Flair Espresso Maker Review

crazy by Editorial Staff | Posted on March 31st, 2021

You may have dreamt of being able to brew your own espresso at home but do not have the budget to turn that into reality. Don’t fret because the Flair Espresso Maker may be the answer to your problem.


Flair Espresso Maker is a simple hand-powered espresso maker with 10 bars of pressure to give you your beloved shot. It is easy to carry around so you can have your espresso anytime and anywhere!

Flair Espresso Maker

Flair Espresso Maker

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The main selling point of this brewer is its price point. A regular and good espresso machine can cost up to $1000 and even more. On the other hand, the Flair Espresso Maker only costs a fraction of that while still providing you with a lovely shot.

Since this is a hand-powered device, it is more tedious to work with when compared to automatic machines. But I personally find that enjoyable. The creators of this coffee maker have 30 years worth of experience in the biomedical industry which helped them develop this device in 2016.

Pros

  • Simple design
  • Easy to use
  • Perfect amount of pressure

Cons

  • Lots of small parts that are easy to use and requires washing with every brew
  • Pricier than other manual espresso makers

Models

Flair Espresso Maker

The company offers a few variants to choose from:

The most basic of all is the Flair Classic Solo in the colors black and red. It comes with a lever assembly, piston, brewing cylinder, drip tray, portafilter, carrying case, and dosing cup. If you need a steel tamper, you can find that in the plus variant. Additionally, the pressure kit has a custom pressure gauge which displays the optimal pressure for espresso brewing.

Flair espresso maker with pressure kit

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The key differences between the classic model and the signature upgrade are the finish and a few features. For an instance, with the signature, the portafilter is upgraded with the bottomless 2-in-1 type. The brewing heads in the unit allows brewing one after the other without requiring some cleaning in between. Overall, the Flair Signature Espresso Maker is 10.5” tall with a base that’s 12.5” x 7”. It weighs 3.5 lbs. 

Since this is also ideal for travels, these are packed in a stylish carrying travel case for your convenience.

Inclusions

  • Flair Base: This is made of polished aluminum with four rubber feet to keep your unit stable.
  • Flair Piston Arm Assembly: The piston pushes down to build and generate pressure for brewing.
  • Flair Brewing Cylinder: This stainless steel part holds all the pressure while brewing is ongoing.
  • Flair Filter Portafilters: This is where you throw in the coffee grounds to insert it into the brewing cylinder.
  • Dispersion Screen: This serves as the barrier between the water and the coffee and is placed on top of the coffee grounds. 
  • Stainless Steel Spout: This spout is a great help for brewing and cleaning and can be attached to the portafilter’s base.
  • Preheat Cap: This cap is placed at the bottom of the cylinder and allows pouring of boiling water to preheat the flair.
  • Stainless Steel Tamper: This is for tamping the espresso and is made of a durable stainless steel.
  • Drip tray: This catches and drips of espresso outside the cup.
  • Pressure gauge: This fits inside the brewing cylinder and creates pressure once pushed down on the water.
  • Dosing Cup and Tamper: You can use this to measure your beans and can also be used as a tamper.
  • Filling Funnel: Used to pour your coffee grounds into the portafilter mess-free. 

How to assemble 

  1. Slot the lever assembly into the base.
  2. Put the screws into the bottom of the base with the use of the hex key.
  3. Attach the drip tray to the base.
  4. Push the portafilter into the brewing cylinder and put it onto the lever assembly loop.

The notable thing about this brand is that the company keeps launching improved versions of this espresso maker. You can even join a Facebook group dedicated in helping you work around your brewer. With the dedication of the team, the best is yet to come!

How to use it?

  1. Grind your coffee beans.
  2. Throw about 16g to 24g of grounds into the portafilter.
  3. Insert the screen.
  4. Place the portafilter in the Flair.
  5. Pour in water.
  6. Pull the lever and aim between 30 to 45 seconds.
  7. Enjoy!

Key features

Simple design

The Flair comes in simple minimalist designs which honestly is a trend these days. Also, it can surely blend beautifully in any kitchen!

Detachable brew head

Although the brew head comes in one detachable piece, the part is actually made of 4 separate pieces:

  • Portafilter
  • Screen
  • Cylinder
  • Piston

Take note that with every brew, you are required to disassemble and reassemble all over again, but it should take less than a minute.

Optimal pressure

To brew the best possible espresso, it typically requires 9 bars of pressure and while a hand-powered Aeoropress can reach up to 1-3 bars of pressure, the Flair can generate 8-16. Impressive! 

To understand the importance of the pressure, it’s what produces the crema and lovely taste of the espresso.

Reasons to not buy the Flair

You’re out of budget

Although Flair is a lot cheaper than automatic espresso makers, it still can be pricier than other manual espresso makers. However, you can go with their NEO espresso maker

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You need something more portable

While this is portable in its own right, it’s not the easiest to carry around in the market. You might want to check the Wacaco Minipresso which is a great and a more portable machine than the Flair.

You prefer a capsule-compatible coffee maker

Sometimes, the convenience of a coffee capsule means the world when you don’t have all the time and energy to manually pull a coffee. If this is true, you might want to look into the Staresso portable espresso maker.

Does the Flair brew a real espresso?

The quick answer is: ABSOLUTELY! It produces a genuine espresso with crema on top. With its 6-9 bars of pressure or even more, you can enjoy a delicious cup of espresso with no quality difference with other machines. However, it’s worth noting that you need a good grinder to effectively pull the best espresso shot possible.

Downsides

  • Preheating takes a lot of work
  • Time consuming
  • Limited serving size 
  • Requires considerable arm strength when pulling down the lever
  • Does not come with a steamer so no lattes and cappuccinos for you

The Flair versus the…

Wacaco Minipresso

As a digital nomad, traveling the world with 2 carry-ons, it’s a bit difficult to carry a flair espresso maker versus the Wacaco minipresso. If you can carry a portable speaker, you can carry this. While the quality isn’t at par, it is more about portability versus quality.

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ROK Espresso Maker

The base models of the Flair and the ROK espresso maker are the same with the Flair winning in quality. When it comes to the quality of espresso, nothing much is different but the Flair definitely wins by a notch.

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Handpresso

Handpresso is a travel espresso maker that is smaller and more portable than the Flair but when it comes to the brew quality, the Flair wins in a heartbeat! The Handpresso cannot reach as much pressure as the Flair, thus, it produces weaker coffee.

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La Pavoni Europiccola

Just like the Flair, this is a manually-driven direct piston espresso machine. La Pavoni conveniently comes with a built-in kettle. However, its price is thrice as high as that of the Flair’s. Plus, you have limited control over the water temperature which affects the quality of the brew.

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Flair Classic, Signature, and Pro

The Flair Classic and Signature generally are the same with the main difference boiling down to appearance. But the case is different with the Pro as its gap with the other two is quite significant. 

Key differences between the Pro and the Classic:

  • Brew head
  • Size and shape of basket
  • Number of accessories
  • Pro feels more luxurious
  • Pro automatically includes a pressure gauge
  • Dose size
    • Pro: 18-22 grams
    • Classic and Signature: 14-18 grams

As we’ve said, the company keeps launching upgraded versions so we can hope to have better features in the future!

Last words

Whether this is the first time you’ve heard about the Flair or not, we urge you to consider this device as an addition to your home. It brews great coffee, it’s simple to use, and holds a lower price when compared to automatic espresso machines. Have fun!

crazy

Editorial Staff

The editorial staff at Crazy Coffee Crave is a team of coffee enthusiasts & Baristas who enjoy the one thing we all think about as soon as we get up in the morning. Trusted by thousands of readers worldwide.