The Fellow Aiden brings Fellow’s exquisite design sensibilities to the drip coffee brewing world. Today we’ve got a review of this exciting new coffee machine!
Build and Design
The Aiden features a commanding design that will definitely be the most eye catching thing on your countertop. The bold boxy look and dash of color from the display give it a modern, powerful look that we like, but may not be for everyone. The best part here though is the simple design. The Aiden takes after more modern espresso focused machines by using a removable water reservoir. This is helpful as it allows you to fill wherever it’s most convenient for you directly into the reservoir instead of needing to fill the server and then pour that into the tank.
The top access filter basket is also easy to use, and the included #2 cone basket and flat basket mean you can use whichever filter type you prefer. The server is very premium feeling, with a magnetic plate to keep it in place during brewing. Finally, the control dial and display are reminiscent of the beloved Fellow EKG electric kettle, which means it’ll look great alongside your other Fellow gear.
The one issue we can conjure with the Fellow’s design is really just that it doesn’t feel quite as premium as the Ode, the manufacturer’s pour over focused grinder. This is because the Aiden is doing a lot more while still maintaining a good value proposition, and this comes out in the general feel of the machine. This isn’t to say that the components feel cheap, but we would have loved it if they had found a way to make it a bit chunkier without increasing the price. It’s a good sign, though, that this is our biggest critique.
Performance and Features
On the performance side, this coffee maker is rock solid. The Aiden uses a PID controlled thermoblock heating element, which can both keep a perfect constant temperature during brewing, or even adjust temperature between water pulses. This gives you an unprecedented ability to control the extraction of your coffee that can’t even be rivaled by espresso machines or pour over setups. Aside from temperature, you can also adjust things like bloom time, number of pulses, time between pulses, and more. You can even use the Aiden to make a cup of cold brew in as little as 90 minutes. This machine also has the brew options you want, like single cup brewing, auto-on programming, recipe saving, and more.
Finally, the Fellow Aiden has some nice little odds and ends, such as its dose calculator, which tells you exactly how much coffee to grind for your chosen brew setting. This drip brewer really does rethink what batch brewing can be in the same way that Fellow’s other products reimagine their functions as well.
Let us know below what you think of the Fellow Aiden, and check out our video review to see the machine in action!