Fellow Aiden Precision Drip Coffee Maker, Thermal Carafe, Perfect Temperature Control, Bloom Cycle, Single Serve to 10 Cup Capacity, Matte Black

This is a 5 star review from an unlikely source. @zeropuckprepI bought this in December 2024 and have used it daily. I've been comparing and contrasting it with back to back cups of the same coffee brewed on the Aiden vs brewed on the xBloom. I mostly drink single cups. My current setup is Aiden + Zerno Z1 flat burrs (basically a $2000 filter setup) and stock xBloom ($399 on Kickstarter 2-3 years ago, but they're $599 today).PS.I have been the most vocal critic of Fellow. I absolutely do not like the Fellow Opus. That being said....Program Recipes.I've been completely blown away by the coffee i've had with the Aiden. I brew either a 4 pour recipe of 300g of hot water at about 94-97C for lighter medium roasts. I have a recipe for 100C pours. I have a Samo Bloom Style recipe queued up. Once it's programmed into your box. You just click the main button a bunch to kickstart the brew.Cons.The UI is a bit intrusive and needs constant feedback to just begin a brew it's like clicking "ok" 6 or 7 times because the UI makes too many suggestions. "close the lid" or "insert the carafe" or "change the brewer" or "check your dose". You just want to brew coffee, not be asked 10 questions. So you can take a star off for that if you want, but they should be able to fix that. That's my major gripe. The AI is really not smart, if it doesn't remember that you haven't changed a thing in 100 drinks so why would you change it now.Pros.UFO Dripper. There's a new dripper out called the UFO Dripper for filter coffee enthusiasts and I figured out after testing numerous single cup brewers that the UFO is the only one that really fits perfectly inside the Aiden with the Batch Brewer installed. I'm exclusively tasting UFO cups vs the xBloom pod sizes.Results.Florals are more pronounced from the xBloom. Is it Conical Burrs? Is it the naturally lower water temperature of the xBloom? Is it the more aerated brewing style? Is it heat dissipation?Pros.Once you get the hang of it you just "boop" "boop" "boop" the control knob until the green countdown timer shows the brew is beginning.Cons.The central pouring spouts have too much pressure behind them so I would not recommend using them almost ever, unless you own a Next Level Pulsar brewing dripper head which I use to dissipate the central pouring nozzles. They're just too strong and cause channelling in your brew bed.Preventing ClogsIt's adviseable to WDT your brewing dose before pouring the ground coffee into the brewer. This will separate fines and allow them to descend to the base of the doser and wind up on top of the brewer when you pour them in. This will reduce the chance of overflowing the brew bed.ReviewI like the Aiden a lot you can use it with any grinder you have at home and it's ready to go. Comes with 2 brewers a Cone and a batch brewer. If you remove the lid of the carafe, the brewers become immersion brewers and you can just put the lid on between pours to drain the water. Works great for Teas too.App.I only just discovered there's an app that works on your smartphone. I haven't even tried it yet, but that could really improve the useability.The Carafe.I make sure I pour out the coffee as soon as it's done brewing. I noticed keeping it hot in the carafe just decreases the flavor of the brew. I also practice removing the lid to do immersion brews with coffee or tea. When you put the lid back on the brewer drains the water. Don't leave it unattended if you do.Water.I keep a jug of water nearby because I go through the water reservoir very quickly even only making 300g coffees at a time. I'm guessing you could have 3 max.

This is the absolute best coffee maker that can make 1 of 2 cups of fantastic coffee or a big carafe holding 1.5L of coffee. Whether you use the recipes that are created by Fellow or your own using the App , you will still make some of the best coffee you have ever tasted.The Fellow Aiden may take a day or two getting used to but once you get the hang of it you will never make coffee on another coffee brewer again with the exception of espresso. Like any other coffee brewer the Aiden can’t make a cup of true espresso. I personally believe that if it could the making of espresso would not only add to the cost of the Aiden but also subtract from its purpose—brewing a really fantastic cup of coffee.If you have ever watched some of the various coffee ‘experts’ review the Aiden on YouTube one of the negative points they make is the build quality. However, I can tell you now that Fellow has to have done something about it. The reviewers all claimed that the plastic was too soft, of a very low quality causing the Aiden to bend under pressure when pressed down with some minor force on the top right corner. It even showed than when this happened the seams on the top of the brewer separated that again showed the poor quality of the build all to keep the price down as much as possible.When I received my Aiden it was the first thing I checked because had it been true I really might have returned it to Amazon. BUT, it simply was not true. I can only assume that Fellow changed the plastic used in the manufacturing process because my Aiden is made of a strong plastic of high quality. THANKFULLY!Of all the coffee brewers made today of high quality, this one is the best I have ever considered. Because of the carafe’s straight walls when emptied there is no coffee retained as is in all other carafes. There is nothing at the pour spout to keep some of the coffee in the carafe.The water tank holds 1500 ml of water which equals the maximum size of the carafe. And the water tank is removable for easy filling. Two brew baskets come with the Aiden. One is for making 1-4 cups of coffee and the other for 5+ cups. The filters used are the Melitta #2 for 1-4 cups and the Melitta flat bottom 8-12 cup filters for the 5+ cups of joe. Also in the same area is the brew head. In there you will find a switch with 15 holes where the water comes through and down onto the coffee grounds. When the green coded cone-shaped brew basket is selected for making 1-4 cups of coffee, you must turn that switch counterclockwise or to the left so that water comes out of only three (3) holes which are located dead center of the brew head. If you forget to make the correct shower head selection the Aiden will remind you with some beeps and will refuse to brew the coffee. On the flip side of that coin, when wanting to make 5-12 cups of coffee you must select the blue brew basked and turn the selection switch clockwise. This will open all 15 drip holes so that all the coffee grounds in the round, flat-bottom brew bracket will be properly doused in water for making the best pot of coffee possible. And like the other basked of choice, the Aiden will not brew the coffee until the switch is turned to the proper position.When you first plug in the Aiden you will be made to input certain settings so that it can properly make coffee. Those settings include the language, the chime, clock in 12 or 24-hour time, and even your elevation above sea level where the Aiden is currently, etc. On the Aiden there is a small round, full-color screen where everything from settings, menus for brewing coffee, the recipes I mentioned earlier, and even a game to play. Once you go through all those selections and menus you may find that it is too small for inputting your own coffee recipes and other things. Almost everything you can do on the screen and the control knob you can do on the App that you can download to your iPhone or Android-based phone. I strongly suggest that you download the Fellow Aiden App as soon as you unbox your Aiden, plug it in and follow the instructions for setting it up.The App is extremely easy to use which give you almost complete control over making coffee of your choice. You can create your own recipes and through the App have the Aiden make that coffee recipe for you. You can control things such as bloom time, bloom Ratio, bloom temperature, number of pulses (up to 10), time between pulses, and time of each pulse, etc. And there are many recipes of coffees that Fellow provides at no cost when you set up the Aiden to your WiFi network. Basically stated, Fellow has made making coffee not only easy and fool proof but has provided everyone with the best coffee maker on the market today.I HIGHLY RECOMMEND THE FELLOW AIDEN COFFEE BREWER!