For over five years, my go-to method for brewing coffee has been pour-over with the classic Hario V60 Drip Decanter. Before that, I used the equally classic Chemex. Slowly pouring hot water in a spiral pattern over a bed of freshly ground coffee has been part of my morning ritual since college. The Hario and Chemex are equally great when you’re making coffee for one or two people, but when you’re having four people or more people over for fika (which, in Sweden, often means twelve or more cups of coffee), I had to brew in both of them at the same time, which meant I was spending my time in the kitchen instead of having fika with our guests. Even with the Hario and Chemex pulling double duty, the coffee would often still run out, forcing me back into the kitchen. When we moved to our house in Funäsdalen, I decided it was time to get an electric coffee maker.
When I bought the Hario V60 Drip Decanter back in 2021, I also got the Fellow Stagg electric pour-over kettle. Pretty soon after that, I added the terrific Fellow Ode Brew Grinder to the kitchen coffee area, as well as a Atmos Vacuum Canister for storing beans. Given that I’m still very happy with all of my Fellow products after five years of use, the obvious first choice for a coffee maker was their new entry on that market: The Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker.
The Aiden is the GameCube of coffee makers, with a 23x23x30.5 cm square design that has an opening in the bottom right for the 1.5L double wall thermal carafe. It doesn’t take up much space in our kitchen despite its stout appearance, since the square shape and sharp corners means that we can push it all the way back into the back left corner of the kitchen counter without it looking awkward. The water tank on the left of the machine is fully removable for easy refills, and the filter basket is hidden beneath a large lid on the top. On the front, there’s a small full-color circular display in the top left, and on the bottom left, a wheel for navigating the menus.
Like all Fellow products, the Aiden is built with coffee tinkerers in mind, so there’s more to this machine than just the on/off button you’ll find on a Moccamaster. If you’re not a nerd and just want your coffee machine to make you a good pot of coffee, you just need to worry about the first menu item: “Instant Brew”. Select it and get on with your morning. The Aiden will warn you if you’ve forgotten to put in the carafe, which is a nice touch and an understandable mistake to make given that you haven’t had your coffee yet.
Below the “Instant Brew” menu item, you can select a specific brew profile, edit or add to said brew profiles, schedule a brew, and manage the overall device settings. You can also manage all of the settings through the Fellow app, which is an exception to the rule that all appliance apps have terrible design. The default brew settings are for Light Roast, Medium Roast, Dark Roast, and Cold Brew, as well as brew settings specific to different limited edition coffees sold by Fellow, called Fellow Drops. Editing or adding a brew profile allows you to change the water temperature and coffee-to-water ratio, as well as the number of “pulses” of water in the brew and the timing and temperature of each pulse. This is a machine for super coffee nerds.
Even at my nerdiest, I was at best a regular coffee nerd, and I have spent little to no time fiddling with the temperatures and timings of the water pulses on my Aiden. Nine times out of ten, I go for the Instant Brew option. The tenth time is for when I’ve brought home some especially light coffee, in which case I pick the Light Brew. Regardless of what option I pick, the Aiden makes great coffee. If I’m being honest, I think it makes better coffee than I managed when doing pour-overs with my Hario. That’s partly because I’ve gotten a bit sloppy with my pour-over temperatures and bloom times over the years, but also because Fellow has clearly put a lot of care into making the Aiden into a terrific coffee maker.
I do have one complaint, and that’s the build quality. The Fellow Ode coffee grinder is an absolute unit made mostly out of metal, and when placed next to it, the plastic casing of the Fellow Aiden looks decidedly cheaper. I get that the Ode is $100 more expensive and one third the size of the Aiden, and that an Aiden with a fully metal casing would weigh as much as a small fridge, but it does look less premium than the rest of the Fellow line-up. I also have concerns about the durability of the plastic hinge on the lid, as well as the handles on the removable filter baskets. I’ll have to revisit this post in another five years to see how they hold up. Fortunately, Fellow didn’t skimp on the premium feel of the thermal carafe, which has a matte metal case in the style of the Fellow Stagg kettle and looks better than all of the thermal carafes we considered getting before buying the Aiden. It also keeps the coffee hot for a long time. (Not as hot as my Zojirushi, of course.)
All in all, the Aiden is a great coffee maker that doesn’t force you to choose between brew quality and convenience. I highly recommend it.
