Flair Pro 2 Manual Espresso Maker

Preheating steps are not my favorite thing, but the quality of the espresso is excellent and matches or surpasses much more expensive automatic machines.

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This is TLDR but hopefully it will save you a little time if you're a person like me who wastes hours of times looking at reviews if they decide to buy anything! Starting with the stuff i don't love or made me hesitant to buy; if i had counter space or more income I would *happily* buy a gaggia classic pro/used rancillio rocky and baratza sette 270 instead, Flair is just not as quick as having a machine set up. it's a little fiddly, and while I don't mind a little manual labor the lever is harder to press than I imagined at certain pressures (more on this below). Plus flair's instagram and facebook presence is cringey and annoying, and buying some online influencer content start-up-capital invention versus a tried and true set up seems likely for disappointment. However—$ for $ a manual grinder and this thing is $100s less, you can easily store it when you're done, and there are absolutely no electronic parts to go buggy on you; rubber gaskets and the like are cheap to replace, and that is a relief to me. As for set up/brew time, once you get a workflow down and figure out your settings, it's comparable in time to a stovetop moka pot with immensely better results. If you include pre-heating time for a nicer home machine or the fact that a trip to a café is a absolute minimum of 10-15 minutes and realistically more if they're busy, I think roughly 15 minutes set up to tear down and put away for your flair espresso is pretty reasonable. The Pro2 is hilariously expensive compared to the Signature with pressure gauge, but the Pro's rubber preheat lid and the larger metal portafilter are great (easier to clean, and can make a doppio/doppio ristretto) I feel justify the cost if you want the nicest workflow, and want that 18in 36 out. Few tips-- DEFINITELY USE BOILING 212F WATER and preheat the brew head at least twice, I was using pourover temp and it was hard to heat enough. If you wanna brew for a +1 I would get a 2nd porta filter, the brew chamber gets pretty hot but you don't need a second chamber for a faster second shot. It takes a long time to get a single portafilter ready to brew a second time but maybe a minute more to load and clean two of the portafilters. Longer brew times seem to be totally acceptable and even encouraged on this (around a minute), however I also have tasty results around 35 seconds as well— regardless of your time I would recommend finding a recipe that doesn't exceed 6-7 bars, it's still very tasty in that range and getting it up to 9 bars makes it way more effort to push. Lastly, although you can let up/change the pressure on the lever as you brew, do NOT take your arm off it, because then the brew chamber starts pushing apart and shooting water everywhere.

I've own a Flair for almost 3 years now. I've used the classic, signature, pro 1, and pro 2. Flair has done a great job of making a quality product that will last a long time. Well worth the investment and I am glad a got a Manual machine because of nothing can really go wrong with it and it doesnt need to be cleaned or descaled.

Received a brand new pressure gage with a .5 bar reading on it, and the portafilter carriage is not machined level, portafilter is leaning on one side.

I recently acquired the Flair Signature with pressure gauge, and I've found it to produce a quality of espresso that at least matches and in most cases exceeds the quality of espresso I get from local baristas here in Dallas. The shots are smooth with great mouth feel, and the design of the device is very forgiving; even a miscalculation in dosage or tamping can still produce a really drinkable shot. The Flair is extremely well-made, beautifully designed and easy to use, making my morning espresso experience a source of joy!