FLAIR PRO 2 Espresso Maker

Amazing quality and well built. Makes great espresso too with a little bit of a learning curve. Really happy with this purchase.

Flair's portability and metal brew chamber give a better tasting espresso. The Flair has no bitterness and has a rich texture. So convenient and nice not to be dependent on electricity, can take this anywhere, camping or visiting family. Seems very well constructed and sturdy. The staff at Eight Ounce are fantastic and knowledgeable with great customer and sales service, a pleasure to do business with. They really want you to find the product that suits your needs and are sensitive to budget constraints.

I started with manual espresso a little while ago with a Rok. It's been pretty good. I added a pressure gauge (diy) and an IMS basket, and I'd say I was getting decent espresso, but the Flair's portability and metal brew chamber enticed me. When my Flair showed up, I used the same grind I was using for the Rok (123 clicks on J-Max) and instantly got a better tasting espresso. I'm still learning so I use Lavazza Crema e Aroma. On the Rok, I was never able to get rid of the bitterness (still drinkable). The Flair showed no bitterness and had a richer texture, though it took about twice as long to pull. The rok is definitely harder to pull, even though it has two levers. I use both in a sitting position.

I was a little uncertain of the Flair P2 basket but ordered anyway. The holes are a good size and clean and uniform to my eye. The basket and portafilter are permanently attached. It sort of looks like you could remove the basket in the pictures but you can't. I thought I might want to find a replacement basket if it went together like a traditional portafilter, but the basket quality seems good.

The workflow is a little easier on the Rok. Granted, I'm new to the Flair and I'll get better with time. But the portafilter handle on the Rok makes preheating the basket easier. It also makes it easier to knock out the puck. If you use the kettle preheat method for the Flair, the rubber can get hot enough to be uncomfortable, so be careful. The Flair's brew chamber holds the heat way better than the Rok, so a single good kettle preheat should keep you going through shots. The Rok doesn't hold the heat nearly as well and you need to run blank shots to preheat.

I use a Timemore BM scale and it really doesn't work well with the Flair. I tried setting it on the base, but it didn't read correctly because of the tilt. This also left very little room for a shot glass. If you have a large scale, you'll need to find a workaround to use it with the FP2. People seem to have luck with the Acaia Lunar, and a Pyxis would definitely fit ($$$$$). The Rok worked well with my TBM, but its base would interfere with a Lunar.

This is a smaller issue, but the rubber nub on the end of the FP2 handle pops off easily. It also goes back on easily and they send an extra one in case you lose it.

Overall, I'm really pleased. If someone asked which of the two brewers to get, I'd recommend the Flair Pro 2. It's more capable and doesn't require modifications for a pressure gauge.

Customer Experience: Great customer and sales service from 8oz coffee, as always. 5/5
With respect to learning how to use the product, there are dozens of informative Youtube videos, both made by Flair and other users. 5/5

Backstory: I started drinking espresso when in university nearly 50-years ago, and started making it at home 20+ years ago when I bought my first prosumer machine. Coffee and water are the only two things I consume everyday, so I want both to be of the highest quality,,, but especially coffee. If espresso experts are 10 out of 10, and the best baristas in Calgary are 8.5 out of 10, then I rate my knowledge of espresso at 6.5-7 out of 10.

User Experience: I bought the Flair for its portability, mainly to take camping. There is a steep learning curve to using this "machine", and the Flair demonstrator recommends using inexpensive coffee while you learn to dial in your espresso with this device. Good advice as it took almost a pound of Nabob before I started getting all the parameters working together. The three critical variables are the group head temperature, the grind quality, and maintaining consistent pressure.

First, Espresso made in accordance with the instructions turned out sour. I recommend immersing the group head in boiling water and using tongs and an ovglove to handle it after a few minutes. The method of pouring boiling water into the group head and using the plastic bottom seal does not work. Second, do not fine grind this as you would for an espresso - it needs to be somewhat coarser, nearly the same grind level as used for an aeropress or pour over coffee, i.e., medium fine. Finally, pressure ... what's really cool about the Flair is the ability to do some pressure profiling. I start pulling it at 3.5 bars for about 5 seconds, and then take it to 7 bars. The trick here is to maintain the pressure, you don't want to ease off and have the pressure drop, or apply to much - pressure stability is the key here.

Once all these variables are properly dialed in the Flair makes a very good to excellent espresso - not as good as a prosumer machine, but damn close - and at 1/10th the price! Hence, I rate the Flair Pro2 as 5/5.

With the 10% off the second order discount from EightOunceCoffee, you can get this machine for only 370 CAD. Nothing can beat this at this price!
This is my first espresso machine and it is great. All the controls I get makes it really fun for me to brew and try things out.
It was a lot smaller than I expected and the clean up takes some time but it is a relaxed, healing activity for me.
This is the cheapest place you can get this machine, and I highly suggest getting other things with this machine such as the nanofoamer.
EightOunce staff is fantastic and very supportive. I will always purchase coffee related products here.