The Flair 58 is a fully-manual, professional grade, lever espresso press that is focused on maximizing the workflow and the espresso from at-home extractions. This newest gold standard in manual espresso features Flair’s first industry standard 58mm portafilter as well as a more robust frame and lever for ease of extractions at higher pressures. The 58 also includes a Preheat Temperature Controller and a new valve plunger, which includes a puck screen. Just set your brew head to one of three heat settings to ensure proper preheat and thermal control in every shot.
Luke purchased a Flair 58 during his visit to the Melbourne International Coffee Expo after seeing one in action and being so impressed by the shots it pulls. The control and flexibility a barista has over their extractions by playing with pressure profiles is amazing. Luke plans to take his on the road as he travels Australia in his caravan in 2023 so expect to see plenty more of his Flair 58 in the year ahead.
Unedited Video Transcript
today I'm taking a look at the Flair 58.
0:04
[Music]
0:32
now this is a manual press that does
0:34
have a preheat element to it this is
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actually my own one I've been brewing
0:38
with it for quite some time now and it's
0:40
just blowing my mind about the quality
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of the espresso you can actually get out
0:44
of this thing the engineering is it's
0:46
really cool and this one here is
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actually been given to us from Flair now
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we're going to give this away to one of
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our coffee subscribers so if that's
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something that you want to try and win
0:56
jump on our website and you'll find out
0:58
how we're going to give that away
1:00
so firstly what I'm going to do is I'm
1:02
going to pull this apart and show you
1:03
all the pieces that come in the kit then
1:05
we'll put it back together then we're
1:07
going to pull an extraction and just
1:08
show you what kind of results we can get
1:10
out of the flair I think you're going to
1:12
be amazed
1:13
[Music]
1:16
so let's get this thing pulled apart
1:19
so there you go all the bits out of the
1:21
packaging ready to assemble now there is
1:24
a manual but who needs that so I'm going
1:26
to start putting it together you've got
1:28
your base plate here
1:30
and you've got your main lever mechanism
1:33
and you've got to attach these two
1:34
together
1:35
really simply by
1:38
two Allen key bolts
1:41
and slide them in from the bottom
1:46
obviously you don't want to thread those
1:47
so just take your time to get them lined
1:49
up
1:50
top the other one in
1:54
and use you've got two Allen Keys
1:57
supplied so the big one is used for this
1:59
base
2:04
get them all the way in
2:07
whoops
2:13
cool
2:18
all right so that's the lever arm and
2:20
the base connected now the next part
2:22
that you'd grab is your heating and Brew
2:25
chamber now this one Pops in just like a
2:29
group handle really there's a couple of
2:31
little notches on either side and the
2:34
electronic elements are going to end up
2:35
over here
2:39
and turn it around I've got that sitting
2:41
at the back just so it's out the way
2:42
then you've got a smaller Allen key and
2:46
you just need to tighten up the grub
2:48
screw on the front which will hold that
2:50
Brew head in place it's really important
2:51
to do that if you don't when you try and
2:54
lock in your group handle it's going to
2:56
move
2:59
now the next thing that you want to do
3:00
is find your little locating arm and pin
3:04
and we're going to use the Brewing gauge
3:07
and assemble this whole area together
3:09
now again this little keyways here which
3:12
allow you to lock in the um drop it in
3:15
the slot and just turn it around at a
3:18
nice right angle so that the hook comes
3:20
down and locks in place
3:23
then you've got to pop on
3:26
this other little piece which will join
3:29
the puzzle together
3:35
like so
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and then you pop in your little black
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pin
3:42
there we go and that's all secure
3:46
you've then got your handle which is
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nice they give you a naked handle and
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you've got like a double sized basket
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there it's a tapered basket so you're
3:55
looking around 18 grams of coffee that
3:57
would go into that one
4:00
they give you a flare water park screen
4:02
and these are pretty cool they're new
4:03
we're going to speak about those in
4:05
different videos so it's really nice
4:06
that you get one of those you've got a
4:09
drip tray which is is needed for this
4:12
kind of unit and I'll explain whether
4:14
why that's so important in a second you
4:17
get a small tamper which is kind of nice
4:19
it's pretty small and it does fit it's a
4:22
58 so ideally if you're going to change
4:24
that basket you might want to get
4:25
yourself a 58.5 or something like that
4:28
and you've got a little lock which holds
4:31
this arm in place so that it doesn't
4:33
fall down when you're Brewing so don't
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lose that one then you've got your power
4:37
pack which we're going to assemble now
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this one here is in a couple of parts
4:43
there is another model as well which is
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just one solid piece from here to here
4:47
so the important thing about this power
4:50
pack is that you do have to have it
4:52
fully connected before you turn it on so
4:56
don't plug this into power and then
4:58
connect it it's not ideal for the unit
5:01
so make sure you get it all ready plug
5:04
it in and we're going to have to turn
5:05
that on in a second
5:08
now you'll notice that there are a
5:09
couple of these other options they're
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basically a silicon cover now there is a
5:15
model called a 58x which is the
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non-heating element options and these
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two pieces allow you to have the the
5:23
plunger attached under it so you could
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fill it with your own boiling water to
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get a preheat happening we all know that
5:30
thermal stability is the key to making a
5:32
great espresso so if you didn't have the
5:35
electronic option you would have to heat
5:38
those up heat the handle up and make
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sure it's all really hot before you
5:41
start to brew but with this flare 58 and
5:45
the electric element in here with a
5:47
three-stage switch you can dial in the
5:49
right temperature and it's going to heat
5:51
up and help you with that retention of
5:54
heat before you start to brew so as I
5:56
mentioned you want to preheat everything
5:58
now when you when this arm is all the
6:01
way down the plunger is sitting as if
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it's come right down into this group
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handle so you do need to just just raise
6:08
it a little bit
6:10
just so that you can pop your handle in
6:11
and this is the same when you've got
6:13
coffee in there so I'm going to pop that
6:15
in
6:15
and I'm just going to lower it back down
6:17
and I'm going to press and hold the
6:20
button
6:22
and it'll beep at us
6:26
once you've plugged it in and I've
6:28
selected option three which is the
6:29
highest heat setting now when that light
6:31
goes out that means that it's hot and
6:34
ready to go
6:37
okay so it's just been over three
6:39
minutes and the three lights are now on
6:42
and It beeped at us to tell us that it
6:44
was ready to go now we need to lift up
6:47
our lever we're going to get our group
6:49
handle out which is
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now warm which is great and it does have
6:54
um it's clean and dry I've got my 20
6:56
grams of ground coffee here and I reckon
7:00
that's going to be pretty much spot on
7:01
for this basket
7:04
now I'm not using any sort of wdt or NCD
7:07
which again is going to change the whole
7:09
extraction that you get in here I'm just
7:12
going to
7:13
oh try not to spill any grind
7:16
level it out a little bit
7:19
I'm going to use the tamper that they've
7:21
supplied
7:22
and give it a nice firm press
7:27
there we go so there is a little bit of
7:29
extra Grime that hangs around because it
7:30
is that 58 mil tamper so if you can
7:34
get a different tamper
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I think it's a bit of a token gesture
7:38
getting some of these um these tampers
7:40
uh they're never quite right you've got
7:43
your flare
7:44
um
7:45
Puck screen which we're going to pop on
7:46
top as well
7:48
pop that in
7:50
now as I said we need to lift that
7:51
handle just up a little bit
7:57
lock it in and then you can push it back
7:59
down now the amount of water that we're
8:01
going to pop in here is pretty good it's
8:03
it's just about right for us to do a two
8:06
to one extraction so we're going to pour
8:08
it in this is pre-boiled 95 degree hot
8:11
water and as it goes in you'll see that
8:13
the element will actually hiss a little
8:15
bit
8:23
there we go so we know that that is nice
8:26
and hot and ready to go we're going to
8:28
pop under our cup
8:33
now this is where the control comes in
8:36
you can choose how much pressure that
8:38
you're going to apply to your coffee bed
8:40
if you lift this up all the way and
8:42
press it all the way down you could
8:44
provide nine bar or even more pressure
8:47
onto your coffee Puck it's really up to
8:49
you you've got total flexibility you can
8:51
do a little pre-infusion by going up a
8:54
little bit and then pressing down some
8:56
water onto that coffee or you could
8:58
simply just go all the way up and then
9:01
gently push down maybe with three bar to
9:03
start and then go up to nine it's really
9:05
up to you and you've got the control in
9:07
the power of your hand
9:09
um the unit is super sturdy so it is uh
9:12
quite easy to use I don't feel like it's
9:14
ever going to tip over on me for this
9:16
example let's just lift it up and we'll
9:19
see what kind of back pressure we get
9:21
from the grind that I've set and I'm
9:23
hoping we can get it around five bars to
9:25
start and then we'll increase the
9:27
pressure from there so we're going to
9:29
lift it up and that's bringing the water
9:31
past the top seal and it's going to
9:33
start to sit on top of the coffee bed
9:35
and you can see the water level starting
9:37
to drop a little bit
9:41
and this is basically a pre-soc or
9:43
pre-infusion anything you want to do
9:44
you've got that full flexibility so I'm
9:47
going to now press down I'm just going
9:49
to go nice and gentle to start
9:55
here we go and you can see the pressure
9:57
just starting to build up
9:59
now let's have a look what's happening
10:00
down the extraction below there
10:04
you go that's nice and thick and juicy
10:07
that's sitting right on four bar at the
10:10
moment
10:11
and I can increase that pressure again
10:13
now I'm at five and I can go all the way
10:16
up to nine bar right now
10:22
and I can finish it off with a nice
10:24
gentle three bar at the very end
10:33
there you go and it just diminishes down
10:36
to zero pressure because the the
10:38
pressure you've created has to go
10:40
somewhere if you want to stop that
10:42
pressure just simply lift it back up and
10:44
you can hear that little spurt happen
10:45
and now that coffee hasn't got any more
10:49
pressure applied to it
10:51
and look at that that is pretty awesome
10:52
espresso a little smidge there of over
10:56
extraction mainly because I wasn't
10:57
watching now if we got our scale out and
11:00
we could weigh this exact liquid we
11:02
would have got a perfect recipe
11:05
um so it's just full control totally to
11:08
yourself now again you may love the nine
11:10
bar you might like the three hey you
11:12
have a play and you can work out what
11:14
you like most about it
11:15
now when you go to take it out I do like
11:18
to just lift this up and I find getting
11:21
another cup just to press any of that
11:23
extra water through is the best way to
11:26
to manage the Press so I'm just going to
11:28
grab another cup now so I'm just going
11:30
to pop that cup under there
11:32
and just press through the balance of
11:34
any liquid that might be in there
11:35
because it's hard to get that out for
11:38
the next extraction and if you don't get
11:39
it out it will essentially sit on top of
11:42
your next Brew so just get rid of it
11:44
there there we go it's all gone lifting
11:47
it up then allows you to remove your
11:49
handle
11:51
and you can take your Puck screen out
11:55
and check out your Puck there you go so
11:58
no channeling that's come through really
12:00
nice it's quite firm quite even and hey
12:04
I'm pretty happy with that as an
12:06
espresso out of a manual press machine
12:08
so I've had my eye on the flare 58 for
12:11
some time and the reason I've been
12:13
looking at it for myself personally is
12:15
I'm going to be traveling around
12:16
Australia and I don't want to Lug a
12:19
really big machine around with me and I
12:21
think this is going to be a solution for
12:22
me to have espresso no matter where we
12:24
are in Central Australia or on the west
12:27
coast on a beach just being able to
12:29
produce an amazing espresso
12:31
now the key part about it that I I find
12:34
quite interesting is the power supply
12:35
now it's a Transformer which brings that
12:38
power back to 24 volt 96 Watts at 4 amps
12:42
now that might not mean much to you but
12:45
when you're caravanning and you've got
12:47
um a couple of batteries in there which
12:48
is basically 12 volt I'll be able to
12:51
convert that 12 volt to 24 volt and use
12:54
this no matter where I am I don't have
12:56
to be plugged into power I don't have to
12:58
run a generator I can simply run it from
13:01
batteries now I think that's pretty cool
13:04
and I can pump out espressos really
13:07
quick and have full control over my
13:09
pressure profiling which is something
13:11
that I really enjoy doing because my
13:13
home machine does have pressure
13:14
profiling and I don't really want to
13:17
miss out on that when we start to travel
13:19
so when it comes to build quality the
13:22
engineering's really amazing I can't
13:24
fault this you know the beautiful
13:26
finishes there's been a couple updates
13:28
with the new arms I really like the fact
13:30
that they change that the gauge is good
13:33
it's it's pretty responsive depending on
13:35
how much pressure you've got to put on
13:36
it it really comes down to you being
13:38
able to provide even pressure and over
13:41
time you do start to get really good at
13:43
that it does come in a range of colors
13:46
which is great some whites Grays and a
13:49
couple of cool funky ones as well and
13:51
the fact that they give you a naked
13:53
basket and a nice Timber turned handle
13:55
which matches the Timber on the Press
13:57
it's just finished really well the
14:00
products designed in the US it does it's
14:03
actually made in China which is fine
14:05
that's pretty much what happens with
14:07
most things these days so all round for
14:11
me it ticks a lot of boxes you know I'd
14:13
love to hear if you've got one of these
14:15
or you've had a play whether you maybe
14:17
had the previous models which didn't
14:19
have the electric heating element you
14:21
know what challenges you found whether
14:23
you liked it you know would you upgrade
14:25
to this perhaps model for me electronic
14:28
models straight away because having that
14:30
heat consistency is just the key to
14:33
making a great espresso I would swap out
14:36
the basket there probably pop in a VST
14:38
for myself getting up to my 22 and a
14:40
half gram recipe with that VST 22 gram
14:43
basket I'd definitely be looking at
14:45
doing some W bit DT and NCD use onto
14:49
that for Puck prep and then that does
14:52
give you a much better extraction and it
14:56
just looks gorgeous under that group
14:57
handle so that's how I use it so a
15:00
couple of little extra extra accessories
15:02
I'd advise you grab and look
15:05
realistically it's for the black coffee
15:07
drinker it doesn't froth milk so don't
15:10
go out and get one of these if you're
15:12
thinking that you want to make a
15:13
cappuccino or a latte because it's just
15:15
not going to do it so it's really about
15:17
that black coffee getting a beautiful
15:20
single origin and making a wonderful
15:22
espresso no matter where you are so I
15:25
can't fault it I love it you know if
15:28
it's something you've got any questions
15:29
about hey shoot me a question in the
15:32
comments below I'd love to answer that
15:33
for you if you're in Australia they'll
15:35
be on our online store I'm happy to help
15:37
you out with those if you're local to us
15:39
hey come in have a look we're in the mid
15:41
North Coast in New South Wales between
15:43
Sydney and Brisbane and we'll come in
15:44
and make you a coffee
15:46
so the big question where does the flare
15:48
58 sit in price well the electronic
15:51
model is more expensive than the
15:54
non-electric and it's around a thousand
15:56
dollar Mark The More Travel style units
15:59
which don't have the electricity in them
16:01
range between four to six hundred
16:03
dollars and you can get a travel case as
16:05
well so you can get a smaller compact
16:08
version if you want to Chuck it in your
16:09
luggage and take it with your traveling
16:11
so thanks very much for watching guys I
16:13
hope that's helped you understand a bit
16:14
more about the Flair 58 and whether that
16:16
is something that you would love in your
16:18
home coffee collection all right cheers
16:20
we'll catch you next time bye
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