Flair Espresso - PRO 2

I use a Flair Pro 2 with a Kingrinder P2, which cost me about $300 total. Makes really delicious espresso.

I've had a Flair 2 Pro and it really taught me the importance of the grinder. I went from a cheap hand grinder to the Rok grinder to a 1zpresso J-Max and the J-max smoked all of them. But the workflow for my double shot drinks was a bit frustrating so ended up getting a Breville Double Boiler and a DF54 for the convenience and the milk side of things. So what I would say is get a good grinder (and bottomless portafilter, if you haven't already) for your current machine see if you need to change the machine.

I'd recommend keeping the delonghi to steam milk and getting a flair pro2 or 3. You're gonna want that pressure guage and the build is much better than the neo flex. You can find a used pro2 for around $200 usd or less.

I use a Flair PRO2 and boil water on the stove, but I only drink straight shots. The idea of needing the Flair, a grinder, a kettle and a steamer seems like too much to just make a drink. I also have a Gaggia, and if I wanted milk drinks, I would certainly use that instead.

It's a little hard for me to compare the Flair to the Gaggia, as I use them in different scenarios. For example, for a fresh roast, light roast with unique flavor notes, the Gaggia wins hands down. For a medium or dark roast, the result is different but I wouldn't say one is better than the other. I have made milk drinks with both, but never back to back for a taste test. I don't do latte art, but I did get better texture using the steam vs a milk foamer. For me, the results of making a milk drink from either one is close enough that I wouldn't consider it significant but if I made them regularly I would retire the Flair.

The question is not how high or low your budget is. The question is how bad can your espresso taste until you find it undrinkable? Your barista coffee from a coffee House down the street or the city is so good, that it's like having been driving around in a Rolls Royce for years and then deciding that you want to get a car yourself. And you get a VW Up or Polo and complain about how bad cars are. 😁 You cannot get a good espresso machine under $1000 and a good grinder will cost $500. There is very little room to play there, these are rock bottom prices. Sure you can get a good deal here or there, but that is down to luck. 😛 A Sage or Breville Pro machine will make you an espresso and you may learn how to make class 1 microfoon (this is a real thing in the SCA barista courses BTW) but it won't be as good as you're used to. I'm sorry. So ask yourself how bad your experience may get before you decide to ditch the machine again and drive down to your favorite local coffee joint?! PS: yes I'm aware that you can use an espresso machine for 600-700 euro but these are fully manual and often don't have a PID in them. So the learning curve to get a decent cup will be present. Are you patient enough? I'm just afraid you can get disappointed and go down into the rabbit hole that home espresso machines are. Bottom line: - flair pro 2 - 1zpresso k-ultra - subminimal nanofoamer But this is all manually operated. Cost: 500-550 YMMV

They also sell a battery for those as well. I wouldn’t look at anything below the 58 types (like the pro 3) as the 58 series uses a standard portafilter that will be crucial for pulling multiple shots. I love my pro 2, but I would be miserable trying to do more than like two pulls a day.

I use a Flair Pro, which has a portafilter that does not have a handle. The process is much fiddlier and fussier than the 58, which uses a standard portafilter. With a 58, you can buy 2 portafilters, prep them both, then pull two shots in a row. A machine with some kind of pump (or even a lever that just fills a chamber from line pressure) makes the process a lot smoother. The one area where a Flair is weak IMO is temperature stability, as well as max temp. Flair 58+ doesn't get hot enough for people who are into light roasted espresso, and simply because it doesn't have the thermal mass it can't be as temp stable as an E61 group. All of this being said, I'd upgrade my grinder before I'd upgrade my Flair Pro 2. There are a lot of different ways to use a direct manual lever, and once you develop the skills, you can do things that you'd have to buy a 2,000-3,000 USD machine to get: Extremely low pressure preinfusion Noticing a sudden increase in flow rate that indicates channeling, so you back off of pressure to let the puck self heal, and you get something drinkable instead of a shot of spro that's both bitter \*and\* sour. Declining pressure profile: you can do a flat 9 bar extraction if you really want to, some coffees taste better that way. The declining pressure profile of a lever IMO is the most forgiving and broadly applicable profile, it has a way of smoothing and rounding harshness that a flat 9 or flat 6 doesn't give you. Reducing pressure as the puck degrades gives the water more time to extract as it percolates through the puck, so even though the pressure is declining, the pressure is still high enough that the lower flow rate at the end of the shot makes a noticeable difference in taste. They make pump machines that can do most of what a lever can do, but they're $3,000+. What you're paying for is repeatability and convenience. What you could do is get a Flair, see how it fits into your life, and if it doesn't, buy a pump machine. Some people keep their manual lever around for the coffees that they just can't quite get right in a pump machine.

I use a Flair Pro, which has a portafilter that does not have a handle. The process is much fiddlier and fussier than the 58, which uses a standard portafilter. With a 58, you can buy 2 portafilters, prep them both, then pull two shots in a row. A machine with some kind of pump (or even a lever that just fills a chamber from line pressure) makes the process a lot smoother. The one area where a Flair is weak IMO is temperature stability, as well as max temp. Flair 58+ doesn't get hot enough for people who are into light roasted espresso, and simply because it doesn't have the thermal mass it can't be as temp stable as an E61 group. All of this being said, I'd upgrade my grinder before I'd upgrade my Flair Pro 2. There are a lot of different ways to use a direct manual lever, and once you develop the skills, you can do things that you'd have to buy a 2,000-3,000 USD machine to get: Extremely low pressure preinfusion Noticing a sudden increase in flow rate that indicates channeling, so you back off of pressure to let the puck self heal, and you get something drinkable instead of a shot of spro that's both bitter \*and\* sour. Declining pressure profile: you can do a flat 9 bar extraction if you really want to, some coffees taste better that way. The declining pressure profile of a lever IMO is the most forgiving and broadly applicable profile, it has a way of smoothing and rounding harshness that a flat 9 or flat 6 doesn't give you. Reducing pressure as the puck degrades gives the water more time to extract as it percolates through the puck, so even though the pressure is declining, the pressure is still high enough that the lower flow rate at the end of the shot makes a noticeable difference in taste. They make pump machines that can do most of what a lever can do, but they're $3,000+. What you're paying for is repeatability and convenience. What you could do is get a Flair, see how it fits into your life, and if it doesn't, buy a pump machine. Some people keep their manual lever around for the coffees that they just can't quite get right in a pump machine.

The Robot is my third lever machine after Flair Pro 2 and Flair 58 and it's the best. I gave the Pro 2 away and the 58 is archived. I've been using the Robot for year and a half every day multiple times. It is great and close to zero maintenance

I have the flair pro 2 and I am a very satisfied. I got a cheap milk frother for guests.

Hi all, I am looking for an endgame espresso machine for weekday use. Priority is ease, consistency, reliability, and a nice look on the counter. My daily preference is traditional Neapolitan style espresso. Dark roast, syrupy, often robusta heavy. Body over clarity. Lighter roasts and modern styles are for weekends only (pls do not burn me lol, this is what I like) I plan to split workflows: • Weekdays: press button, pull shot, done • Weekends: experimentation with lighter roasts, SOUP shots, profiling For weekends I am building a Gaggiuino. I enjoy tinkering, but not on weekday mornings. Current setup: • Flair Pro 2 • Eureka Mignon Specialita Zero I like the Flair but it is not a weekday machine for me, and I dislike lever machines for daily use. Machines I am considering: • La Marzocco Linea Micra or Linea Mini • Sanremo YOU (might be overkill but tasted a few shots on it and the body was amazing with the right custom profile + repeatable) Steam does not matter. Espresso only. I would like something that can comfortably pull 2 to 4 shots back to back without drama. I am also looking for a non single dose grinder for weekdays. Hopper based, premium quality, and ideally conical burrs for body and syrup over clarity. Questions: • Linea Micra vs Sanremo YOU for daily dark roast shots? • Any other machines I should seriously consider? • Grinder recommendations that fit this use case? • Regrets from daily drivers of either?