FLAIRSignature Espresso Maker - an All Manual Espresso Press to Handcraft Espresso at Home (Pressure Kit, Black)

4.5 starsEvery review I've read about home espresso has been consistent: It is expensive to brew good espresso at home. It's why the best automatic machines for the home start at $700-plus. So I was very pleased when I first stumbled on the Flair Signature when I began researching manual home espresso machines. And intrigued by the reviews that said the Flair can brew close to cafe-quality espresso. And the cost was crazy good at $250.But there are some things you need to consider before jumping at this *very* good espresso machine that pulls a *very* good shot of home espresso.For starters, there is no element that goes into home espresso that is more important than the grind. (Yes, you could argue that fresh roasted beans are more important, but if the're not ground right, they're not gonna work.)So, make sure you have a grinder that will work. I thought I did. I had a burr grinder that did a really nice job for my coffee applications to date. I figured it would be good enough. It wasn't. (I had a $60 Cuisinart DBM-8 grinder. It has 18 grind positions. If you have this or an equivalent grinder, it is NOT going to work with the Flair Signature. You will need to upgrade.) (I know, all the expert home espresso brewers are laughing right now that I thought that grinder would work. What can I say, I was naive...)My upgraded grinder cost $200. (Breville BCG820BSS with 60 grind settings.) It works like a charm. I found a grind setting of about 12 to be perfect for use with the Flair Signature. You might have to adjust that depending on your taste. But this model gave me the settings I need to dial in a great grind. And, yes, you can spend more and get even better options. I was trying to keep my total buy-in at less than a $700 Breville automatic machine was going to cost for an entry-level go.So we're at about $450 with a grinder and the machine. Add $20 for a knockbox so you don't damage your portafilter and you're at $470. I'm going to assume you already have a good electric gooseneck kettle if you're looking at this option. If not, add about $60 -- you can go a little less or a little more.That would put you at $510 and there are still a few things you'll want to buy. Some nice espresso cups. A small scale for weighing your espresso output. Maybe a milk frother if you want to make lattes, cappuccinos or macchiatos.If your eyes are glazing over, here's a time for a reminder: You WILL be pleased with the espresso you can brew with this machine ones you get yoru practice in. Buy my 15th pull, I was making really good espresso. I'm looking forward to the weekend so I can practice a bit more.I don't know if this makes better espresso than one of the expensive Breville units. I have had good shots from a Breville, and I've already had good shots from my Flair. What I do know is there is something satisfying about pulling a shot with your own muscle power after you've measured out the beans, gotten the perfect grind and poured the hot water with your kettle. I LIKE this machine.The build quality is good. And the Flair wins by being simple. There's very little that even could break. Honestly, my biggest fear is that I might lose my portafilter screen or forget to put the spout on. Other than that, there's very little that can go wrong here.Here's the right spot for this. Before you buy, WATCH THE VIDEOS on the Flair website. They offer a great tutorial on how to brew espresso and all thes steps that go into it. It will get easier each time, and I've already brewed two good shots back to back to put into a two-shot latte and was done within 7 minutes or so. But it takes practice.Also, pay attention to the set-up instructions. My first brew, I forgot to put the screen on top of my beans and the result was a terrible 5 second brew. I guarantee you at least two of the one-star reviews here did exactly the same thing and then blamed it on the machine.If you do everything right, it will work. And it will work good. And you will be delighted with the results.Last thing: You obviously know this, but think long and hard about whether you'll be OK without a frothing wand that you'll get on an automatic machine. If you know, for sure, that you can do without it, this is a better option. And still a little bit cheaper. But if you want the convenience of a frothing want and a built-in grinder, sleep on it. The Breville or equivalent MIGHT be your option.This is a lot of words. But you need to be sure you go into this with the full story. It's not a $250 machine, not really. It's a $250 machine plus a good grinder and a few other things. If you already have the other things (make sure they'll work), then go for it. If not, weigh all the costs.Last thing (really, this time): Get at least the SIgnature model. I looked at the others , but I can't imagine using this without the pressure gauge. And the carrying case if beautfifully designed. Well worth the price upgrade.

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 am a long time espresso drinker and have my home setup with a mazzer super jolly grinder and a rancilio silvia semi automatic.I decided to try out this portable manual lever espresso maker as it gives one the option of travelling around with it and also to do pressure profiling for pulling shots which are impossible except for in top of the line espresso machines ( really difficult to get in India for home use ). Only one that i have seen being sold in India is the Lelit Bianca.Anyway, got it and within the second day i could pull great shots and vary pressure as per my expectations.Its a good machine capable of pulling very good shots - the baristas experience is really the limiting factor here. The only drawback is the temperature control which needs special attention as it does not have a built in boiler. So you have to ensure that the brewhead is heated to a good level to pull shots at the correct temperature to get good extraction.The portafilter is around 40mm - so its a bit narrow compared to the standard 58mm portafilters in standard machines. This means shots are longer - also you can do a lot of preinfusion with this machine. Thats a boon for an espresso aficionado. The standard dose for this is 12-16 grams.I would have preferred the pro2 version of this machine but sadly it wasnt available - Benki Brewing tools is the authorised seller and they were only carrying this model - all others were out of stock.Anyway, if you are an espresso lover and love to play around to learn about pulling the best shots, this is a great tool. Also, coupled with a good espresso portable grinder like the comandante, you can carry your espresso setup wherever you go. You just need boiling water.Really happy with this purchase.

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!