Batch brewers

BrendaninBrooklyn

little in life is perfect; not even me according to my wife. I'm aware of the porthole display. I'd care a lot more about capabilities, now and tomorrow, but that's just me

delta76

BrendaninBrooklyn Fellow products are like that, they usually have quirks that mostly fixed in v2. Broadly speaking that applies to most Chinese manufacturers as well (DF64, Meraki, Varia etc.), but Fellow has earned the "reputation" of looking good while questionable in feature sets and longevity.

LMSC

dfk41 In the Hoffman review he showed that the software did not match the round dial. Bits were missing and did not fit the screen. It annoyed him and I suspect, would annoy me!

Likewise; and, hopefully they will bring V2.

dfk41

So, my learned friends……I suggested the Sage Luxe……others have said the Fellow Aiden. Just to confirm my needs….I always use the KISS approach. I am not interested in making custom brews or altering things by 0.00002 of a degree……I am now wondering if a less complicated drip (and cheaper) might be worth trying. It is the water distribution that piques my attention……also it is a bank holiday and I am already bored!

delta76

BrendaninBrooklyn nope. they keep changing/improving/innovating the hardware as well and has reached 1.46. Sure each version changes are not major but together it's quite a bit different between v1 and v1.46. And in theory a v1 can be upgraded to v1.46 (cost is however a another thing and John has said in several occasions that he don't think this and that upgrade would be worth it, most recent as v1.45 to v1.46)

dfk41

delta76 I would like to read up a bit on the Fellow. Is there any truly independent source material available or just the usual gushing you tube stuff?

Adrianmsmith

dfk41 ……also it is a bank holiday and I am already bored

Go for a drive, maybe admire the angel of the north whilst pondering its purpose in life 😎

delta76

dfk41 do you mean the Aiden or the brand in general?
the brand in general is a known issue, if you look to buy some of their products, like Fellow carter (the mug), or stagg (kettle) etc., a lot of complaints on the QC issues or how Fellow refuses to sell replacements (because the product is EOL).
And you can see how Ode1 had so many quirks and they fixed them - or most of them with Ode2
it's not that BAD, but you will quickly realize their products are not built to last. they are very good looking products, perform mostly well, but then QC and longevity are questionable. Might be fine for some people who always chase new "cool" things, but I like the BuyItForLife mindset, so I'm not very kin on them

dfk41

delta76 I meant the Aiden. To be honest, both the Sage and the Aiden leave me slightly cold. A few years ago I suffered a hypoxic brain problem and I just get this intense hatred towards layers of faff. I am doubting that these methods actually do anything other than massaging yourself…..by that I mean is the taste in the cup actually any better, or do you just think it is?

I remember many many years ago I was out shooting driven pheasants with my father, who had recently purchased a Dixon round action 12 bore. On it's first outing, he left it at home in error so borrowed a gun. On the first stand he missed the first 5 birds over him and he turned to me and said, 'if I had the Dixon, I would not have missed those'……

delta76

dfk41 you have James' review which is pretty spot on. It aligns with the image of Fellow brand.
I recommended this to a few colleagues but I know they're not picky. This makes good coffee but you'd need to overlook some shortcomings

BrendaninBrooklyn

delta76

Most changes have been software & firmware. Hardware changes are few since 2016, always field upgradeable, always sold slightly above cost. Some of the physical changes improved the manufacturing process while making zero difference for existing owners. John Buckman has been great about pointing those out.

The point is, the machine was designed to evolve through software improvements, and that's what has occurred.

Fellow is sensibly trying to emulate this, so I'd not expect a Mk 2 (except possibly a display change) but rather that once the Series 1 software development slows, the Aiden software gets bumped up and evolves also.

delta76

BrendaninBrooklyn I really doubt it. They did not have the track record for supporting their products long terms (which makes sense if you know your products do not last long)
they will undoubtedly release a Aiden v2, but there will be no path for upgrading except to buy new. v1 might get some features and bugfixes but that's a bout it. willing to be 2$ on this.
Decent's approach is pretty unique in the industry and they stand out because of that.

BrendaninBrooklyn

delta76

I've seen virtually zero reports of failing Aidens or indeed any Fellow product. Engineering is USA-based by the way in Silicon Valley.

The one problem we had with a Fellow product was resolved rapidly and painlessly; support was great.

If you have statistics on failure rates please share them.

BrendaninBrooklyn

dfk41

Someone on H-B just did a teardown of the Series 1. I'd have a look at that just to have a sense of design and manufacturing standards, then I'd look for a similar teardown of the Aiden. Seeing under the hood in detail is worth more than random opinions.

delta76

BrendaninBrooklyn I don't have any statistics. I was searching to buy a Fellow carter (their thermos mug) and Stagg (electric kettle - they do have quite a few product named Stagg). the sentiment around the products was not as positive as I want it to be, and I can see it with my Fellow atmos. As always it's the internet so you only read the loudest opinions.
At the same times you hear mostly good things about Decent, MoccaMaster etc. etc.
Not saying it is a bad brewer, I do think it's good (Thank James) with the quirks. but I won't bet my money on Fellow being a company building something that lasts.

BrendaninBrooklyn

delta76

The Ode was very good in v1. We owned one for years. The biggest change in v2 was the burrs, which were retrofittable. We had already swapped to SSP LS Cv2 and the 1.0 grinder was very good. It continues to be so in a friend's kitchen.

EOL products from most firms are now problems. Last year we could no longer obtain replacement parts for out wonderful vintage Chantal kettle. This has become the norm at consumer product companies regardless of product type or company location. It is not a problem isolated to Fellow.

delta76

BrendaninBrooklyn depends on where you look. For example https://www.reddit.com/r/Coffee/comments/1pyyw5o/fellow_aiden_coffee_pot_is_terrible_support_is/

BrendaninBrooklyn o1 also produce a lot of fines. you'd wonder if the burrs caused most of the problems why Fellow did not just release the new burrs?
as I said, we can debate to death but all the points will be just anecdotal.

BrendaninBrooklyn

dfk41

I value simplicity of use and maintenance, thus my choice of grinders, levers (real ones -- no pumps), and filter coffee makers.

If circumstances warranted, then automation would have a place in our kitchen. In that case Fellow would be a contender.

However, we asked ourselves if the Aiden actually did anything we could not do as well with our existing gear for our circumstances. It really came down to batch-brewing; not a major requirement for us, and one we meet with Chemex and French Press brewing when coffee-drinking company appears.

Do you really need more than say a Hario Switch for yourself, and one of the above or similar for guests?

dfk41

BrendaninBrooklyn Do you really need more than say a Hario Switch for yourself, and one of the above or similar for guests?

No! I have 2. Shortly I will go back to using it when I feel that I have taken the Aromaboy as far as it can go. But even the Switch is complicated when compared to the Melitta!

BrendaninBrooklyn

delta76

When we could no longer obtain replacement parts for our stovetop Chantal kettle, my wife, who had grown very enthusiastic about electric kettles during our four months in the EU, strongly expressed her desire for one. As a buy-for-life person I was less enthused. I spoke with a a friend in the EU, a distinguished electrical engineer, who assured me that most of these will last decades. After investigating the market, we purchased A Fellow Stagg X Pro (yes, the glass surface was worth the extra to us for long-term maintenance). Ours worked perfectly except that we had an issue with bluetooth pairing (a common problem across all firms as the protocol is actually rather loose). Service was very helpful, friendly, rapid and within a few days a replacement was sent. Our first-hand experience with Fellow is very very good. And I note that a member of their engineering team readily answers questions, even those that should be directed to sales and marketing.

As for build quality -- have a look at the Series 1 teardown I referred to above and see what you think then.

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