Short version: raise the coffee-to-water ratio to 1:18.5, set the bloom temperature to 200°F, set the batch pulses to 2, time between them 20s, pulse temperature 200°F, use a coarser grind. Full settings below.
The links to the Aiden and the grinder are affiliate links. I might make a little something if you use them, but I’d have written this post regardless, because I was genuinely annoyed.
The Backstory
We recently added the Fellow Aiden Coffee Maker to our coffee appliance arsenal. If you’re not familiar with it, it’s a beautiful high-end appliance that’s actually counter worthy, as in you don’t have to hide it in a cabinet because it’s actually sleek and modern looking, and not an eyesore.
It’s not only pretty, but it’s supposed to automate the process of batch brewing pour-over style coffee. As in you touch a few buttons and it should walk you through making delicious coffee without having to be a coffee making expert. Coming directly from the Fellow website: Aiden manages temperature, timing, and water flow throughout the brew to replicate the core principles of pour-over brewing automatically, delivering pour-over quality without the process.
The problem is, when you go through the Aiden Guided Brew process to batch brew a pot of coffee, the coffee comes out soooooo strong and bitter. I tried different grind settings, different coffee, even pre-ground coffee, and every time it was just not good.
I tried just using less grounds than it suggested, and the coffee just tasted weak, and still bitter. I was using medium and dark roast beans while experimenting, and we have the Baratza Encore Coffee Grinder, so that adds yet another variable to the equation of making the coffee.
I was starting to get really frustrated with my pretty & expensive coffee maker, so I did what I always do, asked the internet how to fix it. The majority of Reddit posts I found claimed that this is the way coffee is supposed to taste, and the people complaining just don’t know good coffee. There are also many different setting suggestions, and most of what I tried rendered similar too strong results. I did end up finding a post that I unfortunately can’t relocate, that resulted in the successful settings shown below.
The Settings That Fixed It
Here are the changes I made for batch brewing coffee in my Fellow Aiden.
On the Aiden brew display: Edit Profiles → Create New
- Name: whatever you want
- Temperature: 200°F
- Ratio: 1:18.5
Advanced → Bloom
- Enabled: Yes
- Ratio: 1:2
- Duration: 10s
- Temperature: 200°F
Advanced → Batch Pulses
- Number: 2
- Time between: 20s
- Pulse 1 temperature: 200°F
- Pulse 2 temperature: 200°F
Grind: Baratza Encore, setting 24
Beans: Medium or Dark Roast
I generally brew 5 cups, which is 25oz. This gives us two full mugs of coffee. With the above settings, it suggests 40.5g of coffee. I weigh the beans first, and then use the Baratza to grind the beans.
The big changes were increasing the coffee-to-water ratio, making sure there is more water per gram of coffee, reducing the overall strength, lowering the brew temperature from 210°F to 200°F, and using a coarser grind. I’m not 100% sure what all the other changes do, I was just following suggestions and they seem to have worked.
I’m sure that I’ll continue experimenting, since there are truly so many combinations and variables at play here, and I suppose that’s the benefit of having the Aiden in the first place. I just thought I would be able to push a button out of the gate, and it would just work. Share your feedback and experience with this coffee maker if you have any suggestions for dialing in further. Please and thanks!
