, but it does not remind you about a cup for single serve. I made this mistake once and came back to an absolute mess. That error is on me.
Another nitpick is the handle integrated into the water reservoir, giving you a relatively narrow window of space to actually refill this thing. On more than one occasion, I’ve accidentally spilled water. Mildly annoying, but nothing deal breaking.
And my last nitpick about the overall design is the lack of any venting. This leads to a lot of steam forming during brewing and once your brew is done and you open up the chamber, there will be plenty of water sliding down the lid and into the brew chamber.
I am hoping that the build up of steam and just general liquid does not become a problem traveling down the gaps in the hinges into parts of the machine that presumably might house some electronics. I haven’t had any issues yet using this daily, but something to keep in the back of my mind.
Now, software wise, I feel like the UI was mostly designed for a square screen with a circular cut out, rather than software designed for a circular screen.
Take the apple watch for example. The app icons move fluidly to fit the curved shape of the display, whereas on the Aiden, the text simply gets cut off abruptly. There have been a few UI elements that seemingly aren’t centered with the display either. Text also gets overlaid with each other, like this example in the edit schedule mode, and sometimes just the casing is wrong.
It’s odd to me because the Stagg kettle has such wonderfully integrated software with UI designed with a circular screen in mind for the most part.
There have been a few software bugs it seems where the Aiden will randomly exit out of sleep mode and show the menu screen rather than the clock, which is not a huge issue since it isn’t turning anything on, but something to note anyway.
Obviously there are elements on the Aiden that fit that perfectly for the screen, but could further be improved, hopefully via software update since it is WiFi enabled through the app.
CONCLUSION
So to wrap up this review - who’s it for and is it worth it?
This is not a Moccamaster killer. It’s not a simple on/off experience that the Moccamaster offers - but that’s kind of the point.
I really like the Aiden. It performs quite well, being able to brew both single and batch with customized profiles or even roaster recommended profiles and in a sleek package. It has its strengths mainly in a single serve cup from my experience, but is capable of a decent batch as well.
But this machine falls into the category of the xBloom for me. It’s almost like trying to create a new niche target audience.
Traditionally, if you’re buying a batch brewer, you would likely understand it's mostly a set it and forget it situation. Especially with long-standing machines like the Moccamaster being around for over half a century, still an iconic brewer with literally an on/off switch, for the most part.
In my opinion, the Aiden attempts to bridge the specialty light roast coffee crowd with the batch brew set it and forget it crowd. The challenge here is, do people that want a batch brewer really care about the granularity of being able to fine tune every pulse of water and temperature?
Are they not already going to be doing this with a manual pourover and gooseneck kettle? Even for bigger brews, it’s already been proven we can get good batch-sized brews with the rise of larger brewers like the Orea Big Boy for example.
Now I think I actually fall into the audience for this machine. I buy a nice light roast from a specialty coffee roaster, I’m able to download that profile to the machine, and can set it and forget it once the grind size is dialed in and receive a consistent great cup daily.
I can sit in my kitchen and get started working for the day while the brewer does its thing in the corner, alerting me when it's ready with a gentle chime.
But someone like my fiance who has a very consistent coffee routine with the same dose, same grind, same fresh beans every single day - the Moccamaster is the perfect brewer already.
For the price of $365, this is a premium brewer. It’s practically the same price as the Moccamaster that I already own, and a little higher than the Breville Precision Brewer which I owned a few years ago.
What it lacks for in build quality, it makes up for in a genuinely good brew with some useful features for a niche audience. It’s small and lightweight enough to travel with as an all in one package, if you need a batch brewer on the go.
As I said in my SCA video back in April, and a quote from a Reddit user, “Fellow has cornered the upper middle class millennial coffee drinker market so hard.” - and that still holds true here.
Maybe you’re not interested in those specialty features but being the trendy millennial you are, you already own a Stagg and maybe even an Opus or Ode. The Aiden is going to fit right into that aesthetic and match the rest of your Fellowized kitchen, making you want to get it even if you won’t take advantage of the features.
OUTRO
So what is the future of the Aiden? I’m not sure. I think this product is trying to carve out its own niche in a sea of automated brewers. It makes a solid single serve brew, and a better but not great batch.
It’s pricey, but that’s the cost of R&D - at the very least, this gives us the consumers, more options to choose from.
So, that’s going to be my take on the Fellow Aiden. I hope you enjoyed this video, it was a ton of fun putting this one together, and it’s really been one of few products I’ve been excited about in a while.
As always if you enjoyed, please drop a like, and if you learned something new consider subscribing, and I’ll see you in the next one.
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