[Music]
today we're going to be looking at a
little espresso maker that I have been
sent by the manufacturer so upfront to
start with I did not pay for this this
was a gift for me to have a look at and
review and it is the Flair espresso
maker I haven't opened this yet this is
as it has arrived and I'm kind of
curious to see what's in the box so it's
pretty so we get a little brewing guides
too which is very nice has the the feel
of an airline safety card if I'm totally
honest I don't I don't know why it makes
me think of that but that's not a
criticism or come back to this in a
second let's open the case up well well
well
alright we've got a little shower screen
we have what I presume is like the brew
chamber got a little funnel thing love a
little funnel thing we have the lever
itself which is kind of interesting and
we have a base piece a little plastic
piece here a little thing to kind of put
this together which is what I shall do
now I should add dessert there's another
little package here
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with some extras nice little note from
the person behind the flare more pieces
Wow now okay this is getting interesting
huh that is that is fantastic that is a
little tiny tamper made out of colored
pencils and that that is that is one of
the greatest things I've ever seen I
like that a lot
all right I think I think I'm getting
this now I think I know what I'm doing
so this is our maiden voyage I have done
everything it's told me to do everything
is prepped and in place ground some
coffee Tom check with the amazing Tinie
Tempah I've preheated my brewing chamber
here I've just bought some water I'm
gonna be using the fancy plunger that
appears to have a pressure gauge on it
so what I'm supposed to do is is fill to
the line in here I'm gonna put my little
plunger thing
and now we should be ready to brew we
have coffee
we have coffee
coffee with a little criminal Intel now
how does it taste pretty pretty good
pretty interesting so pretty good
mouthfeel on that shot some really nice
texture indicating a reasonably good
extraction I think I was probably at the
upper end of fine on the grind settings
was a workout and you can see this
little gauge was was running pretty high
and actually you don't look at the sort
of physics of these kind of things
they're very very capable of achieving
nine bars plus actually of pressure just
through you know the physics of a lever
which is always an interesting thing I'm
intrigued by this particular shot I mean
it's not a staggeringly good espresso
but it's the first shot I've pulled on
this this is just interesting
interesting so this is no my second shot
coming together and I mean you know I
think I'm starting to get my head around
it
a little bit more so should I see how
much water you get if you filter the
line
so we're up 15 grams of coffee that's 60
60 grams of water in that's not
necessarily what we're gonna get out
I've pulled a few more shots I've had
some pretty tasty
espresso out of this thing and while I
don't think I've used it enough to say
that this is a full review or a deep
dive
I certainly have enough thoughts for a
first impression and in some cases I'm
not sure that using it more would
necessarily change my opinion about
these things it is clearly a well made
thing against if it's well designed it's
beautifully made there is care and love
and attention in this little Brewer
and they start at around a hundred and
sixty dollars and so to have something
at a hundred and sixty dollars make
pretty good espresso is certainly
interesting I've been using my Barrett's
encore on a brief fine setting so by no
means a high-end grinder and actually
still some reasonably good results and I
think if you paired this with a very
good grinder which is always the best
way to go then I think you get some
really pretty fantastic results out of
it but there is a caveat at all of this
make it you don't just get a hundred and
sixty dollar espresso machine that works
really well without there being some
sort of compromise somewhere and in
truth the compromise is it's all a
little bit fiddly it's all a little bit
convoluted there's certainly a little
bit more work for you to do in this kind
of process to get good results if you
take the process of prepping a shot
you're gonna grind that's unusual you
get a dose and the funnel is actually
really nice you're gonna tamp and I love
this thing I love this little tiny
tamper the bit it becomes sort of fuzzy
as you put your screen on top then you
go and get your chamber that you have to
preheat 100% you must get that thing as
hot as you can for the best results and
that's that's a little bit for you right
it does have a little handle for holding
but it is a hot thing that you're
pulling out of hot water and you know I
can't help I want to dry it off a little
bit put it in place pour your hot water
into your kettle you want to get that
boiling at roundabout the right time get
your piston in place and then pull the
shot I'm grateful that they that they
sent me a little bit more of a fancy
version of this this isn't the baseline
version there's some niceties here and
this pressure gauge that looks like an
early version of a much nicer looking
gauged
they're releasing in that kind of pro
model that they're announcing later this
month with the gauge I found this pretty
easy to use I think without the gauge I
would have found it much harder maybe I
became instantly reliant on seeing some
sort of feedback but I certainly found
it very helpful it's good it makes great
coffee but there is a little bit of a
sacrifice you know for example emptying
out the basket after use there's just a
little bit fussy it's a little bit messy
and you know I fully admit to being
spoiled by having you know one of the
best setups at work that money can buy
and a very easy workflow there so
anything that's not that obviously is
sort of harmed by comparison right it's
at a disadvantage it just makes me a
little bit more conscious of it overall
I'm genuinely impressed I think I would
probably not go for the super cheap end
of things if I was looking at one of
these I wouldn't want some extras like
the pressure gauge I think that's a nice
thing
I think this clearly someone who loves
making coffee behind this thing the fact
that there's a version you can convert
to a naked portafilter which is very
easily I think that's fun I think that's
great I don't really know how everything
will aged in terms of all the the
gaskets and seals inside this thing they
do sell replacements but I can't speak
to the longevity of something like this
you know if you've got a machine I'm not
sure I'm not sure I know the right time
for this it's obviously a very capable
travel espresso maker and and if I
needed to make us press o on a hillside
somewhere well if I've got access to
water and a heat source then this this
would do I like it
I just I just can't quite fit when for
me I would use it a lot I'm gonna keep
it in a travel case to hand I might
letter to some friends who I was gonna
play around with this stuff because it
is pretty easy to use the instructions
the guide is pretty good it's pretty
clear and it makes espresso seem pretty
easy right you're gonna tweak your
ground setting like everything else but
actually keeping your your dose in
constant in terms of both ground coffee
and and hot water in the chamber all of
that stuff I think is a good thing to
make espresso relative
easy to do and actually get some pretty
impressive results like I said I was
send this for free I sent a very nice
version of this with some lovely extras
for free so do take that into
consideration whenever you're you're
seeing a review like this if you have
one of these what are your thoughts how
are you using it when are you using it I
would really be interested to hear from
you in the comments below thank you so
much for watching and I hope you have a
great day