I love my flair pro 2. Sweet, thick, beautiful espresso. And the machine itself is a beauty too, the build quality is very high, nothing looks or feels cheap. I like how shiny the body of the robot is, but I never liked the idea of having 2 levers, I also heard that the manometer is difficult to read, and the machine cannot be easily disassembled as far as I know. While some may see that as a disadvantage, I find that the flair's modularity is a big strength. You always have a clean, dry machine, and you know how everything looks and works because you see and touch it. And the detachable brewing head makes pre-heating super easy.
I absolutely love my Robot. Pleasant workflow, great shots and its scandinavian design sits beautifully atop my kitchen counter. For dark roast you can go without preheating, light roasts benefit from a simple basket preheat. Makes it easier to get a balanced shot. And as a side-note, the Robot's origin story strokes my cycling enthousiast's heart strings.
Bruno, quick question, besides the red/orange piston sealing silicone, does the Robot use any other plastics or silicons anywhere else? Or it's all metal.
@@foxmulder1168 all metal. The only thing touching the water/coffee is food grade stainless steel and that one food grade silicone seal. The latest upgrade also has a food grade silicone shower screen handle to replace the damage prone all metal one on mine. The builder has some interesting YT-videos on the construction.
@@brunocyclist thanks so much for the answer, that's good to know. I just generally don't trust any food-grade silicone, specially in contact with hot water. They do generate smell and taste in the drink. But I suppose that little handle won't be a big deal.
I love the Robot, too. It's funny to hear 'Scandinavian design', because it's the product of a Brit living in Hong Kong resurrecting an Italian design from the 1950's (Faema Baby Faemina). But yes, I see exactly what you mean. :)
@@ericpmoss well, that Hong Kong-dwelling Brit re-engineering the Italian Faemina Baby actually worked with a Scandinavian designer for the new form. 😊
I tried filling the basket initially, then tried to use around 60-65gr of water, but there was no pressure problem whatsoever. Thermals for the darker roasts I'm using are also not that much of a problem. Second cup is always to be used because of the drips falling on the scale - as we all saw on this video.
Preheat basket, screen and chamber in a Tupperware container or bowl of very hot water first. While waiting for brew water to heat up. Then all seems to work fine. Without preheating brew parts I found medium and lighter roasts did not create sufficiently good shots. It also seems fairly touchy on grind size. When all is dialed in it works fine.
So for the Robot do you actually have to press out the extra water? I have the Flair and you do not have to, and in fact I recommend not doing it as it's a bit easier to just take the whole group over to the sink, dump out the excess water, and then separate the parts. It's a bit less messy that way and you don't dirty an extra cup. So I'm curious if you need to do it with the Robot? Also with the Flair I'd recommend a more thorough preheat if doing a medium or especially a light roast. The main recommendation from users is to use steam, and there's a couple easy ways to accomplish that.
I do press out the extra water, the plug comes out very easily after doing so. I use a mug for draining the water, then remove the portafilter and rest it in the mug. I then can pick up the whole set to the sink. The workflow for Robot is so easy that I don't find washing an extra mug to be troublesome at all. Before getting it I thought making an espresso manually would be something interesting for me to do in the weekends. Turned out I can finish everything in a few mins and I use it for a cup of espresso every morning now. Can't say enough good things about this little Robot!
How about the actual quality of the espresso that is produced by both devices? Which one has a consistently better extraction rate and less channeling?
They are both capable of producing equally excellent espresso quality. The only difference is that the Robot gives you a higher dose and offers far less hassle (also capable for back to back shots) while the Flair offers smaller dose and mobility plus transferable lever skills to other lever espresso machines should you choose to move on in the future. So you choose based on lifestyle preferences.
Much easier to pre-heat the Flair head. Can't fit your scale between robot's legs. Robot and Flair clean up are both easy. But I like the look of the robot, esp with the 1950's green color. But dood, you gotsta put the camera ON THE GAUGE as you pull the shot. That is the money shot that the audience wants to see as you pull. sounds kinky, I know.
Thank you for your answer. What if I wanted for an 18 g dose of coffee 40 g of total output. Is there enough room in the robot cop for that amount of water? Also, how can I trust that the silicone seal meets proper standards since the robot is made in China?
If by 'long' you mean a higher ratio, the portafilter and basket are capable of holidng plenty of water for a high yield espresso. You can simply keep pushing the levers all the way down to get as much yield as you need.
The basket feels and sounds cheap. And the robot is cute, but doesn’t look „serious“ more like a toy. No matter if the espresso ist great... the machine is too much toy to me. That’s why I prefer the flair. Going to order the flair 58 with its „barista like“ look and the improved lever + the real porterfilter
I love my flair pro 2. Sweet, thick, beautiful espresso. And the machine itself is a beauty too, the build quality is very high, nothing looks or feels cheap.
I like how shiny the body of the robot is, but I never liked the idea of having 2 levers, I also heard that the manometer is difficult to read,
and the machine cannot be easily disassembled as far as I know.
While some may see that as a disadvantage, I find that the flair's modularity is a big strength.
You always have a clean, dry machine, and you know how everything looks and works because you see and touch it.
And the detachable brewing head makes pre-heating super easy.
I absolutely love my Robot. Pleasant workflow, great shots and its scandinavian design sits beautifully atop my kitchen counter. For dark roast you can go without preheating, light roasts benefit from a simple basket preheat. Makes it easier to get a balanced shot. And as a side-note, the Robot's origin story strokes my cycling enthousiast's heart strings.
Bruno, quick question, besides the red/orange piston sealing silicone, does the Robot use any other plastics or silicons anywhere else? Or it's all metal.
@@foxmulder1168 all metal. The only thing touching the water/coffee is food grade stainless steel and that one food grade silicone seal. The latest upgrade also has a food grade silicone shower screen handle to replace the damage prone all metal one on mine. The builder has some interesting YT-videos on the construction.
@@brunocyclist thanks so much for the answer, that's good to know. I just generally don't trust any food-grade silicone, specially in contact with hot water. They do generate smell and taste in the drink. But I suppose that little handle won't be a big deal.
I love the Robot, too. It's funny to hear 'Scandinavian design', because it's the product of a Brit living in Hong Kong resurrecting an Italian design from the 1950's (Faema Baby Faemina). But yes, I see exactly what you mean. :)
@@ericpmoss well, that Hong Kong-dwelling Brit re-engineering the Italian Faemina Baby actually worked with a Scandinavian designer for the new form. 😊
Flair pro 2 produces amazing shots of coffee! Really love it! :)
You should fill the robots basket to increase thermal mass and maintain heat, it’s in the instructions manual.
especially if you're going to use a second cup for cleanup anyway
I tried filling the basket initially, then tried to use around 60-65gr of water, but there was no pressure problem whatsoever. Thermals for the darker roasts I'm using are also not that much of a problem. Second cup is always to be used because of the drips falling on the scale - as we all saw on this video.
Preheat basket, screen and chamber in a Tupperware container or bowl of very hot water first. While waiting for brew water to heat up. Then all seems to work fine. Without preheating brew parts I found medium and lighter roasts did not create sufficiently good shots. It also seems fairly touchy on grind size. When all is dialed in it works fine.
I've used both and I'd always go for the flair:) just personal preference, so there is no wrong going for the Robot
Love Robot’s easy workflow
One of the advantages of the Robot is that the center of gravity is directly in the middle of the machine. There's also no plastic.
So for the Robot do you actually have to press out the extra water? I have the Flair and you do not have to, and in fact I recommend not doing it as it's a bit easier to just take the whole group over to the sink, dump out the excess water, and then separate the parts. It's a bit less messy that way and you don't dirty an extra cup. So I'm curious if you need to do it with the Robot?
Also with the Flair I'd recommend a more thorough preheat if doing a medium or especially a light roast. The main recommendation from users is to use steam, and there's a couple easy ways to accomplish that.
I do press out the extra water, the plug comes out very easily after doing so.
I use a mug for draining the water, then remove the portafilter and rest it in the mug. I then can pick up the whole set to the sink. The workflow for Robot is so easy that I don't find washing an extra mug to be troublesome at all. Before getting it I thought making an espresso manually would be something interesting for me to do in the weekends. Turned out I can finish everything in a few mins and I use it for a cup of espresso every morning now. Can't say enough good things about this little Robot!
How about the actual quality of the espresso that is produced by both devices? Which one has a consistently better extraction rate and less channeling?
They are both capable of producing equally excellent espresso quality. The only difference is that the Robot gives you a higher dose and offers far less hassle (also capable for back to back shots) while the Flair offers smaller dose and mobility plus transferable lever skills to other lever espresso machines should you choose to move on in the future. So you choose based on lifestyle preferences.
@@gpapa31 Thanks for your response. That's a big help!
Awesome review! sadly i have to wait a few years to get the cafelat. College student here :(
Much easier to pre-heat the Flair head. Can't fit your scale between robot's legs. Robot and Flair clean up are both easy. But I like the look of the robot, esp with the 1950's green color. But dood, you gotsta put the camera ON THE GAUGE as you pull the shot. That is the money shot that the audience wants to see as you pull. sounds kinky, I know.
Thank you for your answer.
What if I wanted for an 18 g dose of coffee 40 g of total output. Is there enough room in the robot cop for that amount of water?
Also, how can I trust that the silicone seal meets proper standards since the robot is made in China?
There's enough space for way more than 40ml yield. The piston seal is FDA approved silicone.
How about Rok Espresso?
What if you wanted a long or a longer shot on the robot - how do you do that?
If by 'long' you mean a higher ratio, the portafilter and basket are capable of holidng plenty of water for a high yield espresso. You can simply keep pushing the levers all the way down to get as much yield as you need.
I’m interested in the Flair. Why don’t Flair owners just put the assembly in a small pot of boiling water? Would that ruin the nonmetal pieces?
I see this comment is old, but yes, it seems a lot of flair owners do exactly that
How does the robot compare to the ROK GC?
We've never tested the ROK
Robot's workflow seems much easier.
nice review thanks. can you please tell the packaging dimension and weight of robot?
The retail dimensions differ from the shipping dimensions. The retail dimensions are 12.75 x 8.25 and it weigh 8 lbs 3.7 oz.
@@primacoffeeequipment FYI I believe the basket is 57mm, not 58mm.
AND YOU DON'T TASTE THE RESULTS? WTH!!!
What scale is that?
That's the Acaia Lunar Water-resistant Espresso Scale
prima-coffee.com/equipment/acaia/lunar-scale
You forgot to preheat the Flair head
Nope, he actually talks about preheating around 6:50. 👍
very strange workflow and handling... I guess you're doing it for the first time ?! 😅
Flair Pro 2 is the best. Robot still not elegant from material and brewing.
The basket feels and sounds cheap. And the robot is cute, but doesn’t look „serious“ more like a toy. No matter if the espresso ist great... the machine is too much toy to me. That’s why I prefer the flair. Going to order the flair 58 with its „barista like“ look and the improved lever + the real porterfilter
@@SirBender yes me too waiting Flair 58 release to sell. I wish good price and friendship.
The Robot is far more elegantly engineered.
The robot looks way better. The other looks like a nasty workshop equipment. its insane.
I disagree. I think the robot looks like a 60s gynecologist device.