Flair Espresso Maker Signature Pro 2 - Black

The Flair Signature PRO 2 is the Latest & Greatest Manual Espresso Brewer from Flair. This Newest Version Features the Same Much-loved Performance & Intuitive Design as the Original Flair, but with Some Exciting New Features!

The four key upgrades included on the PRO 2 are:

- An improved bottomless portafilter for better flow dynamic
- A removeable stainless steel portafilter spout
- A silicone handle grip for brewing ergonomics
- A silicone protective wrap to improve gauge durability

Together with these new upgrades, the PRO 2 also includes the latest features of the original Signature PRO, including the integrated pressure gauge, expanded capacity, and the stainless steel two-piece drip tray. The PRO 2 also features an aestheically pleasing copper-plated portafilter base.

FEATURES & SPECIFICS:

- Weight: 3.18kg
- Case Dimensions: 31.75cm (L) x 22.86cm (W) x 8.25cm (H)
- Elegant, portable, and durable
- Easy to clean, quick to assemble/disassemble
- Easy to store and transport
- Provides up to 8-12 bars of pressure, creating a full-bodied espresso
- Portafilter capacity: 16-22 grams
- Extraction volume: approx. 45 mL
- Detachable stainless steel portafilter for easy pre-heating and cleaning
- Carry case included

WHAT COMES IN THE BOX?

- Base
- Post & Lever with Copper Portafilter Base
- Stainless Steel Portafilter with Screen
- Stainless Steel Brew Cylinder with Plunger
- Stainless Steel Removable Spout
- Preheat and Tamping Cap
- Stem with Pressure Gauge
- Dosing Cup
- Funnel
- Two-Piece Stainless Steel Drip Tray and Branded Polishing Pouch
- Stainless Steel Tamper
- Carrying Case
- Screw for Affixing Post to Base Permanently
- Brewing Guide

USING THE FLAIR COFFEE MAKER:

The Flair Espresso Maker lever-press espresso coffee maker is capable of brewing up to 6-9 BAR pressure, which is on par with that of a cafe-quality espresso machine. This pressure, paired with the right age of fresh, good quality coffee beans, enables you to produce full-flavored, full-bodied, and creamy crema-topped espresso at home or on the go. 

Let’s break down its design. 

The sleek, modern design was constructed for durability and reliability, made with premium aluminum and stainless steel. An oval-shaped base that simply connects to the arm and the lever like so. The brewing head consists of a piston, a brewing chamber, portafilter and shower screen. When flairs were first released, the shower screen looked a little something like this, however, Flair has stepped it up a notch and now included is the complete Stainless Steel shower screen.

Next up you will also receive a stainless steel tamper for optimal grind compression and your measuring cup and funnel, all coming in its very own cute portable carry case. Being a manual brewer, it doesn’t require any electricity. Making it the perfect portable espresso coffee maker for all our travelers out there, both business and pleasure. 

You will find on our website, a link for which you will see in the description below, that Flair also produces the Signature & the Pro. Both with their own unique features & extras, such as sleek and sexy colors but also a highly anticipated pressure gauge, giving those of you with the interest of tweaking your espresso extractions, even more awareness of your elements

Let’s pull a shot!

The first thing we want to do is preheat our brewing chamber. This ensures that when we add our brewing water in a moment’s time, it isn’t cooled down by the chamber, which will affect the flavor of your espresso. Insert only the stainless steel plunger into the top of the brewing chamber with the larger diameter hole facing upwards. Ensuring that it is tightly sealed before flipping upside down and pour in your water. While our brew chamber is warming we can get our other elements ready. 

Speaking of our brewing water, we ideally want to be using a water temperature of between 92-94 degrees Celsius, if you try and use freshly boiled water you will be at risk of burning your coffee which naturally progresses to the flavor of your shot. A fantastic accessory to invest in if you are an avid alternate brewer is a temperature-controlled kettle. As the name would imply they have the ability to be set to a specific temperature and then hold it there until you are ready to use it. 

Moving on to our coffee and we are going to be using one of Crema’s own house blends, Kingdom Road. With its gentle acidity and full, creamy body, it will work perfectly for this method. As with most brewing methods, it is recommended that you use a freshly roasted coffee bean. If we are being super pedantic, we want beans that are 10 days past roasting. This should result in that delicious, golden crema. 

Moving on to the grinding of your coffee and as always fresh is best. At Crema, we can never recommend enough the value of a personal grinder. If you use pre-ground coffee, you will notice the older it becomes, the presence of that golden crema and rich flavor will become less and less. At the end of the day, coffee is a food product and it has the best before the date just like anything other food product!

 The coarseness level of your coffee will make a monumental difference to your extraction. Too coarse and your espresso will be watery and under-extracted. Too fine and your shot will be extremely difficult to extract and if you manage to get anything it will be over-extracted and run the risk of bitterness. For this reason, you will have to do a little experimentation with your beans and grinder but once you have hit that sweet spot you will be cooking with gas!

Through our own experimentation, we have found between 15-17g of a fine Espresso Grind (1.6 on the Mahlkoenig EK43 Coffee Grinder) is our sweet spot, so feel free to use this as your starting point. 

Placing the funnel on top of our portafilter and then pouring our ground coffee in. Keeping the funnel in place, tap on the bench to collapse the coffee. This eliminates any large air pockets that may be underneath that can cause an uneven extraction but it also gives you are a more level surface to tamp. Using our baby tamp we are going to compress the grinds down, nothing too excessive, we don’t want to create a workout later. Remember we want a level, clean looking tamping. 

After removing the funnel we are going to place our shower screen on top and put that entire set up in place. Next, we will dispose of that pre-warming water. A neat little trick is to use our measuring cup to aid in the removal of the piston if need be. Then place the brewing chamber on top of the portafilter. Thanks to the outer silicone grip we are safe from the heat. 

Using our brewing water we are going to fill to the laser etch line, which when weighed is roughly 60ml or grams. Next, we are going to place our pressure gauge on top, if you are working without the gauge simply place the piston inside the top of the chamber until fully sealed. 

Pulling down on the lever, we are aiming for a 35-40 second extraction and you are shooting for a reading of between 6-9 bar. This should require between 13-18 kg pressure. If you are struggling to push down, I would recommend stopping and starting again with a slightly coarser grind. Similarly, if you don’t experience hardly any resistance and your coffee gushes out, you may need to fine up your grind.         

There it is, your golden, delicious espresso. 

Clean up is simple, best to wait until your brew chamber has fully cooled down though so as not to burn yourself. So this should leave you ample time to enjoy your creation! Now, if you are more than a single espresso household, fear not, Flair have thought of that. They have purposely designed & marketed the flair so that nearly every single element can be ordered separately, allowing you to add on an extra full brew chamber or just the portafilter and shower screen depending on your budget. Meaning that you can prep both shots together and then extract them one after the other. 

Once cooled, pull apart and the coffee grinds are best disposed of in the garbage or garden instead of down your sink. Due to all the touching parts being stainless steel, all that’s needed to clean your flair is cool water. In fact, soap is not recommended as it can impact the taste of your coffee. And there’s never any need to backflush, descale or use expensive detergents in any cleaning cycles. 

The Flair Espresso Maker is elegantly designed, durably constructed, and most importantly is empowering beginners and coffee veterans alike to enjoy delicious-tasting espresso, in their own homes or on the go without breaking the budget!