FlairGO: Portable, Collapsible Lever Espresso Machine for 9BAR Espresso Anywhere (Grounds Model)

Anyone who has shown interest in making espresso at home has no doubt heard of Flair as one of the many brands associated with manual espresso machines. Their newest product iterate on their popular line of manual lever espresso machines by making an ultra-portable machine capable of brewing authentic espresso with the same pressure found in commercial machines.You get the whole kit in a nice carrying case which comes with custom molded inserts for storing every component easily. The machine itself consist of the frame as well as the brew head, consisting of a removeable brew funnel, the brew head and basket, a water chamber, and the piston with pressure gauge. The components all come together and stay together using a variety of o-rings fitted along the pieces and this in conjunction with the fine espresso grind forms a seal that can be pushed down with the lever.With the appropriate grind and dose, you can push down with consistent pressure, maintaining 6-9 bars of pressure, to brew authentic espresso, yielding a shot from about fifteen grams of coffee. The espresso will have a rich crema with a full bodied flavor and an appealing flavor that coats the mouth and lasts for minutes.Afterwards, you can easily clean the machine by taking apart the brew mechanism and disposing of the used grounds. Rinse and scrub in water, avoiding soap when you can to prevent off tastes.Overall, I was super impressed with the sort of quality you can achieve even without a machine. Although it does take more work, the ultra-portable design is appealing for the most discerning coffee enthusiast looking to get quality coffee wherever they can. At only 200, it offers a competitive value compared to cheaper semi-automatic machines which can fail to achieve the same sort of pressure good old elbow grease can get you.

The media could not be loaded. This portable espresso maker is a TRUE manual espresso maker. It is is light weight, comes with all you need to make a shot (sans coffee, grinder and hot water), and once you dial in your grid size and pack of your grinds, it works way easy. It comes with instructions for thoes of us who love espresso but never made it. They are not hard to follow.1. Using a bur grinder, finely grind and load in 15g of coffee into the holder2. Tamp it down firmly3. Put in top screen4. Place in machine5. Add pressure cylinder6. Pour in hot water to fill line7. Put in pressure toop8. Pull down on lever trying to keep pressure in the zone for a 25 sec pull9. EnjoyOnce done, it cleans up easy and can be stored easily in the included case. The quality of machine is great. Everything moves smoothly and if made of metal for long life. When the gring and pack is right, there is no leakage. Would purchase again but shouldn't ever need. Great value!

Overall, it is nice. It is small and functions well and pulls a good shot. The reason for 3 stars is regarding what the advertising does not say.For instance, the stainless steel filter has been redesigned. It no longer sits on the lip and is a thing piece of metal you drop on top of the grounds. This can be hard to remove afterwards. They call it an upgrade but its more a cost reduction so the upgrade is really for their coffers. The old model was easy to retrieve and clean after a pull since it never came into contact with the grounds. This version you have to poke it with a spoon to get it upright to pull out or dump it out with the grounds. Either way, the filter is covered and the fine, espresso grounds will get caught up in the mesh, making cleaning a pain.To get to the bottomless filter mode, you have to remove the spout. The model I got, the spout was wedged in tight. I had to get a metal spoon and pry it out, gouging the surrounding plastic a little.The instructions and video are terrible. The video "instructions" are basically just another ad. You do not see any instruction whatsoever. It just shows one side angle and a person pouring in grounds, then water, then depressing the lever. If you want detailed instructions with weights and measures and techniques on how the thing works, you have to find a video from a third party reviewer to walk you through.Finally, I had to email the company directly for the tolerance for this device for grounds fine-ess. A lot of cheaper and off the shelf burr grinders will get you around 300 microns at the fine-ess setting. This will NOT work with the Flair Go. Don't even waste your money getting this. After the email to the company, I learned that this will NOT work unless you have a burr grinder can get you between 100-250 microns.For 200 USD, I expected more. Better documentation and instructions, better quality, and a device that could work with a common portable grinder without requiring buying an expensive grinder to accompany it. For something that is supposed to be on the go, it seems to require a kitchen with running water to clean it and a fancy grinder to even function.

Honestly I like this one, took a bit to figure out the first time but after that it feels easy enough to use. The way it folds up is nice, really compact so it doesn’t eat up counter space. I even tossed it in my bag for a weekend trip, no problem there. Build feels strong, not flimsy at all, like it should last a while if you don’t drop it or something.Coffee quality turned out better than I expected, crema was decent but you still need a good grind to get the best shot. Not really for someone who wants push button coffee though, you gotta put in some effort but I kinda like that. Functionality wise, everything works fine, the pressure gauge is handy and makes it easier to keep things consistent.Overall, it’s solid for anyone who wants proper espresso in a small setup.

Real espresso, with no electricity, no noisy pump. You just pull the lever to make your espresso, it is that easy. A nice carry case holds everything in a compact little kit. A good durable product, it should last for years.

Great for camping espresso. Just bring a kettle!