Fellow Aiden In-Depth Review!



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!

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