Flair Classic vs Flair Pro 2

Having owned this machine for a while I feel like I can offer a detailed review. As an avid coffee connoisseur, I procure green beans from reliable sources and roast to my specifications. For comparison I own over 40 brewing apparatuses. Asthetic design: very nice

When I'm trying to put an espresso portafilter, I remember that I used to find it quite hard to dial in and the reason why? The portal filter size of ...

Flair sells an accessory pressure gauge/piston from their company website, and IMO this is absolutely critical to using the machine effectively. Without the pressure gauge you will find yourself constantly guessing how much force to use and when, and to be frank there's enough guesswork and trial and error involved in using this thing without all that. These three things make the Flair considerably more user-friendly. Once you've done that, prepare to set aside a half hour or more each time you buy a new bag of coffee to dial in the grind size, tamping pressure, and water temperature particular to your new beans

It seems that there is a design issue with the pressure gauge : the material is plastic and when you press the hand lever down, the pressure gauge tends to bend backward which results additional pressure at the end part, not into the middle part. So, it cracked after a few months of usage (I've never applied more pressure than 9 PSI). Also, the rubber cover at the hand lever is attached to the metal with three rubber joints. Two of them have broken after 3-4 usage

Considering your wants and preground coffee, I'd advise against the Flair. The Flair seems to work well with coffee ground for espresso and preground coffee will not provide that. If you had a grinder, it could be considered. However, since you're looking for ease of use and cleanup, the Flair isn't it

Considering your wants and preground coffee, I'd advise against the Flair. The Flair seems to work well with coffee ground for espresso and preground coffee will not provide that. If you had a grinder, it could be considered. However, since you're looking for ease of use and cleanup, the Flair isn't it

So my flair signature came today. My overall impressions.. starting with the most important, does it make espresso? Yes

Extremely well built and full of little details that show the respect and attention that they have for the customers. Similar to what Apple used to do in the glory days.

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

I could actually choke it with my manual Xeoleo grinder a couple of clicks away from the finest setting. The flip-side of this is that it is very difficult to find accessories (like distributors and tampers), which are overpriced in comparison to larger products for 51mm baskets. The only thing I'm still struggling with is thermal management. As it's not plugged to the mains, you have to pre-heat the brew head either by placing it on top of your kettle or filling it with boiling water a couple of times

I used too much force to press down the lever with too fine ground coffee, and the round metal piece that was sitting on the top of piston withstanding all the force from the lever popped out of its place, and the lever broke the top part of piston. It was partially my fault using too much force, but I still think that something should not break with a force that a person can possibly put on. A stainless steel piston would make this machine almost perfect although the price will go up. I wouldn't mind paying extra for a stainless steel piston if available

Excellent espresso maker. Solid lasting build, easy to learn process, forgiving on the grind due to narrower portafilter and excellent coffee