Flair Espresso Machines?

[Sweet Home Alabama]

Light roasts give off the aroma of Cheetah piss

Not plum, fruity, nutty, BBQ?

 

[anotherbob]

I thought that was Ellen!?

well thanks now I know what kind of ladies he's into and why he has so much time to focus on coffee.

 

[FurCoat]

I probably bought mine around the same time... Was it from Wal-Mart? Mine was. I have heard that sometimes otherwise reliable brands will have lower quality models that they sell to Wal-Mart because the chain puts such intense price pressure on suppliers that it is difficult for them to supply the same quality at the price Wal-Mart demands. I am sure I got unlucky. I have had other Mr. Coffee products that have been good.

Could be, sometimes it's just luck of the draw. I think mine came from Target

 

[bullet08]

I have couple of portable espresso machines. All manual. They work ok. Tried home machine once, and I couldn't figure out how to use it. There are very expensive machines that say will be easier to use, but just too expensive for making a cup of espresso.

 

[BROBS]

I think that is why I am having trouble enjoying light roasts... The acidity. I can enjoy a light roast as a rare change of pace, and I do notice more flavors coming through, but overall they often taste tart and sour to me.

That's a beautiful looking cup there!

Me too. I am not a fan of light roasts as you may be able to tell lol

 

[hairvise]

Me too. I am not a fan of light roasts as you may be able to tell lol

With dark roasts, you can balance the bitterness with milk or sugar. Light roasts should produce a sweet coffee. If it’s too acidic with no sweetness, then it’s poorly roasted.

 

[lightxmyfire]

If you want like what you get at the barista's, you need to get a machine like the Barista uses.

Semi-auto or auto machines will leave you wanting more and you will have spent north of half what a GOOD espresso machine will cost you. I have a Rocket R-58 on my counter but if I had known about Quickmill at the time, I probably would have bought one of theirs. Much better priced and as good in quality IMHO.... If you buy a real machine, you will be passing it down to your kids in a few decades.

No need for a double boiler if you don't do foo-foo drinks on a regular basis. A single boiler will do foo-foos perfectly and they are 1/2 to 2/3 the price. Buy a real Espresso machine and take care of it, and you will never have to buy another coffeemaker again.

I agree with Sandollars here unfortunately. My experience running a cafe and knowing many people in the coffee industry. One of my best friends is an espresso tech and roaster, I’ve messed with all kinds of equipment, it really takes a machine designed by a company that knows what they’re doing to make espresso right, with out a lot of fuss. I’ve seen other styles of hand operated machines and they are indeed a lot of work.

The grind and the tamping is also very important, if not even more important than the machine and all of those things are gonna cost you a lot. Which is a bummer, I would love it if the big well known guys made more affordable machines, grinders included.

My advice would be to decide how close you wanna get to a cafe level of result and set your expectations there for any device you end up trying out.

If you really wanna get that level of espresso there’s a few auction sites you can check out to find used machines that are a little more affordable; again grinders included, Check out Buy New or Used Commercial Coffee Machines, Espresso Grinders, and Equipments Online - https://coffeemachinedepotusa.com/

We use a Slayer Steam LP machine in our cafe and their home model is amazing if you really wanna nerd out. If that’s not your bag and you just want to pull awesome shots the La Morzocco Linea Mini is a great straight forward machine.

 

[Kottan]

The guy in the video is James Hoffman and he has great reviews on YouTube. A coffee guy with amazing production quality with integrity. Game changer : Moka Pot How-To

I got to know these moka pots as a student in the early 70s and still use it today. My wife always wished a automatic coffee machine which can make espresso, cappucino, latte etc. Two years ago she bought a rather expensive "Jura E 80" and is happy with it. I still prefere a normal filter coffee.

 

[Sweet Home Alabama]

What I like about a press is the oily nature of the coffee is retained .

 

[BROBS]

With dark roasts, you can balance the bitterness with milk or sugar. Light roasts should produce a sweet coffee. If it’s too acidic with no sweetness, then it’s poorly roasted.

I balance it with NOTHZING

 

[Grovius]

One more of the "you definitely need a good grinder" party here. I have an Iberital MC2 and it works great, unless you want to change the coffee you use every day (it takes a couple of espressos to get it dialled in for each new coffee bag).
I would also suggest getting an aeropress. It does absolutely not make espresso, but it is flexible, easy to use and allows you to make great coffee. And it is not that fussy as far as the grinder is concerned (I use it in my office with a Baratza Encore). Other than that, you only need a kettle, a decent set of scales (0.1 g) and you are all set.

 

[hairvise]

I agree with Sandollars here unfortunately. My experience running a cafe and knowing many people in the coffee industry. One of my best friends is an espresso tech and roaster, I’ve messed with all kinds of equipment, it really takes a machine designed by a company that knows what they’re doing to make espresso right, with out a lot of fuss. I’ve seen other styles of hand operated machines and they are indeed a lot of work.

The grind and the tamping is also very important, if not even more important than the machine and all of those things are gonna cost you a lot. Which is a bummer, I would love it if the big well known guys made more affordable machines, grinders included.

My advice would be to decide how close you wanna get to a cafe level of result and set your expectations there for any device you end up trying out.

If you really wanna get that level of espresso there’s a few auction sites you can check out to find used machines that are a little more affordable; again grinders included, Check out Buy New or Used Commercial Coffee Machines, Espresso Grinders, and Equipments Online - https://coffeemachinedepotusa.com/

We use a Slayer Steam LP machine in our cafe and their home model is amazing if you really wanna nerd out. If that’s not your bag and you just want to pull awesome shots the La Morzocco Linea Mini is a great straight forward machine.

I balance it with NOTHZING

That it the correct answer, of course!

 

[lightxmyfire]

I balance it with NOTHZING

 

[danimalia]

N

View attachment 79154

I want ze high end espresso machine, but for only one hundred American dollars. Iz not fair!


Not fair?! Who's the fucking nihilists around here?!

 

[danimalia]

One more of the "you definitely need a good grinder" party here. I have an Iberital MC2 and it works great, unless you want to change the coffee you use every day (it takes a couple of espressos to get it dialled in for each new coffee bag).
I would also suggest getting an aeropress. It does absolutely not make espresso, but it is flexible, easy to use and allows you to make great coffee. And it is not that fussy as far as the grinder is concerned (I use it in my office with a Baratza Encore). Other than that, you only need a kettle, a decent set of scales (0.1 g) and you are all set.

I think I might get an Aeropress in addition to the Flair. Simply as another not so expensive method in the toolkit. I ended up just buying a Hario Skerton Pro manual grinder. I figured the Skerton will be good enough for moka, pour over, aeropress and a Flair Neo, at least with the pressurized/flow control portafilter. That little sonofabitch takes a long time to grind coffee, though. Like 3 minutes of solid grinding on a fine setting for enough to fill the basket on my 3 cup moka pot! The coffee seemed to come out nice, fine and consistent, though.

Any recommendations for a good, cheap coffee scale? The only one I have is small, designed for, um, other things, so the scale portion of it is only like 2" x 2" and I think it only measures up to 500g, so probably not enough for coffee equipment.

 

[tobefrank]

I just bought a stainless steel Porlex Tall 2 manual coffee grinder to go along with my moka pot for camping trips. I haven't used it yet, but it is meant to take a bit of work as well to grind enough for a 2 cup moka pot.

 

[jpmcwjr]

I think I might get an Aeropress in addition to the Flair. Simply as another not so expensive method in the toolkit. I ended up just buying a Hario Skerton Pro manual grinder. I figured the Skerton will be good enough for moka, pour over, aeropress and a Flair Neo, at least with the pressurized/flow control portafilter. That little sonofabitch takes a long time to grind coffee, though. Like 3 minutes of solid grinding on a fine setting for enough to fill the basket on my 3 cup moka pot! The coffee seemed to come out nice, fine and consistent, though.

Any recommendations for a good, cheap coffee scale? The only one I have is small, designed for, um, other things, so the scale portion of it is only like 2" x 2" and I think it only measures up to 500g, so probably not enough for coffee equipment.

I never seem to need more than 500 grams. But I weigh only the beans in the puck, and the weight of the shot in the cup after it's pulled. YMMV.

I use an "Escali" model, no idea of the cost.

 

[tobefrank]

I never seem to need more than 500 grams. But I weigh only the beans in the puck, and the weight of the shot in the cup after it's pulled. YMMV.

I use an "Escali" model, no idea of the cost.

500mg?

 

[Grovius]

I think I might get an Aeropress in addition to the Flair. Simply as another not so expensive method in the toolkit. I ended up just buying a Hario Skerton Pro manual grinder. I figured the Skerton will be good enough for moka, pour over, aeropress and a Flair Neo, at least with the pressurized/flow control portafilter. That little sonofabitch takes a long time to grind coffee, though. Like 3 minutes of solid grinding on a fine setting for enough to fill the basket on my 3 cup moka pot! The coffee seemed to come out nice, fine and consistent, though.

Any recommendations for a good, cheap coffee scale? The only one I have is small, designed for, um, other things, so the scale portion of it is only like 2" x 2" and I think it only measures up to 500g, so probably not enough for coffee equipment.

If you google for "best budget coffee scales" you find several suggestions. I don't think you need more than 500g. If your scale is accurate to 0.1 gram and you can stand your aeropress in it, I would use it instead of getting a new one (BTW, never press on the aeropress while on the scale, and be careful with splashes). Some people want a timer in the scale itself, but I'm fine with outsourcing that task to my phone.
I have read good things about the Hario Skerton, only it takes more time and effort.
In case you find it useful, here's my routine for dialing-in a new coffee:
-Decide the recipe (dose, ratio, temperature, time, stirring).
-Brew a coffee.
-If it is sour, grind a click/notch/turn finer. If it is bitter, grind a click/notch/turn coarser. This is the only parameter that I change (I keep all the others consistent).

 

[chilllucky]

This, like scotch or cognac, is one of those times when I'm thankful for my relative insensitivity. Certainly I have "preferances" which I indulge, but nothing that drives me to try and justify owning a 5k object that produces one bitter ounce of coffee I would rather have a mug of.