After nearly 365 days of testing the Fellow Aiden against many different bags of coffee, I can finally, and confidently, say that I am impressed with an automatic brewer. 

Introduction

Last year, Fellow released their first automatic coffee brewer. As someone who is very familiar with Fellow (my Carter Mug has been keeping me caffeinated since college) I could not wait to see how the Aiden would hold up to other coffee makers.

I would not call myself a filter coffee aficionado. Yes, I do like specialty coffee and have a barista background working with espresso. But when it comes to the nuances of a perfect pour-over, I’m not an expert by any means, and when I’m just waking up at 5am, I’m usually looking for a satisfying cup that doesn’t require a lot of motor skills and critical thinking. 

I’m like most people; I enjoy the taste of a manual pour-over coffee, but the distractions of work and life keep me from mastering it to the point where I can effortlessly whip one up every morning. 

Enter the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker. Before I go into the details of how it’s completely changed my home coffee routine, let me outline a few key features that immediately stood out to me. 

 

Key Features of the Fellow Aiden Coffee Maker

• Outstanding coffee quality: gives me the familiar taste of a café pour-over from the comfort of home.
• Guided Brew Mode: takes the guesswork out of brewing, guaranteeing best-tasting results based on my coffee’s roast level (light, medium, or dark).
• Built-in dose calculator: lets me know exactly how much coffee to grind, saving me the hassle of looking up recipes and committing them to memory.
• Single and batch-brew baskets: are easily interchangeable and let me brew anywhere from a single cup to a full carafe of coffee.
  
• Manual Control options: give me the freedom to create custom brew profiles in which I control bloom time, water temperature, pulses, coffee ratio, and more.
• Insulating, stainless-steel carafe: replaces the heating element on a standard coffee maker while keeping coffee hot for hours. No more burnt tasting notes.
• Brew scheduling:  lets me pre-set the Fellow Aiden to finish the brew cycle precisely when my alarm goes off (seriously, this is a game changer).
• Luxury design: incorporates Fellow’s signature, sleek, minimalist aesthetic and seamless construction… because I like putting nice things on my counter. 
  

 

My First Impressions of the Fellow Aiden

Coffee that gives me something to look forward to in the morning. 

The night that I unboxed my Fellow Aiden and set it up in my kitchen, I remember thinking: “I cannot wait until I get to try this out in the morning”. 

Fortunately, the set-up and learning process was incredibly easy. In less than an hour of playing around with the dial and scrolling through the Fellow Aiden’s settings, which are electronically displayed on its circular LED display, I felt confident enough to try out the scheduling feature.

Schedule Mode

I programmed the machine to make 6.5 cups of coffee using a light roast profile. Then, the Aiden’s built-in dose calculator told me exactly how many grams of coffee to grind (60.9g) and reminded me to insert the batch-brew basket (grounds inside) and carafe. For safety, the Aiden won’t start a brew cycle if these parts aren’t where they’re supposed to be.  

Lastly, I set the brew cycle to end at 5:45am, the same time my alarm would be going off the next morning, and went to bed. Sure enough, when the time came around, I was greeted with the warming aroma of freshly brewed coffee from the moment I walked into my kitchen. 

As a nice touch, the Fellow Aiden displays a “ready” message to let you know your coffee is finished brewing. I later found out that if you’re around when the Aiden finishes a brew cycle, it also whistles a little tune. 

In less than a minute, I dumped the grounds, rinsed the basket, and poured myself a cup of coffee. And wow… did it ever taste incredible! 

I had purposely used a familiar bag of coffee just to see how the Fellow Aiden Coffee Maker would compare. I was happy to say that with almost no effort the Aiden produced a cup of coffee that rivalled my manual methods.

Café-Quality from Home

Even for something as finicky as a light roast, the coffee's tasting notes were clearly expressed and the overall flavour was delicate, complex, and nuanced. Again, this is something I could only hope to achieve after ~30 minutes prepping and tending to a pour-over. 

My first impression of the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker was excellent. However, after being satisfied with the first few brews, I began to wonder how the machine would hold up to daily use over time.

As a daily coffee drinker, my Aiden certainly had its work cut out for it. 

 

Why I'm Still Loving the Fellow Aiden

Yes. The Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee maker is still going strong. 

Over time, there are a few things about the Aiden that I’ve really come to appreciate for giving me convenience without taking away quality. For example, I’ve gotten so used to having my coffee ready by the time I wake up, I’m not quite sure how I would function if that luxury were to suddenly disappear. 

Endless ways to get the most flavour out of coffee

Over the past year I’ve been enjoying the Fellow Aiden’s multiple brew modes, which gives me as much room to play around as I want with the optional convenience of an automatic coffee maker.

For example, I’ve created and saved some of my own brew profiles which have since turned up some excellent coffee. I was also delighted to find a Cold Brew feature, which utilizes room-temperature water after a hot bloom cycle to expedite a normally 12-24 hour-long process. 

And, I could not complete this review without mentioning Fellow Drops.

Fellow Drops

This is a collection of brew recipes, each one designed by a professional roaster to pair with their coffee. If I have a featured bag, I can select the corresponding recipe to brew my coffee to taste exactly as the roaster intended. And, much like the Guided Brew mode, Fellow Drops takes care of 99% of guesswork and brewing variables for me.

These roaster-designed brew profiles already come pre-installed in the Fellow Drops folder of the Aiden. You can also use the Fellow App or visit their Brew Talks blog which is essentially an archive of past Drops. 

P.S: If you’re having trouble finding a bag of coffee that’s featured on the Fellow Drops menu, check out Eight Ounce’s growing selection, which includes popular and small-batch coffee roasters from across the world. Some (like Onyx and Black & White) overlap with Fellow's list. 

 

Easily interchangeable single and batch-brew baskets 

This is a nice touch that I’ve found myself frequently taking advantage of. The single-cup basket works just like a V60 and brews directly into any vessel, including my favourite mug! It’s compatible with Melitta-style #2 cone filters, but Fellow also makes single and batch-brew filters designed specifically for the Aiden coffee maker.

Because I live in a household with more than one coffee drinker, I normally use the batch mode which brews directly into the insulating, stainless-steel carafe and automatically stops coffee flow once the carafe is removed. I found this feature incredibly useful in preventing mess and make cleaning up even easier. 

Finally, The Aiden will alert you before starting a cycle if the carafe is not placed underneath the brewer, which I greatly appreciate. 

Timeless Design

I’ve already mentioned that the Fellow Aiden’s minimalist exterior and geometric build was one of its memorable first impressions. And as the time has passed, I am pleased to say that seeing the coffee maker standing on my countertops just never gets old... especially since I’ve paired it with a Fellow Opus All-Purpose Coffee Grinder.

In my opinion, Fellow’s consistency across its product design is one of the brand’s greatest strengths. It’s effortless to pair products like the Aiden coffee maker and Opus grinder to create a home coffee setup that looks like it’s straight out of a magazine. Even better, the benefits extend far beyond just appearance.

And, I’ll never get tired of watching my guests’ reactions when they first notice the Fellow Aiden in my kitchen:

“Woah, is that a coffee maker?”

 

Conclusion

To summarize, I would say that I am thoroughly impressed with the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker, especially considering how the machine has been consistently performing with regular use over the last year. 

I’ve had some truly remarkable cups of coffee from the Fellow Aiden, again, rivalling other more time-consuming brew methods. Plus, from guided to manual brew modes the Fellow Aiden is suitable for all experience levels and can produce great-tasting coffee from dark, medium, to light roasts.

I ultimately chose an automatic coffee machine because I wanted convenience, and the Fellow Aiden delivers just that. While the variety of settings may seem intimidating up-front, learning how to brew amazing coffee with the Aiden took me no time at all.

 

FAQs

• Is the Fellow Aiden stainless-steel carafe dishwasher safe?

No, the stainless-steel carafe is not dishwasher safe. However, it only requires a rinse with warm water and dish soap.

Tip: Urnex Cafiza works like a dream to get rid of stubborn coffee stains on the inside of the carafe.

 

• Is the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker good for dark roasts?

Absolutely, the Fellow Aiden is a great coffee maker for dark roasts! The Aiden’s brew parameters can either be manually or automatically adjusted to get the best flavour out of any coffee bean from light to dark roasts. 

 

• Is the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker easy to maintain? 

In my opinion, yes! The Fellow Aiden includes handy features, like an automatic message letting you know when it’s time to descale the machine. There is very little maintenance needed otherwise

 

• Can the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker make cold brew? 

Yes! The Fellow Aiden can be used as a cold brew coffee maker. There is a built-in cold brew preset that’s included in the Guided Brew mode.