Flair Espresso Maker - Manual Press

Product Information

With the Flair, I have to remove the piston manually, separate the brew head from the chamber, and then try to knock it out – and a few times when doing this I couldn't get the puck to knock out, I had to resort to using a spoon – it's not a big deal, but I think Rok is just a bit easier to clean up after each shot. Add 70ml of boiled water and a dose of up to 24 grams to yield up to a 56 ml shot with beautiful crema. The company also sells the Signature model, which features a polished aluminum frame, and a copper brewing chamber holder. I think partially this is down to the instructions, which I don't think are fantastic when it comes to dosing, but also down to the fact that I was using the same kind of grind that I use for my La Pavoni, and a similar grind that I found to work for The Rok, but it seems with Flair I needed to go slightly more coarse.

We designed this product knowing that Moka pots, many pod machines, and other in-home brewers claim to make espresso, but really only provide you with a cup of strong coffee. I pulled shots of Espresso with Flair alongside my La Pavoni Europiccola, and The Rok, using the same coffee. Overall, the fit and finish of the Signature model is very impressive (except for the minor scuffing on the handle from the spare piston / grouphead). Flairpresso refuses the screen itself, which could be pressed out and in very simple, and coud be sent in a small letter, slipping unnoticed through any custom.

With Flair you have a bit of work to do before pulling your shot, this is mainly the compromise you have to make to get the increased portability. There are no plugs or electronics, meaning the Flair, which was designed from the ground up, will look beautiful in any coffee station or kitchen. A single slot-enhanced valve plunger, a shot mirror-ready post, an angled elbow connector to minimize wiring and a detachable preheat controller so you can brew anywhere. As a fully capable espresso machine, the Flair PRO 2 requires freshly roasted beans, a kettle that can boil water, and most importantly, a high-quality, espresso capable burr grinder. There’s been a few portable “espresso” makers introduced since, some hits, some complete wiffle balls.

We are here for the espresso, for the mornings that linger a bit longer, no matter where you find yourself. Do you crave great espresso and want to have a quality coffee drink from the comfort of your own home? The Manufacturer claims the following for other weights, volumes, and pressures (some of which we test in our review): The main cylinder water capacity is 65ml; the “portafilter’s” capacity for ground coffee is 17 to 28g (which seems high – we’ll test that below); the claimed pressure produced by the machine is between 8BAR and 16BAR, and shot extraction times range from 25 to 45 seconds, with an output volume of up to 50ml of espresso. What helped is that the inventor, Sergio Landau, had the project ready right up to the manufacturing stage when he launched his Kickstarter: he had the prototype finalised, had the tooling and mold ready to go, and just needed the funds to do production on the initial 800 machines. I'm not saying Flair is difficult to use, but there's less to do with Rok, you don't have to assemble it, you don't have to put the brew head and the cylinder together, you don't have to put in the piston, you just dose the portafilter and insert it as you would with a powered Espresso machine, and then pour in the water.While many people think that an espresso maker is the only piece of specialty equipment needed for espresso, we cannot stress enough how important a high-quality, espresso-capable burr grinder is to your workflow. Comes complete in a custom carrying case making it easy to take it anywhere you go or to pack up after use. The main gasket on the piston has, on at least five occasions, come out of it’s holding channel, causing minor explosive results.