Fellow Aiden Brewer: Moccamaster: Try our coffee! (As an …
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- 0:00 | Since its release at SCA Chicago, the Fellow Aiden
has been a SUPER highly anticipated home brewer. - 0:06 | Representing one of the final pieces in the Fellow
product puzzle, the Aiden is by far the most - 0:12 | ambitious and complicated product they’ve released
to date. I’ve been using it for the better part of - 0:17 | a month now, but is it worth your consideration?
Let’s find out! Before we get going, a quick - 0:23 | disclaimer. This machine was sent to me early
for the sake of making this video. However, as - 0:28 | always that will have zero impact on the contents
of this video, or the opinions I express in it. - 0:33 | If you do want to check your local pricing for the
Fellow Aiden, I will of course have it linked down - 0:38 | in the description below. Starting off with the
build quality and design, we have to acknowledge - 0:42 | that fellow makes beautiful products for the home.
From the iconic Stagg EKG kettle, to their newer - 0:48 | grinders and even the tally scale, whether you
have a single product or an entire collection - 0:53 | they’re all pretty much guaranteed to look great
on your brew bar or kitchen counter. The fellow - 0:59 | Aiden is no exception. With its simple angular
design, and mixture of matte and gloss finishes, - 1:05 | it’s a great looking appliance especially when
sat next to something like the fellow ODE. The - 1:11 | screen is bright, sharp, and colorful, but also
integrated in a stylish way that doesn’t detract - 1:16 | from the overall appearance of the unit. With that
being said, one of the immediate observations I - 1:22 | think everyone made when we first saw this
product at SCA was the choice of materials - 1:27 | and build quality. While visually the Aiden fits
in perfectly with the rest of the Fellow line, - 1:33 | the material quality leaves quite a bit to be
desired… All of the external surfaces are plastic, - 1:39 | and there is quite a bit of play in not only
the hinges, but seemingly the structure of - 1:43 | the overall machine as well… The large size of
each plastic part also makes them susceptible - 1:49 | to slight imperfections or variations in surface
finish. I think for me, this is more so an issue - 1:54 | of brand identity. Fellow has always been a
brand with strong technical performance, but - 2:00 | an equal if not greater emphasis on the designer
and high-end appeal of their products. They just - 2:06 | started selling Fellow products in Harrods for
goodness sake! The Stagg kettles feel high-end, - 2:11 | their drinkware feels high-end, the Tally scales
feel high-end, the ODE feels high-end. But this - 2:17 | machine… doesn’t. And pricing aside, I think
that’s a bit of a shame. Now it’s important - 2:24 | to keep in mind that the Aiden is not just a
“simple” drip machine, there’s a ton of innovation - 2:29 | and technically impressive stuff under the hood.
And for that reason, a good chunk of the MSRP is - 2:35 | attributed to that. If this housing was metal,
the machine would have been significantly more - 2:40 | expensive, or, not as technologically innovative.
Or maybe, they could have made two trim lines like - 2:46 | they’ve done with the Stagg Kettles so that the
customer can choose without feeling like they’re - 2:50 | being forced in one particular direction. But
let me know what you guys think about the build - 2:54 | choices, in the comment section below. Moving on
to the user experience, unboxing was very nice - 3:00 | as we’ve come to expect. In the box you get the
machine, carafe, batch and single brewing cones, - 3:06 | as well as a pack of filters for both. One very
important note to make is that these filters - 3:11 | are completely generic, so you’re not going to
need to spend hours looking for the right ones, - 3:16 | or worse, buy them EXCLUSIVELY from Fellow. You
can find these very very easily when it comes - 3:22 | time to buy more. The main selling feature of the
Aiden, in my opinion, is its flexibility to allow - 3:27 | you to have a quick and simple experience, or go
complete specialty coffee nerd and take control - 3:32 | of every aspect of the brewing process.
In its most simple “instant brew” mode, - 3:38 | you add any amount of water, any dose of coffee,
hit go, and it pours that water over the coffee - 3:44 | like the most basic of home drip machines. You
can also use this menu item as a shortcut to - 3:49 | your favourite default brew profile and size by
re-programming it in the settings if you want. - 3:56 | Other brew modes provide more granular control
over the entire brewing process, which is really - 4:01 | the Aiden’s standout feature, and something we’ll
explore more deeply in the coffee quality section - 4:06 | of this review. The menu system is relatively
easy to navigate using the familiar turn and push - 4:12 | style knob also found on the Stagg and Tally.
Each menu has a back navigation at the top, - 4:18 | while clicking will select and take you on to the
next step. I do like how even in the guided modes, - 4:24 | you’re prompted to select the batch size, which
then automatically calculates the required dose - 4:29 | based on your recipe. This makes day to day use
and changing up batch sizes completely mindless, - 4:36 | much like the brew assist mode on the Tally. Brew
ratios are relatively simple math, not having to - 4:42 | think about it lends to a very simple and smooth
workflow. It’ll even prompt you when to switch - 4:48 | to the larger basket depending on the size of
batch you’ve selected. Outside of the menus, - 4:53 | the actual brewing experience left me a little
surprised in both positive and negative ways after - 4:59 | a few weeks of living with it. Starting off with
the positives, there has been a lot of thought - 5:03 | put into every single piece of this machine. The
brewing cones themselves have built-in stoppers so - 5:09 | that when disengaged from the machine they don’t
drip, making your trip to the compost that much - 5:14 | cleaner. The batch basket is also opened by the
carafe being inserted, meaning that you can pull - 5:19 | it out as soon as brewing completes without
risking drips. The ability to use any cup - 5:25 | or travel mug with the single serve basket was
something I was REALLY looking forward to with - 5:30 | this unit. Unfortunately, the experience has some
quirks. First of all, there is quite a distance - 5:36 | from the brew box to any sized cup, so brewing in
this way causes a LOT of splashing. I relented to - 5:43 | propping up my cup by a couple inches to avoid
this, but I wish this was a challenge Fellow - 5:47 | managed to tackle in the design of the machine
itself. Keeping on the topic of dripping, we need - 5:53 | to talk about condensation. The brew chamber
of the Aiden is very well sealed, maintaining - 5:58 | a thermally stable and sealed environment
to encourage equally stable and consistent - 6:03 | brews. The downside of this, is the amount of
condensation that builds up within the brew - 6:08 | box. When you remove the filter basket to throw
away the grounds, you’re inevitably going to get - 6:13 | some water dripping out into the bottom of the
machine. The best method I’d recommend to fight - 6:19 | this is to disengage the basket once the brew is
finished to stop any dripping, which then also - 6:24 | by design slightly props open the brew box lid
to allow condensation to escape. Overall, the - 6:30 | clever basket design and tightly sealed brewing
area is something I see as a positive, but is a - 6:36 | little quirky to figure out a routine that worked
well and didn’t make a mess. Another big downside - 6:42 | I kept running into was the water reservoir.
It’s decently sized at 1.5L and removable for - 6:48 | easy refilling, but it’s almost impossible to
see the water level from any angle other than - 6:54 | directly beside the machine. This is a surprising
oversight on Fellow’s part, and I found it really - 7:00 | detracting from my enjoyment because I constantly
had to be worrying about it. Seeing the water - 7:05 | level easily from the front of the unit, or even
better getting a warning on screen if there isn’t - 7:10 | enough water to complete your selected recipe is
something I expected to see on an otherwise very - 7:15 | well thought out product. The scheduling function
on the Aiden works as you’d expect, allowing you - 7:20 | to set a ready time, brew frequency, days of the
week, and which brew profile to use so that you - 7:25 | can wake up to fresh coffee if you’re the type
of person who needs to save each and every second - 7:31 | in the mornings. Moving on to coffee quality, we
need to start with the immediate disclaimer that - 7:36 | should precede a review of ANY brewing device.
The quality of the brew is determined first by - 7:42 | the quality and freshness of the coffee you put
in, followed the quality of the grinder you use, - 7:48 | and THEN and only then differences in the brewing
technology. The Aiden is not going to magically - 7:54 | make grocery store pre-ground coffee taste 10
times better. With that being said, the Aiden - 8:01 | DOES have some neat advantages over most existing
home brewers. Using on-demand heating allows super - 8:07 | accurate temperature control, as well as pour to
pour variations in temperature letting you nerd - 8:12 | out to your hearts content if that’s the sort of
coffee science you’re into. It also distinguishes - 8:17 | and optimizes for small doses versus batch brewing
by allowing you to use a conical brewer and - 8:23 | different water dispersion pattern when making
drinks under 500mL. The demo unit I received - 8:29 | came pre-programmed with several profiles,
including one specifically for a coffee they - 8:33 | included in the box from Prodigal, which was
really tasty once I got the grind dialed in. - 8:38 | Speaking of brew profiles, this is really where
the Aiden tries to differentiate itself from the - 8:43 | competition. Much like the Xbloom and Gevi 4-in-1,
you get super-accurate control over your brewing - 8:49 | parameters. EXCEPT it delivers what everyone has
been asking for by NOT having a built in grinder, - 8:56 | allowing you to pair it with your existing
equipment, and not be forced to spend money on - 9:00 | a part of the machine you may or may not use.
These profiles CAN be edited on the machine, - 9:06 | giving you control over brewing parameters that
I’ll list up here, so that I don’t have to read - 9:10 | them all out. It is a little time consuming to
set this up using the small screen, but I do like - 9:16 | that fact that it’s an option so that you aren’t
forced into downloading yet another app onto your - 9:21 | phone. With that being said, if you are going
to be constantly changing or building profiles, - 9:26 | the app will almost certainly be a more efficient
way to do this. I say “almost certainly” because - 9:32 | at the time of this review the app is still not
fully finished yet, so I unfortunately can’t dig - 9:38 | in too deeply… The brew quality I was getting
on the Aiden with the single serve basket was - 9:44 | fantastic. I didn’t feel like I was losing much
or really any quality versus a hand-poured V60, - 9:50 | except it was completely automated for me. And
this is really where the Aiden fit in to my - 9:55 | routine. I think it naturally replaced the XBloom
on my counter purely from the perspective that I - 10:00 | already own several pour over grinders, so I don’t
need to have a machine with one also built in. If - 10:06 | you’re someone cross-shopping a single serve
pour over system like the Xbloom, but already - 10:10 | own a grinder or want upgradability down the line,
I think this is really the sweet spot audience for - 10:16 | the Aiden. What I’m a bit LESS convinced about,
would be whether I would pick the Aiden over my - 10:22 | beloved Moccamaster if I was looking for a machine
strictly for large batches… When it came to batch - 10:28 | brewing, the results from the Aiden were good… but
not notability better than what I was able to get - 10:33 | out of the very simple Moccamaster. My engineering
brain does still prefer the exactness of brew - 10:39 | ratio and temperature the Aiden provides, but
strictly looking at quality in the cup, I’d call - 10:44 | this one a toss-up with larger pots of coffee… I
think this comes down to the fact that the fine - 10:50 | tuning and precision can have a big impact when
you’re dealing with smaller doses, hence the - 10:54 | impressive single serve basket performance. But as
the coffee bed gets larger and deeper, my theory - 11:01 | anyways, is that these fine adjustments start to
get diluted and have less noticeable impact on - 11:06 | cup quality. So, who do I recommend this machine
to? If you’re someone who was interested in the - 11:13 | Xbloom, or Gevi 4-in-1 for the level of accuracy
and control, but couldn’t quite pull the trigger - 11:18 | because you didn’t want a built-in grinder, then
I think THAT is the customer the Aiden will be - 11:23 | most compelling to. You get super accurate and
customizable brews that rival a manual pour-over. - 11:30 | And if on occasion you plan on serving a larger
group, you also have that option. However, - 11:36 | if your MAIN use case is large batches, this is
where I struggle a bit to recommend the Aiden - 11:42 | over some other tried and true options like the
Moccamaster that perform equally well with large - 11:47 | brews, are rock solid in terms of reliability,
and can often be found on sale for significantly - 11:54 | less money than the Aiden. Looks will of course be
subjective, but the sleek appearance when paired - 12:00 | with other Fellow gear could also be a deciding
factor and there’s absolutely nothing wrong with - 12:04 | that. However, from a strictly coffee quality
standpoint, I think that you need to be using - 12:09 | the brewing regularly in the 1 to 4 cup range to
truly take advantage of the technology they’ve - 12:15 | packed into here, and that you’re paying for in
the price tag. Overall, the Aiden is a product - 12:20 | that I’ll have no problem recommending
to people who match the that use case, - 12:24 | myself being one of those! I brew 2 cups for
myself every morning, and sometimes host more - 12:30 | people where I need the larger basket. However,
it won’t be replacing my current favourite large - 12:36 | batch brewer recommendation, the Moccamaster.
If you JUST need to pump out a big pot of great - 12:42 | tasting coffee, that is still my top pick, so
I’ll leave that review linked up here ^. Again, - 12:48 | if you want to check out the Fellow Aiden, I’ll
have it linked down in the description below. If - 12:53 | you enjoyed this video, please leave us a like,
and even consider subscribing if you want to see - 12:57 | some more like it in the future. Thanks for
watching, and I’ll see you in the next one!