Fellow - Aiden Precision Coffee Maker

Fellow Aiden is pricey but dead simple to change for any coffee amounts. You enter in the sweet spot for coffee to water ratio for your particular brand of coffee and then the next time you just dial in the number of cups you want and it tells you how many grams of coffee to add and it consumes the right amount of water automatically. And its bloom mode is awesome.

Honestly? Something like a Cuisinart or Breville or Ninja is just fine for her. A Moccamaster or an Aiden are absurd, terrible recommendations for someone who doesn't care that much about coffee, lol. That's like buying a Pappy Van Winkle for someone who only drinks Bud Light, or a Traeger for a vegetarian. If they aren't into coffee, they're not gonna care about "SCA certified" or any of that quality stuff. In fact, they probably care more about how it looks, how fast it brews coffee, and maybe some of the other bells and whistles attached like a programmable timer. Don't spend money on something that's purely built for quality coffee; spend on the features instead.

Ok so I have some experience here. I've owned 2 different Bonavita, and Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, Moccamaster KBGT, and finally a Fellow Aiden. If you are looking for the very best coffee maker for what you get in the cup as black coffee, then of those all that is hands down the Aiden. However, for all the technical wizardry it has, it is mostly plastic, so longevity is a definite unknown. Of the other ones, Oxo has the best warranty in practice, and Technivorm has the best warranty on paper. Technivorm does not warranty their carafes at all - if it breaks, you are out $80+ shipping to replace it. This is even if it breaks due to a manufacturing flaw or some other reason. Oxo on the other hand replaced my carafe for free on my Oxo 9 cup 3 times - over time it would lose the vacuum, and would get hot to the touch. The coffee maker was 6+ years old the last time - long out of warranty, but they still replaced the carafe. The Oxo 9 cup is the best all around of the coffee makers I had before the Aiden. While it is tall, it made excellent coffee, and was programmable if you wanted to use that. It requires no stirring of the coffee while it is brewing. I cannot say the same with the Technivorm. While the Moccamaster does make excellent coffee, it is more hands-on to get the best out of it because of their dumb design for the shower bar. Ground saturation is an issue - I usually stirred everything after about 1 minute of brewing. The bar also feels like it is just a bit too short - most of the water doesn't fall in the center but rather closer to the back. The Bonavita coffee makers work well, and are smaller. My old one died for no reason that I could determine after a few years. The ones made now though are technically a different company - that original company went bankrupt. The Oxo 8 cup was an absolute disaster - no idea how that thing got the praise that it does from some reviewers. It always had to be stirred or half the coffee would never even get wet. I hated it. Overall from a BIFL perspective, the TV Moccamaster is likely the top candidate. They do just work for a long time, usually. Make sure to buy it from an authorized retailer and keep your proof of purchase if you need warranty service. If you buy one with a thermal carafe - baby it. They changed from being all stainless and basically unbreakable to being glass lined a couple years ago. It may keep coffee hotter but the carafes are very delicate and prone to breaking.

As a counterpoint - I have owned 2 bonavita machines, an Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, and a Technivorm KBGT. With all except the Bonavita (since they had moved on) I had used the same K6 grinder. The Aiden makes noticeably better coffee than all the rest of them, and does better than when I brew V60 too. V60 is obviously a more enjoyable process if that is what you are into, but I have three kids I'm trying to get ready in the morning. As with all of this, it only matters if you are drinking your coffee black. I've found the need to add that caveat when discussing machine differences. Also, no, you can't get good coffee out of a Mr. Coffee. I've tried when I was on vacation and brought my grinder, but wanted to make a larger pot of coffee for multiple people. It sucked.

Or you use the single basket and put your own mug there to catch it. I've made maybe 5 batch brews and 80 single cups on my aiden.

The Aiden is my favorite coffee maker ever, and I have owned quite a few (Melitta Clarity, 2 Bonavita, Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, and Technivorm KGBT). It excels at both single cup and batch brew. There is an issue with the flow meter getting clogged but Fellow is very good about supporting it and replacing the machine if this happens.

I bought an Aiden, and have never made a pourover again. I use the single basket 95% of the time, and have done approximately 400 brews.

Set up your Aiden with the correct instant brew parameters and it's set and forget as well.

What machines fill this criteria? Because I haven't found one that is cheaper that doesn't have a "one size fits all" brew method. I've owned 2 Bonavita, the Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, and a Technivorm KBGT. The Aiden is superior to all of them in terms of what I get in the cup. But most of the time I have been using just the basic light and medium profiles. And if you use the same coffee and a different profile you absolutely get a different product in the cup. I don't think the price point is hard to justify, because there isn't another brewer in this price range that is anywhere near as capable.

most of that list is fine for casual coffee drinkers but if we're being honest, the only two worth talking about are the moccamaster and the fellow aiden. the moccamaster has been the gold standard for decades, built like a tank and dead simple, but it's old school as in no scheduling, no fancy bloom programming, just hot water at the right temp and consistency. the fellow is the one that actually pushed drip brewers forward. precise control over temp, adjustable bloom, batch vs single-cup modes, proper thermal carafe that doesn't ruin flavor after an hour. it's the first smart machine that isn't gimmicky. one thing that matters more than most people realize is the grinder. you can drop a few hundred on a brewer but if your grind is inconsistent, the cup will always taste flat or muddy. a [good gevi](https://noxohub.github.io/radar/?q=OXU44898) grinder paired with something like the fellow is where you actually notice the difference, even cheap beans taste cleaner when the grind is uniform. everything else on that list has compromises, oo plasticky, temp swings, or designed for versatility at the cost of straight drip quality. if the question is best drip coffee maker right now, it's between those two, and i'd lean fellow just because it nails modern features without screwing up the fundamentals.

I've had my Aiden for just over a month now. Generally, I think this is a great review but I hope /u/kingseven goes into some more detail on a few areas. **Things I agreed with:** - The circle screen and single button is not fit for purpose - It is capable of making great coffee - I'm maybe not getting the most out of it right now - The build quality isn't as bad as I worried it might be from other reviews. I think Aiden will do a studio version addressing this feedback at a higher price point but I won't be upgrading personally. **Things I learnt:** - That chart with extraction was massively helpful to me personally as somebody who is very likely grinding too fine (@10 on Timemore Sculpture 078s). I've been getting inconsistent cups. - About the strength gradient. I typically do up to 3 cups so I'm not sure this is so big of an issue and will give it a swirl. - I need to try some other profiles with longer brew times. **Things I didn't agree with:** - The "ready" screen is just about the ONLY bit of UI that does look lovely on a round screen. Fully agree everything else doesn't work - I know mobile isn't for everyone but we all have devices with great high-quality screens and great touch controls. For the type of data you are entering here this will always have the potential to be a far better input mechanism than what they could build into the product. They just need to extend it. - Everybody will have their own perspective but I fill the water-tank from a jug everyday and have at no point felt frustrated. **Things I think this missed:** - I'd love more in-depth look over the two different baskets and how each performs. - I'd love some more guidance on the grind level. - The screen angle sucks. It points directly forward, it would be great if it also pointed up a bit. - I know it's covered in other reviews but I hate the dripping with the lid and the mess it makes. - I've not had first-hand experience but I've seen others report issues with the machine (water empty when it's not) and not so great support from Fellow that I think warranted a small mention. **Other thoughts:** - ⭐ Fellow should add another button but for models already out there I really hope they allow long-press (1-2s) to work as a back action. - The heat retention of the carafe hasn't been an issue for me personally but I am mostly brewing on-demand.

Yes, the Aiden is great if you want to tweak a bunch of factors, the MoccaMaster is dead simple and will outlast the Aiden by a decade or more.

Breville Precision brewer and Fellow Aiden allow you to tweak a lot. But the Moccamaster quietly and easily delivers good brews.

The same basket and shower screen that works for doses of 40 to 100g won't work well for smaller doses. That's why it switches to steep and release for smaller doses. The Aiden switches baskets and shower patterns based on the size of the dose.

A Moccamaster has remained in an elite tier of coffee machines for a long time for a reason; it makes really good coffee...though if I were OP and deadset on buying one, I'd get one with an insulated carafe, rather than one with a glass carafe on a hot plate. But best non espresso coffee bar none is a bold claim. With admittedly more work, doing a pour over (or sometimes french press, depending on what sort of beans I had and what I was trying to get from them), I could pretty consistently get coffee that was better than what a Moccamaster could do, and although I have plenty of experience and might be a bit better than average, I don't think I'm particularly excellent at pour overs (I do think my french press technique is better than most, but that's a whole different conversation...). Now, however, I've got a Fellow Aiden and have had to grudgingly concede that the machine can make coffee just as well--if not better in many instances--than I could. But I've only had the Aiden for \~6 months, so we'll see if its longevity can match a Moccamaster; it's certainly more fiddly and thus with more potential failure points than a Moccamaster.

Yall coffee people don't know a normal day in life for sure. OP wants a good, simple, automatic and programmable brewing method, and yall blast him with your v60s and chemex. Im sure OP loves a nice espresso or a rich cup from a french press, but when you're in a rush to work cause your alarm didn't go off, or you have 4 kids to take care of in the morning, you don't have 5-10 minutes to make that fuzz for a coffee. He surely knows there are better methods, but for the average working person, a drip coffee it's all you need during a week workday. So, answering your question, my brother in Christ, you didn't gave us a budget, so I will assume that's not a problem for you. My recommendation has to be the Fellow Aiden Precision Coffee Maker. It's a little pricey at $400, but I swear to God it's worth every penny. Check the video from James, he covers it all. His complaints from the machine are outrageous to me lol, but he is more picky. I have one and I love it, my life and my coffee improved substantially.

I've got an Aiden, which makes delicious coffee. I only use the medium roast built-in profile. I find the day-to-day usage somewhat glitchy. It sometimes thinks it needs water, when it already has plenty - I do not know if you would be able to detect the 'add water' alert without being able to see the screen notification. It uses a dial to do all of the selection and scrolling, and like an Instapot I had - it was annoyingly sensitive to rotation - trying to select a setting which it would almost always over or under shoot - like trying to nail jello to a wall!!!! I just recently had an issue where I ask Aiden to brew 750 ml and it only uses 500-ish ml of water. All that said, I've also got a Moccamaster KBGV, and the Aiden makes a tastier cup. I am planning to send in the Aiden for warranty repair, but in the interim I bought a Bonavita Enthusiast, and am liking the flavor it provides - very sweet with a nice creamy mouth-feel. (My Moccamaster is on indefinite loan to my neighbor, it's flavor prilfe is more to the bright, high-acid side of things, which is not my preference anyway) The Bonavita has a power button, a brew button, a bloom button (which is bloom then brew; the brew button is no-bloom brew). There's also a descale button. No app. Flavor-wise, I'd take the Bonavita, for longevity and repairability, the Moccamaster. I also have a current version Behmor Brazen on order, which has more control, and physical buttons. I can report back when it arrives if you want - you can message me as well....

If you're using a good machine and grinder there's really no quality difference whatsoever once you're dialed in. Drip and pour over are conceptually the same thing, it's just a matter of if you wanna do it yourself or not. I make pour overs for smaller weekend or evening cups, batch/drip for mornings before work to save time and brew larger cups. Using a Fellow Aiden currently, which has been great but also have the Breville Precision (also great) and have had the Ratio 6 and Moccamaster previously.

It's not that complicated if all you want is an enjoyable daily brews, but the ceiling is quite high. V60 is cheap but not the most forgiving. I think the most newb-friendly brewers right now are Hario Switch and Orea Z1. You can even buy a drip assist for Hario Switch to pretty much eliminate one variable to worry about (agitation). If you don't care about these stuff, just get Aiden or Xbloom.

The Aiden doesn't seem especially big to me. I don't recall Hoffman saying the Aiden has poor extraction. I recall the review went pretty well overall, his main complaint was the carafe not having a funnel, and they are going to keep the unit. Personally I find the Aiden to easily produce the best coffee among the Aiden, Sage/Breville, and Moccamaster.

My experience is similar. I have an Aiden and XBloom. Prior had a Behmor. Plus all the pourover and other coffee equipment possible pretty much. But I really loved the aesthetic and simplicity. Ultimately my Aiden and xBloom make much better coffee and turns out all that fine tuning I can do was way more important to me than I estimated.

For real! I have the moccamaster and an Aiden and my trusty Espro 7 French press that I absolutely love. I've got two minutes left on my current brew with the espro

I bought an Aiden, and have never made a pourover again. I use the single basket 95% of the time, and have done approximately 400 brews.

I guess we are supposed to say Fellow Aiden or the xBloom🤷🏼♂️ No but seriously if you've got the money, I think Aiden is the best in the market at the moment. If not, opt for Moccamaster or depending on where you live (these suggestions apply for mainly northern Europe), OBH Nordica Blooming prime or the Wilfa Performance series

The biggest thing is temperature stability, as well as being at a good starting temp in the first place. Also, it's super easy with a pour over to ensure all the grounds are getting properly saturated. Lots of machines struggle with this in particular, especially cheaper ones. There are definitely machines you can buy that are as good as pour over. Ratio 6, Technivorm Moccamaster (although don't like its water dispersion), Fellow Aiden, etc. There's more, but those are 3 I'd trust any day.

The missing funnel in the carafe is a pretty minor, nit picky issue. The work around is to give the pot a single stir with a spoon. There are some annoyances in the UI/UX. But these are also minor issues, and many of them have since been addressed.

I can tell you don't like the Aiden. It's cool, it's not important for me to convince you. Buy what makes you happy.

There is only one answer! Fellow Aiden brewer $350. The most advanced coffee maker on the world. Mimics pour over coffee and your husband can perform an infinite number of coffee experiments. I've had mine for over a year, no issues. Great machine.

I realize this is old. My Aiden appears to draw from the water tank exactly the amount I specify in the menu. I can't say they are all like this, but mine appears to work the proper way: 600ml is the amount of water you'll pour over the bed of grounds.

Or you use the single basket and put your own mug there to catch it. I've made maybe 5 batch brews and 80 single cups on my aiden.

I had an Aiden for about 4 months before it developed a problem (water flow issue) which was superb while it worked. Check out all the complaints in the Fellow Products sub before you buy one. With the refund from that, after a lot of research, I got myself a Moccamaster Select which looks stunning and makes great coffee. Hopefully this will last longer than the Aiden.

Lol, yeah, I suppose I was exaggerating a bit. Anyways, that's beside the point - I don't think it would be worth the money for OP to buy an Aiden if he has a poor quality grinder and isn't buying good beans. That was the main thing I was trying to say. I've owned an Oxo 8-cup, Breville Precision and my dad owns an Aiden so I've tried that now too and they are absolutely fantastic, although my favorite is still a pour over. None of those would be as good without good grinders, though.

Fellow Aiden with Fellow Ode grinder. Buy one of Fellows recommended coffees and with brewing settings. Or the Xbloom with their recommended coffee and settings. Coffee maker doesn't make 'cafe quality' coffee unless you have a good grinder and coffee beans to go with it.

The other commenter nailed it. I mentioned the Aiden because it has the most customizable brew options, downside is it's new and reliability is to be seen. I have one and enjoy it, it also comes with a 3 year warranty. If you want more press and brew, no options moccamaster is great. This would be my personal "simple" recommendation. Everything else on the list will fall somewhere in between but should make a good cup of coffee. Just to add, if you get a moccamaster I believe the recommendation is the insulated carafe, not the glass one with heat plate to keep coffee tasting better longer.

If you're in the US, go find a local TJ Maxx or Marshall's. They typically have Breville Precision Brewers for on sale for $179. I actually got one for $89 recently. Any of those on your list will be perfectly fine though. I like the OXO stuff for the money, but if you can wait on a moccamaster sale you'd be in good shape. It's not my favorite brewer at MSRP (I much prefer the Breville precision, the Ratio 6, and the Fellow Aiden-all of which I've owned), but if you can get it around $200 it's great.

Aiden, so simple, better than my pour overs.

Moccamaster and Breville are great, especially if you want something reliable and well-regarded. The Moccamaster is good for its consistency and brew quality, and the Breville gives you a bit more control with its customizable settings. Both aren't that user friendly but they're best ones on your list at least for me in terms of the combo of features overall. That said the one I prefer is [the Aiden one](https://hochzeits-shopping.com/dp-B0D8HVBVS6) because of the bloom cycle feature. You can saturate the coffee grounds evenly before the full brewing starts and that gives the cup more flavor[.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8HVBVS6) This method works for me every time [.](https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0D8HVBVS6)

I have the fellow Aiden which is great, very consistent and you can tweak recipes if you want rather than just use pre-installed ones. I use it every weekday morning. Still enjoy doing manual pourover on a weekend though.

Well I have the Aiden and if it weren't for customer service potentially sending me a new one id absolutely throw it in the trash. First one didn't come with brew basket, had to get another one. Second one would never connect and now shows add water and I've tried everything from elevation changes, to flushing, resetting, and descaling. It was released way before it should have. The dang ninja brewer was more reliable than the Aiden. I still have my moccamaster so I'm not looking to buy the lotus, it just had me curious. Hadn't seen one before and had no idea they were a small appliance company.

The Aiden is my favorite coffee maker ever, and I have owned quite a few (Melitta Clarity, 2 Bonavita, Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, and Technivorm KGBT). It excels at both single cup and batch brew. There is an issue with the flow meter getting clogged but Fellow is very good about supporting it and replacing the machine if this happens.

I was considering the OXO 8 cup but ended up going for the Aiden since it came out right around when I was shopping for a coffee maker and it was getting rave reviews. It really shines when pairing with the fellow drops. Otherwise, it has some good built in brewing profiles but I find it takes some trial and error to find the right grind size if you're using random non-drop beans. Coffee comes out good though and you can grind the night before and schedule it if you like.

Check out the Fellow Aiden. Best coffee maker by far. Very comparable to pour over quality. And yes it has a timer function.

I had one for about a year and determined it was my brew size. It's way easier to get a great tasting batch when your making 500+ ml than 1 or 2 cups (which was my normal use case). I ended up getting rid of it and getting an Aiden and I'm much much happier. Even brewing a single cup I can get a great tasting one basically every time.

I just went through this process as our machine broke and we needed a new one. It's good to know what some of the non-negotiables are - like must it be able to be scheduled to brew at a specific time in the morning or does he want a thermal carafe or is he really into tweaking his coffee or does he want to be able to make one cup or batch or both? I'd recommend popping down to Williams Sonoma or Crate and Barrel or other brick and mortar shop where you live and touch them if possible. We wanted thermal, to schedule and I wanted to play around with different brew styles so the Fellow Aiden is what we decided on. The Aiden you can go complicated or super simple. Good luck!

What machines fill this criteria? Because I haven't found one that is cheaper that doesn't have a "one size fits all" brew method. I've owned 2 Bonavita, the Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, and a Technivorm KBGT. The Aiden is superior to all of them in terms of what I get in the cup. But most of the time I have been using just the basic light and medium profiles. And if you use the same coffee and a different profile you absolutely get a different product in the cup. I don't think the price point is hard to justify, because there isn't another brewer in this price range that is anywhere near as capable.

UPDATE to this: I wasn't absolutely loving the brews I was getting out of the Aiden. The bed of coffee for the single-cup option always seemed to be dry at the corners and I just wondered if channeling was going on. So, I started using an Origami dripper (small) using the magnet trick instead of the single basket it came with. The circular nature of the Origami (vs the oblong style of the Aiden single-cup) seemed to result in a better cup of coffee. I highly recommend this. So, I started looking around to see what else was out there. I was never really interested in buying an xBloom. I have always avoided machines with built-in grinders. Given how much I've paid for grinders in the past decade, I always figured this would be where a company would skimp. But, I said what the heck and bought one. So far, I've been really pleased. Using my own coffee with the Omni-dripper is a delight. I even had a bunch of 155 filters that fit perfectly in it. The app (Android for me) is good--similar functionality to the Aiden regarding control. But, I haven't been able to go from Pro-mode to Auto-mode. Auto-mode is where you set up 3 different automatic recipes for each button and can just press those, instead of going through the app. So, I have to go through the app to choose my recipe of choice. No big deal. So, if you feel like you keep looking a good cup and don't feel like spending the time to do pour-over, this machine does a good job at providing a good, consistent cup of coffee every morning. If I had the patience, I'd probably sell my Aiden and both Odes, as well as the other coffee gadgets I have.

It depends what you want: If you want to tweak and maybe hit maximal bean flavor expression w/ said tweability, probably a fellow aiden. If you want a no fuss tank that'll last forever - Moccamaster If you want a few basic features but nothing crazy that'll also be very durable - Sage/Breville brewer

Moccamaster is hands down the most consistent and reliable coffee maker I've ever had. I bought the Aiden a few months ago and it's already broke. I've had my moccamaster for two years already and not a single issue.

Honestly, if you're not all that bothered with the precise grind or anything like that, your best bet is to look at the [Aiden series](https://clickyourproduct.com/dp-B0D8HVBVS6). They have a really sleek design that's meant to take up less space and kinda just blends into the background. This one in particular would fit your needs cos it has a 10 cup capacity, a removable tank and an app you can set up for the timings you want.

I tried that in addition to trying to overcompensate by adding too many pieces of cardboard to see how much I could alter things. I didn't see any appreciable difference. I bought an Oxo 8-cup. It was ok, but not exactly what I wanted. So, I order an Aiden. So far, it's doing exactly what I want. Since I have the Aiden set up in the same spot as the Ratio Four, I'm not noticing any weird issues with the coffee bed. The bed is flat without issues cup after cup. No complaints with the Aiden so far, although I initially had to get used to the workflow, which is a bit different than what I'm used to.

Fellow Aidan - multiple ways to tweak a brew to get the best tasting result for each roast. The Wilfa ones are also good (I have the precision that I'm happy with) but I would definitely go for the Aidan for the flexibility and the really fine tuning

For sure, paired with a great grinder I don't see any problem and like I said, if OP has the money, Aiden would be the way to go and if not, Moccamaster is a bit more affordable. I've seen a lot of mocking towards Moccamaster but it's a good basic machine. Compared to Aiden, it just hasn't got blooming function or temperature control. Brew time can be adjusted by locking the dripper like in Hario Switch but that's pretty much the only controllable variable.

I agree it's a bit clunky (wish scroll wheel advanced menu a bit faster) but fwiw the bugs seem to be gone in newer firmwares (at least the ones James mentioned and that I've noticed). Bit of a rough launch but it makes great coffee. I love my Aiden.

What brew profiles are you mainly using? I've got the Aiden, mainly for ease in the morning to go straight into my travel mug.

Set up your Aiden with the correct instant brew parameters and it's set and forget as well.

As a counterpoint - I have owned 2 bonavita machines, an Oxo 9 cup, Oxo 8 cup, and a Technivorm KBGT. With all except the Bonavita (since they had moved on) I had used the same K6 grinder. The Aiden makes noticeably better coffee than all the rest of them, and does better than when I brew V60 too. V60 is obviously a more enjoyable process if that is what you are into, but I have three kids I'm trying to get ready in the morning. As with all of this, it only matters if you are drinking your coffee black. I've found the need to add that caveat when discussing machine differences. Also, no, you can't get good coffee out of a Mr. Coffee. I've tried when I was on vacation and brought my grinder, but wanted to make a larger pot of coffee for multiple people. It sucked.