you can save time by preheating the brew head in the toaster oven while the water is boiling. You can get it hotter than the boiling temp of water too, giving you more control over the temperature throughout the brewing. I use an electric grinder but it takes me 3 minutes for 1 puck, or about 4 minutes to do 2 in a row.
Won't the toaster oven affect the silicon covering? I now start my brewing process by sitting the brew head on top of the kettle while I grind and tamp and do the other thing. Another method someone brought up here in the comments was a double preheat, where they pour hot water in once for 40 seconds, and then again for 30. It does make the brew head harder to handle without asbestos fingertips, but it definitely got it to the ideal 93º consistently.
@@MagicMarinade I haven't noticed any damage or wear to the silicone covering. I bake at 150 C. Any hotter than that and the water evaporates on contact when pouring it in. I started doing this because I'm at high elevation; water boils at 95 C where I live, so in the winter its hard to keep everything warm enough. That was the original reason, but now I would use the oven anyway because it is faster, easier, cleaner, etc. Maybe it slowly degrades the silicone and I just haven't noticed, but I wouldn't mind buying a new flair model in a year or two anyway.
@@iyziejane ah that makes sense. It's probably a lot more efficient considering any delay will cause a much more rapid temperature drop if it were outside.
I just purchased one of these about two weeks ago but I haven’t got the grind quite dialed in yet. I have a Timemore C2 and Peets Cafe Domingo beans...hopefully I find the correct grind number without wasting too much.
I wasted a whole lot in the very beginning. And I remember being stressed for a whole week with the amount of bad pulls I was getting. I'd never tamped before in my life, so that felt like a new skill entirely that I had to develop. To be honest, I only just perfected the grind and tamp ratio. I grind much finer than I used to, and tamp a whole lot lighter (thanks to a RUclips commenter who pointed this out). This now ensures that I also have less channelling, and much cleaner pulls. Also, the kind of roast would affect the grind, darker roasts with larger beans grind fluffier and finer, and medium roasts with tiny beans (most of my coffee is grown locally, single estate variety, hence the variation) need to be set coarser. Though now I can sort of eyeball the bean and tell what sort of grind adjustment I'd need. I also don't waste coffee anymore thanks to this. If you're seeing a lot of channelling and squirting, I'd definitely recommend going fine and lightening the tamp intensity. I hope you zero this in soon, I know exactly what you've been going through! I'm sure you'll be brewing the best coffee in your neighbourhood very, very soon, for sure.
The Pro 2 brews a double shot, using anything between 18-20g ground coffee. I've tried to make a single shot using 15g, but it doesn't do as well. The shower screen doesn't fit very well in the group head and can tilt off to one side and get stuck. I think it's also a waste of more coffee that way. I'd rather brew a double shot and divide it.
Hi, yes I am. I had to order it from an Australian online store (Alternative Brewing) and had a relative carry it for me when they visited India. I think Helor is now called Option O after a merger, and the prices have gone up a bit. I'm definitely happy with it though. I use it pretty much every day.
@@MagicMarinade Thanks, I think I am keeping my eye on the Jx-pro. Slightly more reasonable and people seem to also be happy with for espresso. Have started with a less than ideal set up of Kompresso and timemore C2 to start learning some basics before I get someone travelling to get these goodies!
From what I understand, the Ode is specifically a filter, Aeropress and pourover. It won't work very well for espresso with the flair. I don't think it'll be able to achieve the fine even grind that the Flair needs, even though it's fineness is on the coarser side of standard espresso.
You’ll get better results preheating 2x First preheat will raise temperature up to 76 Celsius , second one up to 86 , and brewing 93 Celsius : perfect 👌
Agreed! I tested it the same way you did, first preheat only got it to around 80º in my case. I even tried a kettle-top method some people recommended, but that was not as effective....it'd take a long time of sitting atop the kettle for it to reach that temperature. Do you let it sit 30 seconds for each session of preheating? I usually push it up to 45.
I've been letting the brew head sit on my kettle, and letting it boil a little longer (usually while I grind and tamp), so it's nice and hot already, by the time I get to my pre-heat. I do this now, instead of the double pre-heating method which I did for a while after your comment. I have a Hario kettle, atop which the brew head sits pretty much perfectly.
I have a pro 1 and use 18g dose too, but usually stop at 1:2 ratio when theres about 36g out. I noticed you push all the water down, is there any benefit to it or do you just prefer it this way?
Two reasons, I usually split the shot and make an Americano with one and a cappuccino with the other (varies, depending on who's with me), so it's for maximum volume. Secondly, I think it evens out the flavour some (I could be wrong), balancing out the aggressive, full of flavour body part with the lighter tail end extraction.
Have you had any issue with over tamping? seems like you used an excessive amount of pressure here, which can lead to channeling and over extracted shots
I think this is something I've been trying to get the hang of for a while. I had a really difficult time in the beginning (considering this is the first time I was tamping, ever; before this I'd only brewed via moka pot and pourover), so there was a bit of a learning curve. I think I've finally found that equilibrium though, in the last few months, where I've found the right grind size/tamping pressure balance where there hasn't been any channelling.
@@MagicMarinade Glad I could help! Love my Flair, but tamping is always a hard variable. Another thing to look into if you haven't yet is pre-infusion. Before you ramp up to full brewing pressure, just put enough pressure on to start getting a small stream instead of rain drops. This helps ensure the whole brew puck is wet before you begin extraction, another way to prevent channeling as much as possible. Thanks for the video!
@@samwhitehead9449 I've been following this other preinfusion method I saw one Thai barista use (he's the local dealer in Thailand where my Flair was purchased) on his Facebook page: he pulls a 1-3 bar hold for 15 seconds, before pulling a full extraction. Exactly like you mentioned, soaks the brew puck fully (usually you'll see maybe one or two drops drip out, sometimes none) and makes for a perfectly clean extraction.
The tamp pressure/grind variable drove me crazy in the first month, but I've come to enjoy all the possible permutations and combinations the Flair offers. Makes my coffee brewing experience a sort of endless puzzle solving process, with delicious coffee to boot as an outcome.
Preheat brewhead with incubate tank 2 times by water boil 100 degree C, when install 2 parts, my temp strip show 85 degree, i usually rate 1:2 or 1:1.5, get all of pull can make bitter
Same. I've realised the temperature strips are off by around seven degrees, because when the strip showed 85º, the internal temperature of the water was 92º, which is perfect for brewing coffee.
@Kberry1249 I was literally brewing my first cup of the day when you commented! I love it, and it's now part of my daily routine. I love the fact that I can make minor adjustments to the grind, or the pressure at which I pull a shot for a particular grind and see all the variations it offers. I'm definitely very, very happy with it.
@@Kberrysal no I didn't. Hard to find those where I live, but definitely seems like a good idea to get one. I use an instant read thermometer when I feel like checking.
I recently purchased a pro 2 and a Kinu M47 Simplicity hand grinder. I’m quite happy with both and didn’t take but a few attempts before getting something like what you showed as a shot from a proper grind. Another thing this video did very well is to show how the dispersion screen is supposed to be oriented. The laminated instructions with the flair didn’t illustrate it and many of the videos I’ve watched didn’t make it a focal point of the process. One video actually emphasized orienting it the other way. Thanks for video it’s helpful.
Thank you, I'm glad you found the video helpful! I had the same issue with the dispersion screen; and had to pause and look at the official video on Flair's website or Instagram to be sure. I'd considered the Kinu M47 series when I was looking for a new grinder myself, but at the time, only the Helor was available. I've heard great things about Kinu's range of grinders.
Magic Marinade The Kinu is a rock solid tool probably better than many than anything else you may own in build quality. It took a bit of time ( had to sleep on it got it he next day) to figure out how to adjust it and they say it’s better for espresso grind vs pour over. There is another grind burr available that makes it more versatile. I think prima coffee had the best video I saw using it.
Magic Marinade how does it taste? This seems like a much larger yield than normal for 18g. Have you pulled shots with the flair while weighing / cutting the pull short? How does the flair handle this?
@@DroopyP The current blend I've been brewing is a medium dark roast. The yield seems to vary between 54-57g per pull and never any more. I haven't pulled while weighing because I don't have a scale tiny enough to fit into the small footprint of the Flair. I have cut the pull short a few times -I even tried a 14g variation for a single shot, but the shape of the portafilter is such that the showerscreen doesn't fit as snug as it does for a full dose. Taste varies- the current medium roast seems to prefer a 30-35 second pull, anything more and it feels overextracted. The thing I love about the Flair is that it allows a whole lot of nuanced experimentation with all these variables. Even with a few mildly overextracted pulls, I wouldn't call any of the shots off it so far sub standard.
The 'Visual Cues' made the difference, so important but never seen it before, great!!! Thanks!!!
Very well done. Great attention to details and informative. And some very nice ☕️ along the way.
Thank you! :)
Thank you very much, excellent video!!
I love it when you show the differences between the coffee grounds.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
Brilliant. Well shot and well edited. Thank you for sharing your process with us, cheers!
The ground size effect is nicely demonstrated. It make me really thinking to invest one Flair Pro 2 🤔
you can save time by preheating the brew head in the toaster oven while the water is boiling. You can get it hotter than the boiling temp of water too, giving you more control over the temperature throughout the brewing. I use an electric grinder but it takes me 3 minutes for 1 puck, or about 4 minutes to do 2 in a row.
Won't the toaster oven affect the silicon covering? I now start my brewing process by sitting the brew head on top of the kettle while I grind and tamp and do the other thing. Another method someone brought up here in the comments was a double preheat, where they pour hot water in once for 40 seconds, and then again for 30. It does make the brew head harder to handle without asbestos fingertips, but it definitely got it to the ideal 93º consistently.
@@MagicMarinade I haven't noticed any damage or wear to the silicone covering. I bake at 150 C. Any hotter than that and the water evaporates on contact when pouring it in. I started doing this because I'm at high elevation; water boils at 95 C where I live, so in the winter its hard to keep everything warm enough. That was the original reason, but now I would use the oven anyway because it is faster, easier, cleaner, etc. Maybe it slowly degrades the silicone and I just haven't noticed, but I wouldn't mind buying a new flair model in a year or two anyway.
@@iyziejane ah that makes sense. It's probably a lot more efficient considering any delay will cause a much more rapid temperature drop if it were outside.
love the technique, of looking like you are about to pour some fancy ass latte art and stopping
Haha, I've given up on latte art with this method. Perhaps one day I'll get better at it.
Thank you very much!!!
Nice thanks for posting
I just purchased one of these about two weeks ago but I haven’t got the grind quite dialed in yet. I have a Timemore C2 and Peets Cafe Domingo beans...hopefully I find the correct grind number without wasting too much.
I wasted a whole lot in the very beginning. And I remember being stressed for a whole week with the amount of bad pulls I was getting. I'd never tamped before in my life, so that felt like a new skill entirely that I had to develop.
To be honest, I only just perfected the grind and tamp ratio. I grind much finer than I used to, and tamp a whole lot lighter (thanks to a RUclips commenter who pointed this out). This now ensures that I also have less channelling, and much cleaner pulls.
Also, the kind of roast would affect the grind, darker roasts with larger beans grind fluffier and finer, and medium roasts with tiny beans (most of my coffee is grown locally, single estate variety, hence the variation) need to be set coarser. Though now I can sort of eyeball the bean and tell what sort of grind adjustment I'd need. I also don't waste coffee anymore thanks to this.
If you're seeing a lot of channelling and squirting, I'd definitely recommend going fine and lightening the tamp intensity. I hope you zero this in soon, I know exactly what you've been going through!
I'm sure you'll be brewing the best coffee in your neighbourhood very, very soon, for sure.
Does flair can make a double shot of espresso? Or just a single shot?
The Pro 2 brews a double shot, using anything between 18-20g ground coffee. I've tried to make a single shot using 15g, but it doesn't do as well. The shower screen doesn't fit very well in the group head and can tilt off to one side and get stuck. I think it's also a waste of more coffee that way. I'd rather brew a double shot and divide it.
Very nice short
Thank you! :)
Hi are you based in india? If yes, where did you get the helor from? Thanks
Hi, yes I am. I had to order it from an Australian online store (Alternative Brewing) and had a relative carry it for me when they visited India. I think Helor is now called Option O after a merger, and the prices have gone up a bit. I'm definitely happy with it though. I use it pretty much every day.
@@MagicMarinade Thanks, I think I am keeping my eye on the Jx-pro. Slightly more reasonable and people seem to also be happy with for espresso.
Have started with a less than ideal set up of Kompresso and timemore C2 to start learning some basics before I get someone travelling to get these goodies!
💜
just asking, can we use ode grinder to grind the coffee size for flair expresso?
From what I understand, the Ode is specifically a filter, Aeropress and pourover.
It won't work very well for espresso with the flair. I don't think it'll be able to achieve the fine even grind that the Flair needs, even though it's fineness is on the coarser side of standard espresso.
You’ll get better results preheating 2x
First preheat will raise temperature up to 76 Celsius , second one up to 86 , and brewing 93 Celsius : perfect 👌
Agreed! I tested it the same way you did, first preheat only got it to around 80º in my case. I even tried a kettle-top method some people recommended, but that was not as effective....it'd take a long time of sitting atop the kettle for it to reach that temperature. Do you let it sit 30 seconds for each session of preheating? I usually push it up to 45.
Magic Marinade 45
Magic Marinade I’m measuring the temperature with latte thermometer and when it doesn’t rise anymore I put new water in
@@MrEurythmie I use a ThermoPop instant read thermometer, it's the cheaper cousin of the Thermapen, but still super quick and handy.
I've been letting the brew head sit on my kettle, and letting it boil a little longer (usually while I grind and tamp), so it's nice and hot already, by the time I get to my pre-heat. I do this now, instead of the double pre-heating method which I did for a while after your comment. I have a Hario kettle, atop which the brew head sits pretty much perfectly.
I have a pro 1 and use 18g dose too, but usually stop at 1:2 ratio when theres about 36g out. I noticed you push all the water down, is there any benefit to it or do you just prefer it this way?
Two reasons, I usually split the shot and make an Americano with one and a cappuccino with the other (varies, depending on who's with me), so it's for maximum volume.
Secondly, I think it evens out the flavour some (I could be wrong), balancing out the aggressive, full of flavour body part with the lighter tail end extraction.
Have you had any issue with over tamping? seems like you used an excessive amount of pressure here, which can lead to channeling and over extracted shots
I think this is something I've been trying to get the hang of for a while. I had a really difficult time in the beginning (considering this is the first time I was tamping, ever; before this I'd only brewed via moka pot and pourover), so there was a bit of a learning curve. I think I've finally found that equilibrium though, in the last few months, where I've found the right grind size/tamping pressure balance where there hasn't been any channelling.
Just an update; I'm now using a finer grind and a much lighter pressure for some really clean pulls- thanks for your comment!
@@MagicMarinade Glad I could help! Love my Flair, but tamping is always a hard variable. Another thing to look into if you haven't yet is pre-infusion. Before you ramp up to full brewing pressure, just put enough pressure on to start getting a small stream instead of rain drops. This helps ensure the whole brew puck is wet before you begin extraction, another way to prevent channeling as much as possible.
Thanks for the video!
@@samwhitehead9449 I've been following this other preinfusion method I saw one Thai barista use (he's the local dealer in Thailand where my Flair was purchased) on his Facebook page: he pulls a 1-3 bar hold for 15 seconds, before pulling a full extraction. Exactly like you mentioned, soaks the brew puck fully (usually you'll see maybe one or two drops drip out, sometimes none) and makes for a perfectly clean extraction.
The tamp pressure/grind variable drove me crazy in the first month, but I've come to enjoy all the possible permutations and combinations the Flair offers. Makes my coffee brewing experience a sort of endless puzzle solving process, with delicious coffee to boot as an outcome.
What is the name of grinder?
I'm using a Helor 101 with the contemporary burr set.
Preheat brewhead with incubate tank 2 times by water boil 100 degree C, when install 2 parts, my temp strip show 85 degree, i usually rate 1:2 or 1:1.5, get all of pull can make bitter
Same. I've realised the temperature strips are off by around seven degrees, because when the strip showed 85º, the internal temperature of the water was 92º, which is perfect for brewing coffee.
@@MagicMarinade yes, it is suitable, balance taste, however with light roast, you need preheat carefully, will be high acidity
@@haiang6949 very true, which is why I rarely brew light roasts. I feel like those do much better as pourovers.
How are you liking the espresso maker
@Kberry1249 I was literally brewing my first cup of the day when you commented! I love it, and it's now part of my daily routine. I love the fact that I can make minor adjustments to the grind, or the pressure at which I pull a shot for a particular grind and see all the variations it offers. I'm definitely very, very happy with it.
@@MagicMarinade ok i am going to buy it right now, did you get the temperature strip for it
@@Kberrysal no I didn't. Hard to find those where I live, but definitely seems like a good idea to get one. I use an instant read thermometer when I feel like checking.
I recently purchased a pro 2 and a Kinu M47 Simplicity hand grinder. I’m quite happy with both and didn’t take but a few attempts before getting something like what you showed as a shot from a proper grind. Another thing this video did very well is to show how the dispersion screen is supposed to be oriented. The laminated instructions with the flair didn’t illustrate it and many of the videos I’ve watched didn’t make it a focal point of the process. One video actually emphasized orienting it the other way. Thanks for video it’s helpful.
Thank you, I'm glad you found the video helpful! I had the same issue with the dispersion screen; and had to pause and look at the official video on Flair's website or Instagram to be sure.
I'd considered the Kinu M47 series when I was looking for a new grinder myself, but at the time, only the Helor was available. I've heard great things about Kinu's range of grinders.
Magic Marinade The Kinu is a rock solid tool probably better than many than anything else you may own in build quality. It took a bit of time ( had to sleep on it got it he next day) to figure out how to adjust it and they say it’s better for espresso grind vs pour over. There is another grind burr available that makes it more versatile. I think prima coffee had the best video I saw using it.
How much did you end up getting out of it
Depending on the coffee I'm using, between 57-60g espresso (using 18g of coffee). On average, mostly 60g.
Magic Marinade how does it taste? This seems like a much larger yield than normal for 18g. Have you pulled shots with the flair while weighing / cutting the pull short? How does the flair handle this?
@@DroopyP The current blend I've been brewing is a medium dark roast. The yield seems to vary between 54-57g per pull and never any more. I haven't pulled while weighing because I don't have a scale tiny enough to fit into the small footprint of the Flair. I have cut the pull short a few times -I even tried a 14g variation for a single shot, but the shape of the portafilter is such that the showerscreen doesn't fit as snug as it does for a full dose.
Taste varies- the current medium roast seems to prefer a 30-35 second pull, anything more and it feels overextracted. The thing I love about the Flair is that it allows a whole lot of nuanced experimentation with all these variables. Even with a few mildly overextracted pulls, I wouldn't call any of the shots off it so far sub standard.
Wow!!
cool men