Are you looking for a manual espresso machine that will produce a top grade quality, consistent, single shot of espresso every single time? But with a tight budget? You have to check out this Flair espresso maker review.
Contents
The Flair Espresso Maker Review
Who it is for?
The Flair Espresso Maker is suitable for the coffee enthusiasts who love the process of pulling their espresso shot manually. It is for coffee lovers who want to experiment with different coffee flavours and techniques.
With its compact size and ease of dismantling, this manual espresso maker is also suitable for coffee lovers who travels often and can’t do without an espresso shot every morning.
Who it is NOT for?
The flair requires an understanding of the process of making espresso. It will definitely take many tries to get the hang of making a good cup of espresso.
If you would rather get your espresso conveniently, you can consider the Mr Coffee Barista which is one of the best beginner espresso machine.
Key Features
- Detachable Stainless steel brewing head
- Aluminum press stand
- Portable
- Lever is able to produce 8 to 12 bar pressure
Technical Specifications:
- Weight: 5 pounds
- Assembled Size: 12 inches deep x 6 wide x 10 inches tall
- Cylinder water capacity: 60 ml
- Shot Volume: Roughly 45ml
- Manufacturer : Intact Idea
Flair Espresso Maker – Manual Press
Pros:
- Produces high quality espresso
- No electricity is required.
- Easy to heat up
- Ease of cleaning
- Durable
- Easy to use
- Eco-friendly – no pods , no electrity
Cons
- Need to grind your own coffee beans, brew your own water
- Need to exert strength to pull a espresso shot
Pros of the Flair Espresso Maker
Great design and portable
Flair espresso maker is designed to be durable with its parts made from stainless steel and aluminium. It has an elegant look with a beautiful and strong arching lever press. Its base is wide, providing stability during the pulling of the lever.
This espresso maker is made to be portable. It can be easily dismantled into three major parts and fit into a carrying case.
In fact, the Flair espresso maker also comes with a travel case to fit the dismantled components.
Easy to use
The Flair espresso maker has a simplistic straight forward design. It is easy to learn and operate.
Simply add in the roasted beans, fill the water chamber with boiling hot water, secure the hot water chamber above the coffee grounds and pull down firmly on the lever all the way.
And while the press is built sturdy, it is recommended that, for safety purposes, to use one hand to pull down on the lever and the other to hold down on the base of the product to secure it in place while waiting for that shot glass to be filled.
However, do note that mastering the art of producing high quality espresso using a manual espresso requires practice.
Ease of Cleaning and Maintenance
The Flair espresso maker is easily broken down. Even the brewing head is detachable. In fact it is the only manual espresso maker with a detachable brewing head.
Hence, cleaning the Flair espresso maker is easy.
In terms of maintenance, it is much easier than the typical home espresso makers. There is no need to rinse any internal flow circuit. There is also no need for descaling.
How does the espresso taste?
The Flair espresso maker is able to deliver 8 to 12 bars of pressure when the lever press is pulled. So it is able to meet the optimal espresso pressure for extraction.
So it has the potential to make great tasting espresso with a rich crema layer, provided you get all the other factors of making good espresso right. Check out the tips to making good espresso on a manual espresso maker below.
In my opinion, the espresso produced by the Flair is as good, if not better than most home espresso makers in the market.
Why Flair espresso maker is able to make better espresso?
Its simple design make preheating the brew group easy. Thus, this ensures the brew group is at the right optimal temperature of 195 degree Fahrenheit for espresso extraction.
The manual lever gives you complete control over the espresso extraction. If the espresso is coming out slowly ( either due to fine grind size or too much tamping ) , you can exert more strength to push the hot water through the ground coffee faster.
Likewise, if espresso flow is too fast ( due to coarse grind size or too little tamping ), you can lessen the pressure on the lever.
Another technique to making high quality espresso is a process called preinfusion. This is a feature that is found only in high end espresso makers.
But with Flair, you can do that. This is how you do it. Begin the espresso extraction slowly, applying light pressure for the initial 10 to 15 degrees of rotation on the lever press. Then pause 2 to 5 seconds. Finally complete the pull on the lever in the optimal espresso extraction time of 25 to 40 seconds.
Tips to using a manual espresso maker
The flair may be very easy to use. However, it still requires the necessary conditions for making good espresso to be fulfilled.
- The ingredient is important to making good espresso. The coffee beans used must be roasted within 2 weeks. The grinding should only take place just before extraction.
- The water must be of good quality and rapidly boiled to the espresso optimal temperature of 195 degree Fahrenheit.
- The cylinder should also be preheated with hot water so as to reduce the temperature difference between hot water and the equipment. This will ensure the hot water stays at the same 195 degree Fahrenheit when injected into the coffee maker.
- The right combination of coffee grind size and tamp pressure must be used so as to deliver the espresso in the optimum extraction time of 25 to 40 seconds. It is recommended to tamp about 17 to 18 grams of ground coffee in the portafilter with 30 to 40 pounds of pressure.
Flair Manual Espresso Maker Review – Final Verdict
The Flair manual espresso maker is one of the best manual espresso machine in the market.
It is the only model in the market with a detachable brew head. Thus it is easy to clean and preheat.
The flair is also easily dismantled and suitable for bringing along on travel.
More importantly, you can get a high quality manual espresso maker for just under 200 dollars!
If you love to test your inner Barista and experiment with different coffee flavours and extraction techniques, you have to get your hands on this beauty!
