There are literally hundreds of coffee makers suitable for a home’s kitchen available from a wide range of companies – with pricing that ranges from under $50 to well over $1,000. It all comes down to the quality of the coffee maker and what it’s capable of. The Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker is a well-designed machine that’s able to make hot or cold brewed coffee using the ground coffee beans of your choice.
This is also a “smart” coffee maker, meaning that it can be controlled using Fellow’s proprietary Brew with Aiden smartphone app. Unlike basic coffee makers, this one gives you a nice selection of options when it comes to personalizing your coffee brewing experience. This allows you to determine things like the temperature and strength of your coffee. Plus, the Aiden has settings for brewing one cup at a time, or you can batch brew up to 10 cups of coffee using the included carafe.
Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker
While I enjoy morning coffee just as much as the next guy, I’m not necessarily into fancy gourmet coffees made from premium coffee beans sourced from exotic coffee bean growers around the world. What I want from a coffee machine is ease-of-use, convenience, brewing options, and the ability to make a good tasting cup of coffee in my own kitchen. (Anytime I can skip the $6 coffee at Starbucks, my bank account appreciates it.) I quickly discovered that the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker can do all of this – and more.
The folks at Fellow recently provided me with a review unit of the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker in matte black. What first caught my addition was its contemporary design. Then, as I began setting up and learning more about what this coffee maker could do, its functionality impressed me. And ultimately, I really like how the coffee brewed using the Aiden winds up tasting.
The ability to create different coffee profiles is also a nice feature, so the brewing experience can be personalized based on what I’m craving, or the type of coffee beans I’m using. And different profiles can be created for different household members. Keep reading to learn whether this $400 coffee machine could become a nice addition to your kitchen.
Specifications
- Price: $400.
- Color Options: Matte Black, Matte White, Sesame, Malted Chocolate, Woodland.
- Dimensions: 8 15/16 inches long by 8 15/16 inches wide by 12 inches high.
- Capacity: One to 10 cups.
- App Controllable: Yes.
- Display: Color LCD.
- Removable Water Tank: Yes.
- Matching Coffee Bean Grinder: Sold Separately.
Pros
- Beautiful contemporary design with automatic brewing capabilities.
- Single serve or batch brew coffee.
- Prepares hot coffee or cold brew.
- Smartphone app controllable.
- Removable water tank.
- Adjustable brewing temperature.
Cons
- The display is not a touchscreen. It’s click-wheel controlled.
- Expensive.
- Mostly plastic construction.
- Short power cord.
- Brew with Aiden mobile app has received poor user ratings.
The Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker’s Best Features
The designers at Fellow clearly put a lot of thought into the design, appearance, and functionality of the Aiden. It’s nicely suited for a household with multiple coffee drinkers who each have their own unique preferences when it comes to the temperature and strength of their coffee. Using the Aiden, it’s just as easy to batch brew up to 10 cups of coffee as it is to brew just one.
When brewing a single cup of coffee, you can use your own mug. But for batch brews, the included carafe is made from metal, with a removable plastic lid and comfortable handle. On the front of the coffee maker is a somewhat small, but full-color display, along with the control dial and mug/carafe platform. On top, there’s the easily accessible filter box, while on the left side is the removable water tank with up to a 50.72 ounce capacity. The two-foot power cord extends from the bottom-back of the coffee maker.
I found the built-in display to be bright and easy to read. But, it’s not a touchscreen, and it’s a bit small. Thus, it’s necessary to scroll up and down through menus to see all of the available options. To scroll through and select menu options, the control dial (located near the front-bottom-left side of the coffee maker) is used. When the desired option is displayed, the dial must be pressed to select it.
If the coffee maker relied on a touchscreen, this interface would work a lot more smoothly and intuitively. That said, once you’ve used the Aiden for a while and learn the menu layout, scrolling through and selecting desired options goes a lot faster. Of course, you also have the option of controlling the coffee maker using the Brew with Aiden mobile app. While I found the app to be functional, it relies on a primarily text-based interface. A more interactive and graphic-oriented experience using the app would have been nice, considering the cost of the Aiden and all the features it offers.
Getting back to the well-thought-out design of the Aiden, the water tank is located on the left side. It has a liftable lid, so water can easily be added. However, the entire water tank can be removed from the coffee maker. As a result, refilling or emptying the tank is a quick process — whether you brew with tap, filtered, or bottled water. The water tank’s built-in handle is useful for removing and holding it. Because the tank is clear plastic, you can see how much water is remaining.
The filter box located on top of the coffee maker is also easily accessible. It comes with the parts needed for single brewing or batch brewing, so it relies on two paper-based filter designs. Additional supply of both filters is available from Fellow’s website. Integrated into the top of the filter box is the user adjustable shower head. The dial switch located in the center of the shower head has a setting for single brew and batch brew. This too is made from plastic, so it feels a bit flimsy, but it works fine.
Who Will the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker Appeal To?
There are two types of coffee connoisseurs I think will really appreciate all that the Aiden has to offer. First, someone with a nice kitchen who wants to add a modern and upscale looking coffee maker that will blend in nicely with other higher-end appliances as it’s displayed on a kitchen countertop. This type of user seeks out quality, good design, and craves quality coffee at home.
Second, the Aiden appeals to households with multiple coffee drinkers, since coffee can be batch brewed for convenience, or individual users can use the Instant Brew or Guided Brew function to select things like water temperature and coffee-to-water ratio to create a cup of coffee that nicely meets their personal preferences and individual taste.
Also, those using the Aiden should already understand the coffee brewing process and be willing to spend $400 for a coffee maker that provides the ability to control virtually every step when it comes to brewing grounded coffee beans in a way that resembles what their favorite barista can do.
Using the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker
Once the coffee maker is set up, you have the option of controlling it using the Brew with Aiden mobile app. To use the app it’s necessary to set up a free Fellow account, and then pair the coffee maker with their smartphone. This process takes several minutes.
One useful feature is that using the app or the coffee maker’s built-in screen and dial controller, individuals can create their own coffee profiles. When a profile is created, the desired temperature and coffee-to-water ratio can be selected. The bloom and pulse can also be customized, allowing the coffee maker to create a personalized cup of hot or cold brew coffee.
Even if you skip creating profiles, when you select the Light Roast, Medium Roast, Bark Roast, or Cold Brew option, the same customization choices are available. While the coffee maker offers basic guidance, there are no in-depth directions offered unless you visit the Fellow website, select the Product FAQs option, choose the Aiden Coffee Maker option, and then browse through the Getting Started with Aiden section. Here you can find some text-based directions that are accompanied by short demonstration videos. Built into the coffee maker or its app, I would have liked to see a more straightforward process for learning how to use the Aiden.
The coffee maker’s Instant Brew feature allows you to choose between one and 10 cups of coffee to brew. You’ll then need to add the appropriate basket and filter. It’s then necessary to set the shower head based on your selection. If you choose a single serve option, you can place your own mug on the coffee maker’s base. Otherwise, you’ll need to use the included carafe. The next step involves adding the correct amount of ground coffee. Based on the settings selected, the Aiden can recommend the ideal amount of ground coffee to add. Once these steps are done, activate the Instant Brew menu option and let the coffee maker do the rest.
The coffee maker has a built-in scheduling feature, too. It allows you to pre-set the coffee maker’s settings, and have the Aiden activate itself and brew your coffee at the designated time using the profile you’ve preselected. There’s also a Guided Brew option that allows you to adjust precision variables to create a truly personalized cup of coffee using the settings you select when creating a coffee profile.
Once you watch the tutorial videos on the Fellow website, you get a better idea of what each of the coffee maker’s features can do and how to use them based on your coffee brewing preferences. Yes, there is a learning curve associated with using the Aiden, but watching the tutorials will bring you up to speed. Keep in mind, unlike many popular coffee makers, this one does not have a hot plate under where the carafe or your coffee mug gets placed. This is so the coffee does not continue to cook (which could cause a burnt or bitter taste) while it sits in the carafe or mug after it’s been brewed.
Working with the Brew with Aiden Mobile App
As I was installing the Brew with Aiden mobile app from the iOS App Store (it’s also available from the Google Play Store for Android phones), I noticed a handful of user reviews stating that the coffee maker and app sometimes have issues pairing with each other. I too had this issue. Once the pairing was successful, however, I was able to access a handful of precreated coffee profiles, create my own coffee profiles, and set schedules directly from the app.
Your fellow Aiden users can also share their custom coffee profiles, based on the type of coffee beans they’ve used. This takes some of the guesswork and experimentation out of figuring out the proper settings and amount of coffee to see so the Aiden can achieve the desired results.
I found the app to be primarily text-based, with a very basic user interface. It offers practically no tutorial information, nor graphics, video clips, or animations. Thus, you need to understand the impact of the water temperature, coffee-to-water ratio, bloom ratio, bloom time, bloom temperature, number of pulses, pulse temperature, and time between pulses to create a coffee profile that will result in a delicious cup of coffee that adheres to your personal taste.
Be Sure to Keep the Aiden Coffee Maker Clean
As with virtually all coffee makers, it’s essential you keep the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker clean. After every brew, this means removing the filter basket and discarding the used coffee grounds and filter. It’s then necessary to clean the filter basket and wipe any remaining grinds out of the filter nest. The carafe must also be cleaned between uses.
It’s also a necessity to clean the water tank (although not after every use), and the coffee maker’s shower head. Periodically descaling the brewer is also necessary. How to perform each cleaning procedure is outlined in the short printed owner’s manual that comes with the coffee maker. It’s also reiterated on the company’s website.
My Final Thoughts: Is the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker Worth It?
From a design standpoint, the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker is visually stunning. Between the controls built into the coffee maker and control options integrated into the mobile app, brewing a personalized cup of coffee using your favorite ground coffee beans is a rather straightforward process — that is, once you understand what each of the options does, and how each impacts the final brewed coffee.
There are many “smart” coffee makers on the market, and many are cheaper than the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker. However, not all of them provide the plethora of options and features offered by this machine. And some do not allow you to use your own grounded coffee beans.
While I found the Keurig K-Supreme Plus Smart Single Serve Coffee Maker ($199), for example, is less expensive and easier to use when it comes to personalizing your coffee brewing experience using the Keurig mobile app, this brewer is (as the name suggests) a single serve machine that relies on K-Cups, not the freshly ground coffee beans of your choosing.
Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker
Yes, the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker does allow users to brew delicious coffee. I would have liked to see more emphasis on tutorials, and a more detailed owner’s manual to reduce the learning curve associated with this device. A longer power cord would also be useful, especially if where you place the Aiden on your kitchen counter is not within two feet from a power outlet. Aesthetically, the coffee maker looks expensive, although the housing is primarily made from plastic. The technology and internal components, however, are well made and work as expected.
So, if you’re as serious about the appearance of your coffee maker as you are about being able to brew up some good coffee, the Aiden will be a welcome, albeit expensive, addition to your kitchen. I would not, however, use this coffee maker in a busy office setting, as it does require ongoing cleaning. It’s also not as durable as other coffee makers on the market.
