ARTICLE

The Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker:
Is It the Best At-Home Drip Coffee Brewer?

by Elliott Redwine

At-home drip coffee brewers are too often synonymous with a mediocre cup of coffee that will “do the job” in the morning. You don’t expect much from them and surely aren’t planning to identify any unique notes in a roast when you pour a fresh cup from the plastic machine on your countertop. They are a convenient option when you need a quick and convenient cup of coffee that’s ready when you wake up.

You would be hard-pressed to find a generic drip coffee brewer on the bar of any self-respecting coffee lover. People who want the best from their at-home brewing experience bypass a run-of-the-mill batch brewing coffee maker and lean towards tailored methods like a pour-over or a French press. These options bring out the unique profiles and notes in the coffee beans which generic drip brewers tend to muddle or mute altogether.

However, those who want to batch brew their coffee still deserve a quality cup of coffee as much as someone who has the time to dedicate to crafting a morning pour-over. Sure, there are some solid options such as the OXO 9-Cup Coffee Maker, but your choices are still slim. It isn’t easy to find the best drip coffee maker for your home brewing experience.

Enter Fellow, the beloved makers of incredible products such as the Fellow Ode Grinder. They knew there was a massive gap in the batch brewer market and were well aware of the abysmal reputation looming over the brew basket of every at-home drip coffee maker. Fellow decided that even the most distinguished coffee drinkers deserved the convenience of a batch brewer and decided to do something about it.

We’re always searching for the latest and greatest in coffee here at Daily Rise so we decided to preorder one a few months ago and give our thoughts on it. Continue reading to learn more about the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker and get our honest review of Fellow’s newest piece of coffee technology.

What is the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker?

The Aiden Precision Coffee Maker takes everything about your traditional at-home glass carafe and elevates it with the Fellow touch. It is the coffee maker for coffee lovers as well as the coffee maker for your parents. You can keep things simple or get as in-depth as you like while still getting a pour-over quality cup of coffee every single time, all with a few pushes of a button.

Fellow recently released the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker, a brand-new, eagerly-anticipated drip coffee brewer. This isn’t your typical Mr. Coffee or Keurig - Fellow considered every downside of these machines and delivered some incredible coffee-making technology that revolutionized everything you thought about drip coffee batch brewers. They leaned into the sleek design and quality coffee craftsmanship they are known for and delivered an impeccable brewing system that provides an incredible cup of coffee (or 10!) that you won’t believe came from a drip coffee maker.

Awarded the Specialty Coffee Association’s Best New Product for 2024, coffee lovers everywhere have eagerly awaited their chance to get their hands on the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker. Again, most coffee lovers omit a batch brewer from their coffee bars because they prefer getting more precise with their coffee experience. Why spend good money on excellent beans to put them in a machine that will muddle their flavor?

Fellow set out to create the best drip coffee maker and Aiden revolutionizes everything you expect from a batch brewer. They designed a product that delivers an exceptional cup of coffee whether you opt for a single serving or a full 10-cup batch. Choose from different settings including Instant Brew, Guided Brew, or individualized Brew Profiles depending on how precise you prefer to be. Aiden includes everything you need to get started from the moment you open the box.

Initial Thoughts on Aiden

We received our Aiden Precision Coffee Maker at the beginning of September. It arrived in a well-designed package consistent with the experience you would expect from a Fellow product. We had to open some “locks” on either side of the box before lifting the top and unveiling our long-awaited Aiden.

It was as beautiful as we expected from a Fellow product and easy to use. The machine is made mostly from a sleek, matte black plastic, and the carafe is made with double-walled matte black stainless steel instead of the usual glass body you see from almost every batch brewer.

Aiden is as easy to use as it is beautiful. Once you plug it in, Aiden guides you through a simple onboarding process, including language selection, unit type (Imperial or Metric), and elevation (important for those well above sea level like our team here at Daily Rise!). These few questions might seem unimportant to some but were a nice touch in our eyes, especially when water boils at different temperatures depending on elevation.

We started with the Guided Brew option, where you can choose from a light, medium, or dark roast setting. Once you select the roast type and number of cups you want to make, the machine recommends the amounts of water and coffee you need. We started with a light roast like any good coffee lover (our organic fair-trade Peru) and followed the step-by-step instructions as Aiden laid them out.

The screen displays a clear countdown timer ticking away until the goods are ready, so we sat back and chatted as it got to work. Within ten minutes we poured out cups for everyone in the roast and the moment of truth sat in each of our hands. Everyone took a sip and agreed on the verdict: this cup of coffee came from a drip brewer?

We were astounded by the clarity and depth that Aiden produced. It accented the bright lime and ginger notes that are usually eliminated by a batch brewer. Instead of spending time making five individual pour-overs or settling for five mediocre cups of coffee from a batch brewer, each person got a top-notch cup that highlighted the notes our Peru roast is known for. And we can still dial it in further once we spend some time with the Brew Profiles option!

Aiden Precision Coffee Maker’s Key Features

The Aiden Precision Coffee Maker offers an incredible range of brewing options that make it as simple or sophisticated as you would like. It keeps it as easy as the touch of a button for people like your mom or dad who want a straightforward coffee brewer that looks sleek on their counter. It also gets as complex as individualized brew profiles for those who prefer to operate within SCA standards during their brewing experience.

Some of the key features of Aiden include:

• Individualized setup (language, measurement units, elevation)
• Precision temperature control
• Two brew baskets for single-cup or up to 10-cup batch brews
• Three brew profiles
• Instant Brew (works like a traditional coffee brewer)
• Guided Brew (provides three sets of guided measurements for more quality coffee)
• Individualized Brew Profiles (control each aspect of the brew for a truly bespoke cup)
• Schedule brewing times with frequency options (once, daily, or custom)
• Mobile app integration with ongoing updates and new features

Individualized Brew Profiles are one of the best offerings of the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker. It is an important aspect that sets it apart from the other high-quality batch brewers. Brew Profiles allow you to control every single aspect of the brewing process, such as:

• Water temperature
• Coffee/water ratio
• Bloom ratio
• Bloom duration
• Bloom temperature
• Number of pulses
• Time between pulses
• Pulse temperature

The integrated Fellow mobile app is another key component of Aiden. It connects to your phone via Bluetooth and although the app features are currently limited to providing system updates, Fellow has expansive plans. Over time you can download individualized Brew Profiles from others and use them on your Aiden at home. Your favorite roasters (including us here at Daily Rise!) can eventually create a profile tailored for your favorite beans, giving you the profile and notes they want to highlight in their roast right on your machine at home.

Another small but crucial feature Aiden offers is the descale notification. Water builds up over time in drip brewers and every machine, no matter how high-end, requires occasional cleaning and descaling. Fellow recommends descaling Aiden once every three months but life gets busy and it’s easy to forget how long it’s been since your last descale. Thankfully, the machine provides a popup notification when the time to descale arrives, eliminating any concern or confusion about how to best care for your Aiden Precision Coffee Maker.

Pros & Cons of the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker

Pros:

• Unbelievable coffee quality
• Single-cup or full-batch brewing
• Scheduled brewing
• Simplicity
• Consistency
• Convenience

Cons:

Who is the Aiden Ideal For?

Who is Aiden Ideal For? The Aiden Precision Coffee Maker is one of the best at-home drip coffee makers and ideal for a diverse range of coffee drinkers. It’s a versatile and visually stunning addition to any kitchen counter or coffee bar. It is an excellent option for coffee enthusiasts who love to control their coffee experience but want the convenience of a batch brewer.

Aiden’s detailed and advanced brewing capabilities provide options usually available only in manual brewing methods. Individualized brew profiles and precision temperature control enable serious coffee lovers to experiment with various settings to extract unique flavors from their favorite beans. This customization on a batch brewer makes it a respectable piece for any coffee lover.

These coffee drinkers will not shy away from brewing a pot of coffee when they have company over when they have the Aiden Precision Coffee Maker. Aiden does not sacrifice quality no matter how many cups of coffee you set it to brew. Those who love high-end coffee finally have a convenient option that produces exceptional cups of coffee time after time, whether they’re brewing a single serving or a full 10-cup batch.

At the same time, though Aiden is accessible to anyone who wants a good-looking machine that could be considered the best drip coffee maker, it is a lot of machine for someone used to using a generic $20 drip coffee brewer. They could easily find themselves overwhelmed by the detailed brewing options available. They might also feel frustrated that they spent so much money on a machine that offers far more than they ever could want from their coffee experience.

The Aiden Precision Coffee Maker will likely be most at home on the counters and bars of craft coffee enthusiasts who have families, enjoy entertaining, or want a piece that offers the convenience of a scheduled brew for those extra-early mornings with the excellence of a manual brewing method. It looks beautiful next to even the most intricate espresso machines but is still as easily accessible to others in your household who may not be as dedicated to coffee as you are.