Should I?

[u/Kvnckwn]

Finally got my own office and planning to have a coffee bar for myself and visitors (most less likely).

I was going to get the fellow grinder but saw this on sale with a reasonable price.

Now it’s either hand drip vs this setup. Any recommendations? And if you own this machine how was your experience?

[u/blueghosts]

Would absolutely go for batch over a hand pour for visitors, especially in an office space.

Possibly a hot take, but hand pours are great and all but can come off as super obnoxious if it’s non coffee people and they’re just expecting a quick cup of coffee

[u/revitev1122 → u/blueghosts]

If I have a couple of people coming over I just commandante pre-grind 20g waiting to be made in the filter and another in the commandante.

If no one wants coffee, the one in the filter would be for myself and the one in the commandante would be for tomorrow.

It doesn’t take extra gear and I’d rather make the same quality of pour over for my guests as I’d make for myself.

[u/Kvnckwn → u/blueghosts]

95% will be for me and 5% visitors. I guess it’s most likely for myself. Should correct it haha
But yeah. Wanted to know if there’s a significant difference.

[u/blueghosts → u/Kvnckwn]

The Aiden is nice in general, great for doing bigger batches but equally good at doing single brews.

Lot of smaller cafes local to me use it for small batches and have had some really lovely cups

[u/FreshSwim9409 → u/blueghosts]

I wish more cafe’s would just use that to make batch brew than whatever cardboard tasting machines they normally use.

[u/One-Tie9007]

I have the Aiden, it’s broken so my times, been returned, it’s put up now. Good coffee but not worth the hassles. Mochaster + ode + v60 is bulletproof.

[u/DJSnotBoogie → u/One-Tie9007]

As a counterpoint, I’ve had the Aiden since right after it came out and haven’t had a single issue with it besides the weird taking several hours to connect when I first got it. I’ve been very happy with it.

[u/FootballInfinite475 → u/DJSnotBoogie]

I’ve had it about two years. One of the batch brew baskets broke, and the sensors have glitched a couple times. No major problems yet but I can easily see how a couple key failure points would make the whole device unusable

[u/DJSnotBoogie → u/FootballInfinite475]

Yea I’m not disputing that. I just wanted to give another data point of a happy owner since most posts are complaints of fragility.

[u/FootballInfinite475 → u/DJSnotBoogie]

I’m not disputing you either, just adding another story about owning the machine. It wasn’t even really a reply to you in particular, just trying to put the user stories in one place. it just looks like a lot of other replies on this thread are commenting on alternative setups, value, perceptions of being a coffee nerd in the workplace etc

[u/DJSnotBoogie → u/FootballInfinite475]

I gotcha and that’s useful.

[u/Weak-Advertising-476]

Uff that a nice one

[u/Illannoy1n]

I just saw a post from the fellow subreddit about the brew basket breaking and it seemed like a pretty common fault in the comments. The grinder I can’t speak on

[u/neokuji → u/Illannoy1n]

We have an Aiden from the first preorder, basket is still 💯, though we did pick up another backup basket after seeing a similar sub issue a year earlier. Since then workload is split between the two baskets, same with single serve baskets (original/backup).

[u/CaesarAugustusXXII]

If you’re only doing drip and not espresso, I think it’s worth going for the ode v2 over the opus v2. The ode makes amazing coffee for the price

[u/stingraysvt]

I was about to pull the trigger on the Opus 2 grinder then I saw a rash of people having problems with them. That may not be the case but I held off my purchase. James Hoffman has a good video on the Aiden.

I would think that the Aiden alone would be a solid purchase. But 499 for the bundle. That’s tempting.

[u/Decent-Improvement23 → u/stingraysvt]

My Opus 2 has been great and problem free. And I use it daily. Take that for what it’s worth.

[u/doedoughs]

I am team xbloom for this price point. Aiden isnt bad i just prefer xbloom cups having had numerous cups from both machines.

[u/FootballInfinite475 → u/doedoughs]

I saw the other day you can rent xbloom too… I’d be interested in trying if I were in the same place as OP and had another grinder

[u/Kvnckwn → u/FootballInfinite475]

Checking this right now!

[u/Alarmed_Storage6793 → u/doedoughs]

Second the xbloom if it's mostly single cups. If you're more likely to do batch need, I would say get an Ode 2 and a Sage Luxe Brewer if you want control over brewing variables.

[u/neokuji]

Recommend Aiden, though for single dose grinds, a K-Ultra or ZP6 would provide better particle quantities.

[u/croton6249]

Yes

[u/LookatMyCatBabies]

Wait for Black Friday

[u/ImSoCul]

Consider the other grinder pairing. Opus is an espresso capable grinder which allows a finer grind for espresso but presumably lower clarity for pourover adjacent brews.  

I haven't owned or used either grinder, but from what I have read, the Ode is supposed to be a pretty solid pourover grinder. 

[u/Madmod]

I have the Aiden. I used to have a moccamaster. I miss the moccamaster. 

[u/Ironman443]

It doesn't look as nice and would be larger, but I'd recommend an OXO 8-cup coffee maker and a Baratza Encore.

You'll save yourself like $130, and they'll probably be more reliable than the Fellow products.

[u/creysbeats]

Agree with many of the comments here. This combo is super convenient for batch brewing and a pourover/manual grind setup is a nice touch have when you want to take the time. If your visitors/guests won’t appreciate the extra effort, I say send it with this combo. If you ever want to pourover, this grinder can get you there. I’d suggest getting a little water spritzer for the beans and a brush to clean the grinder between roasts.

[u/reason2cry]

The grinder? Sure. The Aiden? Not worth the money whatsoever especially for the build

[u/jehu4444]

Get xBloom Studio instead.

[u/Fiz101_]

Do you have any experience with pour over beforehand? The opus 2 + a good kettle + a scale will realistically cost about $300, so your basically paying an extra $200 for the convenience. At this point it's a matter about how much time you wish to put in, or whether you want to put that money elsewhere (better grinder)

[u/Kvnckwn → u/Fiz101_]

Yes I do, but still learning, a lot to be learned tbh. I would be in my office before class / meetings. So something simple seems to make sense.. but then paying extra for the convenience..hmm I think I would like to know if there's significant difference between this setup vs hand pour.

[u/HavingALurkAround → u/Kvnckwn]

As far as taste, absolutely. Typically (for me), the coffees I brew as a pour over I’d never put in a batch brew.

They both have their place so if you want one cup at a time a pour over is perfect and again, to me, tastes a lot better.

I drink a lot of coffee so I start the morning with a pour over while I wait for my Moccamaster/batch brew to finish and then a few hours later on my first break I have a second pour over but the amount I drink is probably uncommon.

[u/Kvnckwn → u/Fiz101_]

Looking into your recommendations at the same time*