Miller told me he wanted to create a machine that would work for both his mom and the more coffee geeks. I had the impression that his mother was very similar to mine: she wants to drink good coffee, but she is not interested in details such as water temperature or flow rate (for the record, my mother uses this super automatic coffee machine AND love it). So the Aiden has an “Instant Brew” function that lets it work like a typical, elementary drip coffee maker. You fill it with coffee and press the brew button. It makes 1 to 10 cups, according to the Golden Cup Specialty Coffee Association standard. If you’re the type of person who will exclusively apply Instant Brew, specificity of the Gold Cup probably won’t be that essential to you – it’s a specific ratio of coffee to water – so know that it means the coffee maker will brew a particularly aromatic cup.
I liked the easy-to-use interface with just one knob and button, the filter holder with a spring-loaded cap to prevent dripping during cleaning, and the ability to make a Kyoto-style cool drink (a very ponderous drip brewing process using room temperature water, typically done with using an impressive-looking, if impractical, spinning device glass dripper, which allows you to get a purer-tasting cup of coffee than with an average immersion in water). I haven’t seen another electric drip coffee maker designed for this style of brewing. Aiden also has a timer function, so you can set brewing for several hours in the middle of the night and prepare a cool brew right after waking up (you can also apply it to set up a regular carafe of warm coffee).
While I haven’t had a chance to thoroughly explore every feature of the Aiden (I’ll be posting an updated review soon), I’ve tested and re-tested other Fellow products—coffee grinders, kettles, scalehis travel mugs– so I know they usually hold up well. I’m sure Aiden will make your morning coffee better and easier, whether you’re a coffee geek or a coffee noob.
Noah Kaufman writes about coffee and all the ways to make it. He recently reduced the number of coffee machines in his basement to a handful.
