Flair Espresso Maker – Classic: All manual lever espresso maker for The home – portable and non-electric

Simple, Quick, Portable, Real Espresso. Flair can’t be beat!
Summary: For the price, portability, and simplicity of the Flair, it produces great espresso with control over temperature and pressure. This combination cannot be beat. It is hard to find this much control unless you spend hundreds to thousands of dollars on an espresso machine, which would permanently sit on your counter. I can easily make good quality espresso with the Flair, the process is simple, quick, and easy. You have to let expensive espresso machines heat up for half an hour to get a good temperature (but can still have little control over the precise temperature). But with the Flair, you can heat the parts up in minutes and easily control the temperature. The process takes about 5 minutes, including setup, hand grinding, heating up parts and water. Cleanup is quick and simple. Flair allows me to enjoy hand-crafted espresso even when I travel. If I had purchased a typical espresso machine, I would have spent hundreds more, would have to wait longer to let the machine heat up, and at best I would have had the same level of control over temperature but without control over pressure throughout the shot. The Flair is also a great looking device, and I can’t stop taking pictures of it for my Instagram!I’ve owned the Flair (Signature, Black) for just over a week now. When I was first looking for an espresso machine, things quickly got out of budget. Sure, you can find inexpensive machines (at least twice the cost of the Flair), but they offer very little control. Basic setups that included control over temperature were looking in the $600 range for used machines, and for a new machine with a good quality of parts and features you can expect to spend $1,500+. With the Flair, you can get control over the temperature and the pressure very easily, and for a fraction of the price. If you want to make milk drinks with the espresso, you can purchase other products to pair with your Flair in order to achieve that, and still be under the cost of even the lower-priced semi-automatic machines, and overall you’d have more control and better milk steaming capability than those lower-priced semi-automatic machines could offer.To get control over temperature with the Flair, you simply need a thermometer and a way to heat up some of the parts (mainly the brew cylinder). You can simply preheat by boiling the parts in water, or for metal parts you can use a direct heating method if you like (this is my preferred method because you can get temperatures above the boiling temperature of water, to better maintain higher brewing temperatures). Please note that if you use a direct heat/dry heat method, that you need to be careful not to get the metal parts too hot, because it will flash boil the water when you add it. For best results, heat it slowly and no higher than 250° F. This takes only a couple minutes. Before you insert the piston, you can use a thermometer to check the water temperature, which allows you to control at what temperature you begin brewing.You have control over pressure through how fine you grind, how hard you tamp, and how hard you press the lever. You are able to change the pressure throughout the press, which can give you different taste results. With the ability to control temperature and pressure, you can easily customize the taste of your espresso to how you like it.I am brand new to espresso making, so I had to hunt for the right grind size to use (which is typical for any espresso machine). Once you find the grind size that gets you the right amount of pressure; the taste, mouthfeel, and crema production of the shots are very similar to what you will find in coffee shops produced by equipment that costs thousands of dollars. The only requirements you need at home are the Flair, a good quality burr grinder, fresh coffee, water, and a heat source.Overall it only takes about 5 minutes from setting up the Flair to enjoying your shot of espresso, and that’s at a relaxed pace. Cleaning up is also quick and simple.The quality of the parts are good. The only thing is that if you are not careful, you can damage the plastic parts. I have somehow managed to gouge the plastic on my portafilter. Luckily all the individual parts are available from the company, and I can replace that portafilter if I want to for a very low cost. The damage does not affect use, so I don’t mind for now. If you are less clumsy, you should have no problems. I would appreciate seeing all-metal premium parts in the future, for those of us that are clumsy :)My biggest struggle with the Flair has simply been the learning curve for getting the right temperature, the right grind size, the right tamp pressure, the right lever pressure, and the right brew time. I had staler coffee for this first week of ownership and that makes a huge difference, especially with light roasts, so I’m looking forward to using fresh coffee that’s roasted a little darker for espresso.Another big selling point for the Flair is its portability. If I had purchased a semi-automatic machine, it would have to sit on my counter taking up space. With the Flair, I could leave it set up if I want to, or just pack it away in its case so it isn’t in the way. Setup takes no time at all. For this first week of ownership, I actually traveled with it and made espresso very easily while I was away from home—you can’t do that with a typical espresso machine.The Flair is very impressive for how simple the design is and for what it can produce for such a low price. The biggest challenge is getting a good brew temperature, which is vitally important for lighter roasts but not so much for darker roasts. Temperature management for light roasts is easy enough to achieve, and should be easier with the stainless steel piston option and through the use of dry heat on the metal parts.The only true con I can think of is that you are doing a lot of the individual parts of espresso yourself, rather than the machine doing it. Such as heating up the water and parts, and applying pressure. However, these are also benefits, since they give you more control than you could affordably find in a typical espresso machine. The only other con is durability of the plastic, since I’m surprised at how quickly I gouged a part, but that is also my fault for being clumsy.Overall, I’m very happy with the Flair. I’m able to produce quality espresso after only a few days with it. I can put it away so it isn’t taking up space on my counter in my tiny apartment kitchen, and I can take it with me when I travel since I have a hand grinder. I easily get good control over temperature and pressure, which are features that you only get otherwise on very expensive machines, and rarely together. The Flair can also do cold-pressed espresso, which will be fun to play with for cold drinks. I’m surprised at how quickly and easily I can produce espresso with the Flair. I’m finally able to make cafe quality cappuccinos and drinks for my wife (since I already had a separate milk steamer), as well as affogatos and straight espresso for myself!

In einer anderen Rezension (nicht zu diesem konkreten Artikel) habe ich gelesen: “Das Teil macht Espresso – mit guten Bohnen auch einen entsprechend tauglichen. Das war’s aber auch schon.” Vollkommen richtig, genau darum geht es! Ich habe mir deshalb die Fair gekauft, weil ich ohne schwere Maschine und ohne besonderen Reinigungsaufwand Espresso zubereiten wollte. Und ja, man braucht einen gewissen Workflow, kommt aber locker in ca. 3 Minuten zum gelungenen Shot: Mahlen dauert bei mir ca. 20 Sekunden, getempert wird in etwa 10 Sekunden. In der Zwischenzeit habe ich die Brühkammer mit etwas Wasser vorgeheizt und kann nun den Espresso mit kochend heißem Wasser durchlaufen lassen, was ca. 30 (bis zu 45) Sekunden dauert. Die Reinigung, die ich meist vor dem nächsten Shot vornehme, dauert i. d. R. ein paar Sekunden, weil da nicht viel zu reinigen ist.Ich trinke übrigens Cappuccino: Für (nahezu) perfekten Milchschaum nutze ich – nach wirklich langem Suchen und einigen Fehlschlägen – den NanoFoamer inklusive Milchkännchen für den Herd. Insgesamt brauche ich somit ca. 4 Minuten für einen exzellenten Cappuccino, also nur unwesentlich länger als mit einer herkömmlichen Siebträgermaschine.Wem es nicht auf zwei Minuten ankommt, für den ist die Flair ein interessanter Espresso-Maker. Wichtig ist m. E., dass du zwei, drei Sachen parallel machen kannst. Du brauchst ein ordentliches Mahlwerk, wie etwa das von Flair – ich selbst nutze eine Eureka Mignon, zugegebenerweise dann doch auch ein schweres Gerät.Anfangs hatte ich das Problem, dass der Espresso wahnsinnig schnell durchlief. Ich stellte die Flair sogar für einige Zeit in die Ecke, weil ich dachte, dass es einfach nicht funktioniert. Nun habe ich den richtigen Mahlgrad, den richtigen Workflow und es ist einfach perfekt! Jetzt klappt alles, ich muss mir da keine Gedanken mehr machen. Ich empfehle dir, die Flair zunächst als “Side-Projekt” zu verstehen; vielleicht funktioniert bei dir alles auf Anhieb, bei mir hat es das nicht. Heute will ich mir meinen Espresso bzw. Cappuccino nicht mehr anders zubereiten. Die letztlich ekligen Vollautomaten habe ich dadurch erfolgreich hinter mich gelassen und stattdessen einen (vergleichsweise) minimalistischen Weg gefunden, hochwertigen Espresso zuzubereiten.

Such an amazing product, I’ve been in love with the Flair even before buying it. Definitely looking forward to Flair upgrades in the next years.

I’m a huge fan of the Flair. It makes professional quality espresso, just as good as what you would find in a $1000 + machine.The process of pulling an espresso by hand is one of the more enjoyable parts of this machine. Since owning the flair I’ve really started to appreciate coffee and because you control all of aspects of the your shot you can test and try different ways to make your perfect espresso from bean, grind setting, water temperature to the pull. It’s become a great way to start my day and enjoy coffee. Like any other hand pressed espresso machine It does take some time to pull an espresso shot (including boiling water) so if you just want a quick coffee it may not be ideal but it is makes an amazing shot and is rewarding to make it exactly how you want it. Another note, it’s portable and comes in a nice travel kit which makes it easy to take on weekend trips or on the road if you ever feel like bringing it along (which I have).I’d recommend buying one and at its price point and quality you cant beat it. Also buying a second portafilter if you plan on pulling more than one shot at a time is essential.