Which cup taste better in your opinion - the one came out of The Flair Pro or the one came out from the Cafelat Robot? Would you do a comparison video please?
This video actually helped a lot more then Flair’s video. It was really well explained and as for someone who has NEVER made espresso myself to buying a Flair Pro 2, I have been struggling to find a quality video with such angles and troubleshooting steps such as this video has. So far my espresso shots have been sour and bitter than ever, but after this video I am confident that I can get a better shot.
I am using the Flair Pro and Pro2 for about 2 years, with a Bplus Apollo grinder. I can confirm the advices in the video. My experience is the following. - Preheating is essential. I preheat once (~1 minute) for dark roasts, and 2-3 times (~ 30 sec each) for light roasts. I use boiling water as input, that makes it simple as you don't need any fancy heater. I measured 89-90 degrees brew temperature with one preheat and ~92 degrees C with 2-3 preheats. - Recipe. Coffee amount vs water amount (recipe) is according to your preference. The least amount of coffee the Pro basket needs is ~14 g, but at least 16 g is recommended. The Pro2 can make coffee from ~12 g, but at least 14 g is recommended. YMMV. - Grinding setting matters a LOT indeed. One click on the Bplus Apollo makes a big difference (and it has a lot of clicks). For a given coffee the playroom (that still allows a good shot) is 1-3 clicks only. - Puck preparation/tampering is not exactly trivial, if you want consistency and don't want side spills/channeling. This is the most difficult part for me to get consistent. - Brewing pressure. I have experimented a lot with various pressure profiles (IMHO this being the biggest advantage of the manual machines). My guiding principle is to use the lowest pressure that provides good/best flow. Usually that is around 6-7 bars, and coffee tastes a little more to my liking than when using 9-10 bars. Also, the flow looks best with a tad lower pressure. Whereas like with rotary pumps, you can make 9 bars immediately, but as the video said, it's not really recommended: at least try their method of using lower pressure, too. - Pre-infusion. I mostly don't use pre-infusion, but when I do, it's only for 4-5 seconds. - Pressing time is around 25-30 seconds. I strive to not exceed 40 seconds, with which I don't have good experience, shots getting out of their best range. - Results. My preferred coffee is thick, chocolate-cream like, with lots of aroma and with no hint of sourness. Good crema. The "oh-ah" shots are getting more frequent (maybe 1 in 3). - Time: total time needed for one shot is around 5-6 minutes, including water heating, grinding, etc. I think it's time well spent :). Little rituals help with a lot of things. - Post-shot: usually I leave the whole thing to cool down before I touch it, but I can disassemble without problems right away. I lift out the whole group and cool it down under the tap. - For multiple shots, I use 2 baskets (Pro and Pro2). Preheating time can be saved. - Frothing: get a separate milk frothing device if you're into it (I am not). - Value: the Flair Pro and Pro2 are insane value. For the price of a mid-fi espresso maker (that can't come close to the results), one can get a very good hand grinder (like Comandante, Kinu or Bplus) and the Flair Pro. Well, it takes more time, but makes better coffee, too, and one can take them anywhere. Just hot water needed.
Thanks for sharing Zoltan! That's much appreciated! :) Only thing that I find different is really to achieve a good temperature of brew head (92C) you need to pour the boiling water in 4 times or use steaming ( which I did not want to recommend for safety reasons and also you never know how much the brew head heats up because people use different methods). I know that just putting the brew head on Flair drip tray above the steam won't do the trick... Anyway if you would like, try preheating 4x times and let us know if you spot the difference!
I will try again how the sequence goes after 1-2-3-4 preheating cycles. But yes, if one aims for like 93 degrees Celsius, that would need about 4 rounds indeed... Usually I take 2 preheating rounds, or even one, but I use dark roasts. The highest I actually tried was 92-92.3 degrees with 3 rounds, but I have measured that before pressing. Oh and I use the older Pro brew head (with Pro and Pro2 baskets). So I don't know how much the temperature drops by the end of the shot. I think anything more than 2 preheating rounds starts to be too annoying. If there was a manual lever machine with water heating w/ PID, without any steaming functionality to pull temperature up too much, that would be a better fit. I don't know if such a thing exists. I almost convinced myself of a Lelit Bianca since I want to play with pressure, but taking the price difference into account, and my preference for dark roasts, so far I am fine with the Flair :).
So, here are my measurements (not scientific, just for guidance), with 40s duration for each preheat cycle, water temperature in Celsius in the brew head, at the beginning and at the end of the cycle: 1) 89->70, 2) 90->83, 3) 91->85, 4) 92->87.3 5) 92.4->89. Indeed there is a kind of saturation or equilibrium after 4 preheat cycles (at about 23 Celsius room temperature), so I can confirm Tomo's remark.
Now about how extraction goes after each preheat cycle. With my grinding settings, dark roasts are good after 1 or 2 cycles, but after 3 or 4 they get over-extracted, even if I use a click coarser grinding. With light roasts one indeed needs at least 2 preheat cycles, likely 3-4, as Tomo said. Keep in mind that my advice is tainted by my peculiar taste, and not backed by consistent methodology (I would need to repeat the measurements much more times). Still, the point is that indeed, about 4 preheat cycles are needed to obtain an equilibrium or saturation in group head temperature.
Thank you! Comments like this motivate us to continue and improve! Btw 10 years ago I think I was drinking coffee from automatic machines to get through University studies :D dark times...!
One flair tip: Steaming heats way better than boiling or just adding water, and it's faster. I have a moka pot base in which my brew head fits perfectly. So I just put it on top and turn it on, 1 minute later I heat water on a kettle, when the water is boiling the brew head is already hot.
3 года назад
I'm a pro2 user and i use a 3 cup mocha pot's lower part and i think this way is more easy and effective because water vapor is hotter. I put some water in a mocha pot's lower part, brew champer is on this part and portafilter is on the brew chamber and the silicon cap on the top.(brew cahmber doesn't touch the water, only vapor). Brew chamber getting 95 degrees in a 2-3 minutes thanks to this way and highly recommended especially for light roasted beans.
Yes, using steam to heat brew chamber is the way to go. You can also use a silicone funnel on top of a kettle and boil brew water and heat the brew head at the same time.
Unlike the Pro version with its round-bottom PF, the Flair Pro 2 portafilter screen is recessed. This means that the PF base is perfectly flat now, allowing you to tamp directly on a table.
Great content Tomo, this absolutely rocks! 🤟 By the way, how long does it take for making one espresso if we include the clean-reset routine (a.k.a make all peripherals ready to use again)?
What if I only put 12 grams of coffee in the pro 2 basket which takes a minimum of 16 gram? Will I still be able to brew with the pro 2 or am I better with the the signature model?
Good video guys! I preheat my brew chamber and portafilter inside my boiling water kettle and take it out with tongs. Uses less water and you won't get it hotter than this. ;-)
Hi! Great video! I’m using the comandante too, but no red clicks I’m on 7-8 clicks.. 26 would be 13 for me? But I can’t build pressure with 10-13 clicks.. I’m doing something wrong? Should I press faster? With the flair pro 2.
Hi, im using comandante c40 too with red clix, usually i using 12 clicks (which 6 click using standard axle) on 16gram coffee ground it can achieve up to 9 bar pressure, i also testing with 26 click as tomo said but its to coarse and create channeling (or something worse where pressure is not enough for espresso) I recommend using red clix, sometime you need adjustment clicks based on coffee roasting profile or how many coffee ground you use (eg: i brew 18 gram using 13 clicks on red clix which is impossible when using standard axle)
Anyway 0 click its depend how we set 0 click on comandante, i usualy set when the lever is stable on 3 o clock. You can adjust how many click do you need based on experimenting
Dear Rodrigo, just try to grind finer! :) The exact grind setting depends on coffee, how it is roasted. I think somthing around 7-10 clicks should work.
Just got a Flair Signature Pro2 and a 1zpresso jx-pro and I'm having trouble with acidity as well. I heat the brew chamber by setting it in a wire mesh filter over my kettle and let it sit while the water boils. It's definitely getting hot enough. My grind is 1-5-3 on the 1zpresso and the shots give me a fair bit of resistance. I've also gotten some channeling with squirting coffee. I use a 15 second pre-infusion at 2 bars and then ramp up to 9 bars and shots typically take >1min. Can't figure out where I'm going wrong... Maybe too hard of a tamp? Maybe it's the cheap grocery store beans? Maybe I ramp up the pressure too quickly?
In that exact boat rn! Seeing this is 2 years old, I'm assuming you're a lot more knowledgeable now than before. Did you ever figure it out? Some advice for a new coffee lover would be life changing for me rn! 😂 I'm going 16g in 40g out in around 35-40 seconds not including the hefty pre infusion. Do my pre infusion at 3 bar and slowly ramp up to 9 bar. Flow seems good and temperature feels correct. Heating the brew chamber twice before jumping into it.
@@nevvy3708I just saw this reply, sorry for the late response. You've probably already dialed everything in by now but I'll answer anyway. The biggest thing for me was buying quality beans. I prefer lighter roasts, I grind them around 1-2-2 on my grinder but each new bag is a bit different. I also use WDT. I dose 18g in and 38g out, with a pre-infusion until I can see that the puck is mostly saturated or until I have 2-3g in the cup. Then I gradually ramp up to 8 bar. Once I hit about 20g in the cup I slowly taper off the pressure.
interesting that you're using 26 clicks with the redclix...ive been using 16 clicks. but im also a new flair user so im still learning. i will also try to go coarser to see what happens.
It really depends on the coffee and grinder. It seems that Tomo (for some reason) is often using a little coarser grind than what we do in the office. We are usually 8-9 clicks on a regular axis. So we are closer to your setting actually.
@@EuropeanCoffeeTrip Is it possible Tomo, like with his timing, is counting the clicks from a different point? My dose is a little lower, 15g (with Flair Signature), but I use 15/16 clicks with RedClix, a huge difference. I count zero from when the handle sticks when held horizontally.
@@richardneal5054 Dear Richards, recommended grind setting "nr.1" by Comandante, just so everyone has the same dial-in, is when handle starts moving (going from the finest setting when it holds). I will have to look into this issue why my setting is usually higher...
3:20 nope, you can tamp as hard as your heart desires. The water pressure will far surpass anything you can generate by hand. Using a tamping surface is a must, though.
It is about not damaging the basket that does not have a flat bottom, by pressing full power you can malform it. Also, there is nothing added by pressing too hard and it is not necessary :)
As I own that exact scale. Yea it does sorta fit Pro, but its so-so. Also after some time that scale becomes a bit less reliable (either that or my Comandante can randomly eat about 2g of coffee .. which it most likely doesnt). IMHO, I have that scale for like 2 years plus something and dont like it much. Fairly sure there are better options at that price range.
Looking at this shot, come and tell me coffee is no good for you?!? Train, eat and sleep well... coffee is only gonna feel better. My kind of shot . Kudos
I wonder what I'm doing wrong, I can't get anywhere near even 6 bars, it's got to the point I've got 8 clicks on Comandante and still having problems getting any sort of pressure. I'm using a pretty moderate tamp.
