Flair Espresso Maker PRO 2 (Black) – An all manual lever espresso maker with stainless steel brew head and pressure gauge

I am brand new to espresso and I love this machine
I recently decided to dive into the world of home espresso. I am a professional cook so the extreme manual nature of the flair ecosystem got my attention right out of the gate. I also love camping and I find the idea of really great espresso at the campsite very appealing. So I decided on the flair pro 2 over the flair 58 simply because this being my first espresso machine ever, starting out at $1000 investment after machine and accessories seemed a bit irresponsible given that I’ve never really even attempted to pull a real shot ever up to this point. The pro 2 put me into the $500ish range with grinder and that seemed more appropriate for me. I have had this machine for a little over a month now, have pulled roughly one full Peetes coffee bag worth of shots. So I believe I can give a decent review now from the viewpoint of a professional cook but novice beginner espresso machine user. I have spent the month watching countless youtube videos from Lance Hendrick to James Hoffman and others. I learned about bean types, grinders, grind size, dose size, water temp, brew pressures and so on. When it comes to kitchen matters, I tend to dive in and learn as much as possible. So now to using the product. It is really well built, it is pretty intuitive on how to use it and if you know what you are doing, you can pull consistent shots. I however am not good at it(yet). So with everything you get from flair you can pull shots. Sometimes great shots. And if you are good at espresso already you can probably pull consistently good shots. I struggled out of the gate because even though I created a very consistent and efficient work flow, the one variable I couldn’t be consistent at was tamping. The tamper that comes with the flair is decent. It seems high quality and well made but for me, it’s too small for my oger hands and getting a consistent flat and evenly pressed coffee bed with it is difficult. It didn’t seem to matter what my grind size was, what my dose size was, randomly some shots would pull with little to no resistance and squirting channels everywhere. Others I couldn’t even get to pull at all. And this is with me making wild grind size changes, 16g dose to 22g dose, it didn’t matter. It became clear that the issue was my tamp. So I decided to invest in the normcore distributor and spring tamper. Oh, I had also bought the normcore WDT tool with the flair 2 pro. These extra tools have completely fixed all of my issues. The first shot I pulled using the distributor and spring tamper I pulled an 18g dose in 24 seconds with zero channeling which I’d never been able to do prior. I went two clicks finer on my grinder and pulled a second shot which pulled in 34 seconds, no channeling and was basically perfect. I almost cried haha. So, my very long winded opinion is this. Flair makes a great product for coffee nerds. If you are already good at making espresso, meaning your form and knowledge are there, you will have fun with this machine right out of the gate. If you are an extreme novice like me, I would suggest at a minimum getting a spring tamper until you are a pro at tamping. Tamping seems to be the most important part with the flair to getting consistent results. Having said all of that, I am most likely going to be moving this to my camping gear and replacing it with the flair 58. The work flow with the 58 is probably better for everyday use. handling the boiling hot billet water chamber and basket after every use is a little annoying but nowhere near a deal breaker by any means. If your budget is $500, get this. If you can afford $1000 all in or you already have a good grinder, get the 58.

Expensive, but honestly? Worth it.
Let’s get the bad outta the way… What do I not like?It was expensive when I bought it at $275, and even more so now that it jumped by $50 to $325!It’s super time consuming, and you’d benefit from having a second brew chamber. That’s mostly where it ends tho.The build quality is excellent. All machined Aluminum and stainless steel. It’s a little wobbly tho. Not because of the quality itself, but because of the stability. That could easily be addressed by the manufacturer, or maybe a third party developer.It makes a STELLAR shot of REAL Espresso. Not that half hearted stuff like the Aeropress, or the Nespresso, for which I still both like. It’s because of those two machines that inspired me to go legit.The process of using an analog machine challenges you to be artistic, and to master the process and art of Espresso. Serving someone a cup of Coffee that you had absolute control over, is gratifying.This thing is a blast, the build quality is to be admired, and the espresso itself is outstanding. If you’re an artist, a fan of the hands on approach, and want an authentic shot.. This is one of only a few good choices.Yes, buy it.

Missing O-ring
Missing o-ring on bottom of pressure gauge, could not find it anywhere else in package, quality looks otherwise good.

Zunächst…wer braucht beim Camping einen Espresso ? ..Ich.Meine Mühle ist eine : Eureka specialita (zu Hause) ,weil: eine gute Mühle ist sehr wichtig (sehr feines Kaffepulver) . Wenn man ganz auf Handbetrieb angewiesen ist lohnt sich eine teure Spitzenmühle zum Kurbeln , da bitte nicht sparen ! Und: nehmt KEINEN Kaffee! Kauft einen guten Espresso vom Röster! Das Handling ist nach Gewöhnung super easy. ca 12 gramm Pulver eingefüllt und mit ca10 bar (wird auf dem mitgelieferten Manometer angezeigt) einen wirklich grandiosen Espresso gepresst. Crema, Farbe, Durchlaufzeit …alles wie im Bilderbuch. Vorwärmen des Brühkopfes mit heissem Wasser ist sehr wichtig.ABER : man muss ganz schön kräftig drücken ! Das Ding muss auf festem Boden stehen.Reinigung ist etwas mehr Fummelkram als beim grossen Siebträgergerät aber akzeptabel, da das Gerät nur aus wenigen Einzelteilen besteht.Die Verarbeitung ist sehr solide , aus Edelstahl! Mit Plastik kommt der Kaffee nicht in Berührung ! Nach meinen jahrelangen Handpresso Erfahrungen ist dieses Gerät zwar teuer aber ein echter Hit. Auch und gerade im outdoor Betrieb. Die Flair wird im robusten hardcase Koffer geliefert, kann aber auch easy in wenige Einzelteile zerlegt im Rucksack verpackt werden. Der Fuss ist zerlegbar mit einer Schraube. Macht aber auch in der Küche als “standalone” was her. Ich habe schon viele mobile Espressogeräte ausprobiert , dieses funktioniert .

Excellent espresso maker – equal to top class machines, if not better.Important to follow the learning process and have a good grinder.