A Guide to Brewing Espresso with Your Flair

Espresso 101: Learn the basics of espresso

Admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 08:00:22 +0000

Espresso Guide

Espresso 101: Learn the Basics of Espresso

What is Espresso?
Espresso is a method of brewing coffee, otherwise known as an extraction method. It is not a specific coffee bean or roast type! The major difference between espresso and other coffee brewing methods is pressure. To brew espresso, hot water is forced through a bed of finely ground coffee at high pressure, typically between 6 and 9 BAR. The contact between the coffee and the water at pressure results in a higher level of extraction, meaning that the natural oils and gasses in the coffee grounds are drawn out. The result is a stronger, more robust, but smaller coffee beverage with a layer of natural foam on top, called crema.

While espresso is higher in caffeine, per ounce, than regular brewed coffee, one or two shots of espresso normally will have less caffeine overall than an 8oz cup of brewed coffee.

What is Crema?
Crema is the thick layer of foam that gathers on the top of a correctly brewed shot of espresso. This foam is the result of carbon dioxide in your grounds that is off-gassed and initially dissolved into solution as the pressurized water passes over the freshly ground coffee. Then as the liquid returns to atmospheric pressure, that carbon dioxide comes out of solution forming bubbles that become wrapped with a liquid film composed primarily of emulsified oils and small bean fragments, or fines.

Crema blooms in your cup in what is known as the Guinness effect, as can be seen in the image below. While all espresso should have some crema in the cup, the amount of crema from a correctly brewed shot can differ based on roast levels and bean type. In general, Arabica beans typically feature less crema than Robusta beans, and lightly roasted coffees will typically have less crema than medium or dark roasts. Additionally, the color of the foam will reflect the strength of the beverage, as it is ‘colored’ by the refraction of light through the foam.

Why is Crema Important?
At Flair, we use crema as a simple success indicator. While not the most important aspect of brewing, seeing crema bloom in your cup means that you have succeeded in combining the baseline inputs needed for extraction. Not getting crema means that you may need to adjust one of the major inputs to brewing espresso with Flair: your coffee beans, your grinder, resistance in your coffee bed, and water temperature, as seen below.

Crema and Your Coffee Grounds – As mentioned above, the amount of crema you achieve can be dependent on the coffee that you’re using. While light roasts may have less crema than darker roasts, if you don’t see any crema in your cup, you should check your beans to ensure they are freshly roasted. Look for ‘Roasted On’ dates and ignore the ‘Good By’ dates, as those tend to be extremely optimistic. Specialty (craft) coffee roasters rarely place ‘Good By’ dates on their bags of coffee. For the best extraction, use beans that have been roasted within two weeks of brewing. Additionally, make sure that your beans are ground immediately before brewing. If you buy pre-ground coffee, you’ll almost never get crema, as the CO2 in whole beans naturally releases over time, but almost immediately upon grinding. Once beans are ground you have a matter of minutes before the bulk of the remaining CO2 escapes.
Crema and Your Grinder – Your grinder is incredibly important in ensuring that you reach proper extraction from your Flair and see crema in your cup. Aside from the importance of your grind size itself, we must also address the quality and type of your grinder for fine espresso grind. We recommend using a high quality burr grinder, with precise steps, or adjustments, of roughly .02mm, like our Royal grinder. A burr grinder like this, with metal burrs, can help ensure consistent grounds, which will yield a consistent extraction.
Crema and Resistance – You can’t get crema without pressure, and the way you build pressure with the Flair is by ensuring that your coffee grounds are fine enough to create proper resistance to the flow of your brew water. This way, the water can only be forced through at higher pressure, which is the prerequisite for espresso brewing. If you don’t see crema in your cup, and your lever is easy to lower, it is most likely because you haven’t ground your beans fine enough. At the correct resistance levels, you should be brewing at between 6 and 9 BAR pressure for between 35 and 45 seconds. This is our starting recommendation, but we encourage you to experiment from here once you’re dialed in to a great looking, but most importantly great tasting espresso!
Crema and Temperature – Your brew temperature, along with your pressure, is what facilitates the emulsification of the oils in your coffee grounds while brewing. If you’re not seeing crema, it’s possible you’re brewing at too low a temperature to ensure proper extraction at your brew times.

The post Espresso 101: Learn the basics of espresso appeared first on Flair Espresso.

What’s in a Bean: Learn about coffee

Admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 09:00:37 +0000

Espresso Guide

Coffee Beans and Espresso: The Basics

Introduction
Contrary to popular belief, espresso is not a specific type of coffee bean. When you see a package of coffee listed as “espresso,” it only means that the coffee roaster recommends that blend for use in an espresso machine. In general, any roasted coffee can be used in any type of extraction method, including espresso.

Types of Coffee Beans
While coffee beans differ in size, caffeine content, terroir and processing, they will fall into one of two species of the Coffee genera: Arabica and Robusta. So, in the context of Arabica vs Robusta, who would win in terms of the best tasting coffee? Most will overwhelmingly say that Arabica is the higher quality and better tasting bean, but it’s absolutely up to your preference. Some of the major differences are below:

Arabica – Historically considered to be the higher quality and better tasting coffee, Arabica requires higher altitudes for growing, more moisture and the plants are more susceptible to damage. When compared to Robusta, Arabica is lower in acidity, lower in caffeine, and generally has a smoother and more delicate flavor. In lighter roast levels, Arabica can take on many different flavors from floral to sweet and fruity.
Robusta – Long considered around the world to be of a lower quality, Robusta typically grows in a wider range of climates and altitudes making it a more resilient, higher yield coffee plant. Robusta can have a higher caffeine level (almost double!) and higher acidity, contributing to a flavor profile that most consider to be harsh. About 40% of coffee grown around the world is Robusta, and is traded on a completely different market than Arabica coffee.

Where Does Coffee Come From?
Based on the volume of genetic diversity found in heirloom and natural growing coffee varieties found in Ethiopia, it is considered to be the progenitor of Arabica Coffee. Today, coffee grows all across the world, but mostly along the equator and between the Tropics of Capricorn and Cancer. Brazil exports the largest volume of coffee, followed by Vietnam and Colombia. Regardless of where it is grown, coffee is actually the seed inside of the fruit of a coffee tree, not a bean at all! Coffee will take on different tasting notes and characteristics depending on the soil and climate of where it is grown, but also how it is processed once it is harvested off of the tree. The three most popular ways to process coffee are washed process, natural process, and honey process and are differentiated by when the coffee skin and pulp are removed from the seed during the drying process. Each process will drastically change the coffee’s flavor. This is part of what makes coffee tasting so diverse and fun!

What Are Roast Profiles and How Does It Impact Taste?
Pre-brewing, one of the most important factors in terms of the taste of your coffee, is the level of roast that your beans have undergone. In the past, and when coffee was originally gaining popularity across Europe, the trend was to roast darker as a strategy to hide or minimize defects in the coffee, resulting in a burnt and sometimes flame-roasted taste. Today, with more attention being put on quality throughout the supply chain in the craft coffee world, most independent cafes and roasters focus on lighter and medium roasts to bring out more of the local and inherent flavor of the beans themselves. In general, there are three major roast profiles: light, medium and dark.

Light Roast – Lightly roasted beans are higher in acidity than their darker roasted counterparts, and usually have a light floral or fruity flavor. Light roasting is done to maintain the flavor profile of the original bean, and to ensure that those flavors are not overpowered by the roasted flavor itself. These beans are also lighter in color and will feature a floral or fruity smell when opening the bag. Because these beans are lightly roasted, they will also appear quite dry because the beans haven’t been roasted long enough to extract many oils. This will make the beans harder. You’ll notice this difference in hardness when grinding for espresso, especially with hand grinders such as our Royal. Finally, lighter roasts will also have a lower amount of crema, again due to the roast level. When brewing espresso, especially with the Flair, light roasted beans are not very forgiving to under extraction, and usually require a higher temperature of brew water around 205 degrees F (96 degrees C).
Medium Roast – Generally accepted as the most prevalent roast level of coffee today, medium roasted beans usually have a flavor profile that combines fruit like orange, apricot or cherry, and roasted flavors like chocolate – but really, there are hundreds of flavors! Medium roasted beans usually have a more balanced flavor and lower acidity, when compared to light roasted beans, will be easier to grind, and a bit more forgiving when dialing in your Flair.
Dark Roast – Dark roasted beans will be, you guessed it, dark! The beans will also appear and feel oily, as the longer development and heat allows the oils held within to be driven to the surface. These roast levels are typically linked to Italian roast and French roast coffees and don’t feature many, if any, of the original flavors of the bean or its origin. These beans will feel easy to grind as compared to the light and medium roasts, and will be more forgiving – because the flavor profile is a bit burnt! Dark roasts can also be brewed at lower temperatures between 195 to 200 degrees F (90-93 degrees C). Darker roasts stale faster because the larger pores that develop allow water and moisture to more easily penetrate during storage.

Coffee Requirements for Brewing with Your Flair
Always start with whole coffee beans that were roasted within a few weeks of purchase. The act of grinding immediately releases the volatiles and aromas, and dramatically accelerates the oxidation and staling of your coffee. It is imperative that your whole beans are not ground until minutes before brewing. This will ensure the highest quality, best flavor and the most crema. Additionally, pre-ground beans will never yield good crema as the grind will typically be too coarse to hold back adequate pressure, and all the crema-producing CO2 the beans once had will have been liberated.

Try to start with coffee that the roaster has designated as good for espresso. These will have been developed to exhibit the best qualities and flavors of the coffee when brewed under pressure and extracted as a concentrate.

The post What’s in a Bean: Learn about coffee appeared first on Flair Espresso.

Before Brewing: Information before your first shot

Admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 10:00:54 +0000

Espresso Guide

Preparing to Brew with your Flair - Before your First Shot

Your Coffee Beans
Contrary to popular belief, espresso is not a specific type of coffee bean or roast type. When you see a package of coffee beans listed as espresso, it only means that the coffee roaster recommends this blend of beans or roast profile for use in an espresso machine. In general, though, any roasted coffee can be used in any type of extraction method, including espresso. For the highest quality of espresso with the Flair, the following requirements must be met:

Always start with whole coffee beans that were roasted within a few weeks of purchase. Pre-ground beans will never yield good crema as there is no standard grind size for espresso and pre-ground beans have lost nearly all stored CO2.
Try to start with coffee that roasters designate “good for espresso”. These have been selected to work well with the enhanced flavor profiles that espresso provides and, in some cases, to enhance crema formation.
It is imperative that your whole beans are not ground until minutes before brewing. This will ensure the highest quality, best flavor, and most crema.

Grinding Your Coffee Beans
Coffee ground for the Flair is finer than it would be if used in a drip coffee maker, but typically a touch coarser than you would normally use in a commercial espresso machine due to the differences in the geometry of the portafilters used on both. However, each coffee may require a slightly different grind setting to get the best extraction due to its solubility and age. To get the correct grind, you must use a burr grinder as opposed to a blade grinder. This is because burr grinders alone offer the level of control over grind size, and consistency, needed to brew with pressure. Without a burr grinder, it will be difficult to get consistent, and well-balanced extractions with your Flair.*

Burr Grinder

Crushes Beans to a Consistent Size Allows the User to Change Grind Size

Blade Grinder

Cuts Beans Inconsistently Cannot Select Different Size Grinds

In the Flair, coffee ground too coarsely, or too large, will not extract correctly and won’t yield much if any crema, as no pressure can build when forcing water through the large grounds. Alternatively, coffee ground too fine will not allow the brew water to pass through evenly or at all, and could ultimately result in breaking the Flair. If you struggle to lower the lever when trying to brew, STOP, and regrind your beans more coarsely.

*The one exception to the rule on burr grinders is if using our Flow-Control Portafilter, which comes standard with our NEO. While we always recommend using a high-quality burr grinder, it is possible to get a decent extraction with your NEO using any grinder that you have.

Tamping Your Coffee Grounds
Tamping your fresh grounds refers to packing them into the portafilter. If the grounds are not evenly distributed, channels can form allowing water to pass through only parts of the bed of coffee rather than the whole, leading to some areas of the coffee bed being over-extracted while other areas are left under-extracted. It is important to ensure all grounds are evenly distributed and the surface of the coffee bed is level. If you are trying to brew and feel significant resistance when lowering the lever, your beans are likely ground too fine.

Temperature Of Your Brew Water
Water temperature is extremely important in brewing an espresso with good crema. As a general rule, 200-204 degrees F, or 93-96 degrees C, is a good starting point for brewing. The darker the roast, the cooler the water can be, down to roughly 195 degrees F. It is important to note that preheating the Flair brewing head (and the piston, if you have the stainless steel plunger or piston) is critical to maintaining temperature stability throughout the extraction.

We at Flair recommend using a gooseneck kettle to boil your brew water, and if you don’t have a temperature gauge on your kettle use it immediately off the boil . This should yield the best results and the best extractions.

The post Before Brewing: Information before your first shot appeared first on Flair Espresso.

Advanced Brewing: Learn tips and tricks to level up

Admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 11:00:22 +0000

Espresso Guide

Advanced Brewing Techniques for Your Flair Espresso Maker

Budget espresso machines typically use flow control (aka pressurized) baskets or portafilters that both mechanically build pressure in the basket to increase contact time and aerate the stream to enhance crema. Non-pressurized baskets and portafilters, such as you find on the Flair Classic, Signature and PRO 2 models, as well as commercial espresso machines, require you to properly grind, dose, distribute and tamp in order to achieve the resistance needed to brew with 6 – 9 BAR pressure. Being off by even a little bit will yield poor results when you introduce pressure to the system.

The size of your grounds determines the amount of surface area, which dictates how short or long the contact time needs to be to properly extract the coffee (all else being equal). Additionally, a grinder with too few adjustment points will prevent you from targeting the optimum particle size. You will need 60 or more adjustment points to obtain a good result, and the more the better.

As coffee ages, it loses the CO2 generated in the roast process that is chiefly responsible for crema. Always try to extract coffee that has been roasted within days or weeks, rather than months, for the best flavors and most crema. When you grind your beans you are fracturing the cell walls that hold in CO2 and other volatiles from the roast process. For best results, you should only grind your freshly roasted coffee just before it will be extracted. Every minute counts as you set the clock ticking on aroma and CO2 loss once you fracture those pockets, as well as the onset of oxidation.

Brewing with the Pressure Gauge
Brewing time should typically be between 35-45 seconds at 6-9 BAR pressure, sustained. Light roasts might require even more time for proper extraction, as well as an 8-15 second pre-infusion to prepare the bed of coffee beforehand. Everything starts with the grind and dose, which creates the optimum resistance to achieve desired pressure and brewing time. Use the Brew Chart below to adjust your grind and dose appropriately so that you can target your ideal pressure and time.

Brewing Naked or Bottomless
The Classic, Signature and PRO 2 user has the option to brew “naked” or “bottomless” by removing the included spout. Brewing without the spout provides an unobstructed view of the filter screen where the extraction happens. With the help of a small compact mirror, ideally with 3-5x magnification, you can easily observe the extraction as it occurs. This is vital information for determining the evenness of extraction across the entire coffee bed; a spouted portafilter hides this information.

If you observe regions that are significantly lighter or darker than the average, you have areas of over and under extraction relative to the whole. This suggests that there may have been issues with your distribution or tamping for that given shot, and that brew water has flowed more easily through some parts of the coffee bed than others due to channels opening up under pressure.

When channels open up, allowing water to flow faster in a localized area. These higher velocity streams, relative to the average flow through the cake, usually result in sprays or sprites emanating from the underside of the filter screen. If you have the spout attached, you won’t notice these forming. Brewing bottomless, however, you will notice these very quickly as they spray your counter and anything within reach.

Another source of these unwanted occurrences is partial blockage of one or more of the filter holes by bean fragments. Consider the following example. You’re out in your yard, and place your thumb over the perfectly round end of your garden hose, partially occluding the exit. As a result you increase the pressure, velocity and trajectory of the stream. This phenomenon is good for the garden, but not for brewing bottomless. There’s little we can do about partial occlusion, but channeling can be combated with good distribution techniques and pre-infusion.

TIP: if a jet of coffee occurs, a subtle but momentary decrease in pressure is sometimes enough to either dislodge the material or collapse a formed channel.

Pre-infusion with your Flair
Pre-infusion is the act of saturating the coffee cake with brew water at a low pressure, typically around 1-2 BAR, for a short period of time, usually 8-10 seconds, before ramping to full pressure. The goal is to evenly soak the entire puck without kicking-off extraction which would be categorized by a measurable accumulation of extracted beverage in the cup. By doing so, you can achieve higher extraction rates and minimize the occurrences of channels forming in the coffee bed when higher pressure is later applied.

By monitoring the filter basket from below while brewing bottomless, you can accurately control the low-pressure pre-infusion and prevent extraction from occurring by backing off the lever when you see the first drops beginning to push through the filter. To introduce pre-infusion into your brew, slowly pull the lever down until 1-2 BAR is reporting on the gauge, then modulate the active force to keep it there for the remainder of time you are targeting. Once you have reached the desired pre-infusion time, move forward with extraction as normal. If you are unable to hold back flow for the desired time, grind finer until you can.

It’s important that you do not abruptly release the lever or active force in between pre-infusion and extraction phases: Simply apply low-pressure, hold or modulate as needed, then ramp to high-pressure and complete the pull. For the o-rings installed inside the cylinder to engage and seal against the portafilter, the commencement of the pull must be marked with a constant and firm force on the lever. Should the forces applied to the lever waver or diminish significantly e.g. pumping the lever, the cylinder may rise up in an attempt to release pressure through expansion of the brew head, and result in separation of the brew components. NEVER PUMP THE HANDLE. If you do not wish to include a pre-infusion in your brew, we recommend a slow ramp up from “0” to your desired brew pressure. Always continue in the direction of the pull once you have started.

Pressure Profiling with Your Flair
You can use your pressure gauge to utilize pressure profiles that mimic other machines, from other lever-based machines to high-end modern pumps with customizable pressure profiling capabilities. As you pull the shot, you can ‘draw’ the pressure out accurately against the time axis with the help of a timing device such as your phone, watch or a coffee specific scale that includes a timer.

Two examples of possible profiles to try are shown below. One is similar to a conventional straight 9 BAR pump machine while the other is similar to a standard lever machine. Using a timing device, attempt to hit the pressure changes at the appropriate time. Note that in both of these examples, there is a slow ramp up of pressure before peaking at 9 BAR. It is believed that the act of ramping slowly, as opposed to immediately hitting peak pressure, achieves higher extraction yields. You will discover that you can grind finer while achieving the same brew times as you would with a straight to peak pressure profile using a coarser grind. The ability to grind finer is particularly useful when trying to achieve a higher extraction with lighter roasts, which typically are a challenge to find the right levels of sweetness, acidity and body one is hoping for in an espresso.

CAUTION: If you find that you have ground too finely and there is little to no flow occurring into your cup with a pressure as high as 10 BAR, you’ll need to start again with a coarser grind and/or lower dose. At this point, you have built up pressure within the chamber that will need to be released before you remove the brew head from the base. Using your free hand, hold the brew head down firmly while you raise the lever fully. Next, while still holding down the cylinder, lift up on the stem of the piston (the part the gauge attaches to). This will release the pressure in the system and make it safe to remove the brew head from the base. Skipping this step may allow the cylinder to “pop-up” and off the portafilter, releasing the brew water within.

The post Advanced Brewing: Learn tips and tricks to level up appeared first on Flair Espresso.

Espresso Brew Ratios: How to measure your output

Admin — Mon, 17 Aug 2020 12:00:34 +0000

Espresso Guide

Brew Ratios and Espresso: A Guide for Your Flair

Introduction
In the world of espresso, understanding brew ratios can be difficult. What is a double shot, and is it even relevant anymore? What is a ristretto shot or a lungo shot? And how do each of these impact my coffee’s taste? These questions all pertain to your brew ratio, or the amount of espresso that is yielded from your coffee grounds. This article will discuss brew ratios in general, and also how they relate to, and can be managed, with your Flair. The video above is a detailed explanation by one of our favorites in the world of espresso, James Hoffman.

Measuring by Volume vs. by Weight
In the past, espresso was measured by volume, where a single shot of espresso was roughly 30 milliliters and a double shot was roughly twice this volume, or 60 milliliters. However, this type of measurement is not accurate when it comes to really understanding what is going on with the coffee in your cup, as it doesn’t take into account how much coffee, or grounds, is creating that shot, or shots. In other words, 60 ml of coffee will taste wildly different if it comes from 18 grams of grounds vs 24 grams of grounds.

In addition, if you only measure your espresso shot by volume, it’s impossible to match up or stay consistent with your recipe as your coffee slowly off-gasses and has less crema. As an example, a coffee that was brewed two days after roasting will have significantly more crema in 60ml of a double shot than if that coffee was used two or three weeks after roasting. The volume of the shot is the same, but the amount of crema will differ vastly, meaning two very different tastes from two different recipes.

Ratio by Weight
Because of this, it’s important to measure your espresso shot based on the input weight of your coffee grounds compared to the output weight of the espresso in your cup. This relationship, or ratio, between your grounds and your coffee dose is called a brew ratio, and it’s imperative for controlling the taste of your espresso as you dial-in and seek to brew a similar shot time after time.

Why is Brew Ratio Important?
Your brew ratio is important because it’s a wonderful way to manage and replicate the desired taste of your espresso once it’s been dialed in. Beyond this, a brew ratio is an important factor to manage because it deals with the extraction of your coffee grounds by the extracting agent, your brew water. The more water you force through your coffee grounds, at pressure, the more your grounds will be dissolved. This is what’s known as your extraction. This is a three-part relationship, meaning that as you increase the water used in brewing, and increase your extraction, you’ll also decrease the relative strength of your beverage, as it will be more diluted. So, dialing in your extraction means finding the relative “sweet spot” between the weight of your coffee grounds and the weight of your drink. You want to find a range where your shot is not under-extracted, but also not overly diluted, providing a well-balanced taste and mouth feel.

Common Brew Ratios and What They Mean
The most common brew ratios that you’ll see are a ristretto, traditional and lungo shot. The ristretto shot is also known as a restricted shot, and typically features a brew ratio between 1:1 and 1:1.5. A traditional espresso is typically 1:2-1:2.5 and a lungo, or long shot, is usually about 1:3.

It’s important to remember that these ratios aren’t hard rules, and are more like guidelines. In general, you should dial-in your espresso to ensure that your taste and mouthfeel is as you want it.

Ratios with the Flair
To ensure that you’re able to get the desired weight of espresso in your cup, based on your desired brew ratio, it’s important to understand the size differences in the two brew heads that Flair products utilize: our Standard brew head and our PRO 2 brew head. The standard brew head has a maximum reservoir capacity, or maximum amount of water that will fit into the brewing chamber, of 60ml. But, the maximum output from the Standard brew head is just 45ml. In the PRO 2 brew head, the reservoir is 70ml with a maximum output of 60ml. This loss is due to absorption within the coffee cake during extraction, and it is important to note because, volumetrically, this indicates the upper level of espresso you can yield. As such, the standard brew head cannot yield a volumetric double shot, but it can easily extract a beautiful and balanced weight-based double shot of espresso.

As another example, consider the PRO 2 brew cylinder and its 60ml maximum volumetric yield. Because the density of coffee is very close to water, we can assume that 60ml roughly weighs 60 grams. So, if you use a typical dose of 20 grams of coffee in your PRO 2 portafilter, fill the cylinder completely with brew water, and lower the lever all the way, you’ll yield roughly 60 grams of coffee, making a 1:3 ratio and a lungo shot.

To effectively measure the weight of your coffee as an output (instead of just guessing as in the example above), simply place the same scale used to measure the weight of your beans under your Flair while brewing. Lower the lever, and cut your shot short as necessary when your scale reads the appropriate weight of coffee based on your selected ratio.

It’s important to note that when stopping any shot short on the Flair, hold the lever in place until the pressure has dissipated from inside the cylinder, or when your pressure gauge reads close to zero. We also recommend expelling the residual water before taking apart your brew head for cleaning. A simple process for this is to stop your shot, and while holding the lever replace your cup with a second and expel the residual water by lowering the lever completely.

The post Espresso Brew Ratios: How to measure your output appeared first on Flair Espresso.

Everything Needed to Brew Espresso at Home

Jeff Walcott — Fri, 13 May 2022 23:45:41 +0000

Espresso Guide

What does it take to brew espresso at home?

Starting a home espresso kit can feel overwhelming, but we at Flair Espresso are here to cut through the clutter, and give you an honest assessment of what’s needed to get started – and how much you can grow with any at home espresso brewing system.

Trust us, it’s not scary at all – and getting started making delicious espresso at home is easier than you think. But remember, handcrafting espresso at home is a process, and is more like cooking a meal for yourself vs placing something in the microwave.

The Basic - But Required - Kit for Brewing Delicious Espresso at Home

The basic – but absolutely required – kit for making delicious espresso at home is relatively simple. You need:

Freshly roasted beans – used within their peak freshness window
A high-quality burr grinder that can handle espresso
A kettle for boiling water, and
An espresso maker, like our Flair Classic

*But, with our Flair NEO, you can use almost any burr grinder you have – as its Flow-Control portafilter works to ensure proper pressure is achieved even with a too-coarse or inconsistent grind. The NEO is perfect for those just getting started – but as always, for the best results, you’ll want to use the best ingredients. – So let’s talk about each one of these components separately.

Using Freshly Roasted Beans for Espresso

Number one on the list of required items for espresso is freshly roasted, whole coffee beans. This might seem obvious, but the quality and freshness of your beans will greatly impact your espresso extraction. Beans that are too fresh will have an abundance of C02 in them, and beans that are too old can be stale and may not produce any crema. Pre-ground coffee, in terms of espresso, is never a good choice, even if your local café grinds the beans for you at time of purchase.

We recommend buying whole beans from a local specialty cafe, and making sure that the roast date is printed on the label. The normal peak freshness window for beans is roughly dependent on the roast level, and will start after a rest period. The peak freshness window for light, medium and dark roasted beans, as recommended by Flair, is below:

Light Roast – Rest for two weeks, use within four weeks
Medium Roast – Rest for one week, use within three weeks
Dark Roast – Rest for three days, use within two weeks

Also to note, is that as your beans age, they will off-gas more, meaning less crema in your cup, and less resistance as you brew. Older beans will require a tigher grind as compared to fresher beans.

We recommend coffees from Onyx Coffee Labs or Black and White Roasters.

Grinding Beans for Espresso: Using a High-Quality Burr Grinder

While many people think that an espresso maker is the only piece of specialty equipment needed for espresso, we cannot stress enough how important a high-quality, espresso-capable burr grinder is to your workflow. Without it, you simply won’t be able to make espresso, because only a burr grinder with enough adjustment settings can produce consistently-sized grounds that are fine enough to produce the resistance needed to build pressure inside the basket.

That might sound like science jargon, but it’s true. The number one reason people write into our support channel is that their shot pulls too fast, with too little pressure. And the number one solution we give them is to get themselves a high-quality burr grinder.

Finding a high-quality burr grinder is easy, and many can be found from online retailers. These can be manual hand grinders or electric, but you’ll usually have to spend at least $100 dollars to get a high-quality setup. Flair Espresso’s Royal Grinder is a great manual option, and will help you brew delicious espresso on any of our machines.

If you don’t have a high-quality burr grinder – or aren’t willing to spend $100+ dollars, never fear. The Flair NEO is perfect for you, and can brew delicious espresso from burr grinders that cost less than $50.

Heating Water for Espresso: Using a Kettle

The second piece of required equipment for handcrafting espresso at home is a kettle to heat your water. At the most basic level any kettle will do, and stove-top options that heat on your burner are 100% acceptable. So, if you’d like to start with what you have, you 100% can! We do believe that almost everyone has some type of stovetop kettle at the ready.

Upgrading from a regular stovetop kettle though, we’d recommend two key features:

A gooseneck kettle and,
A kettle that has the ability to heat to different temperatures.

The reason for the gooseneck is that it will make pouring your brew water into your espresso maker much easier, with less chance for spills. The importance of the temperature management is that you can then be certain what temperature your brew water is at, and you can modify this for the different types of espresso roast you’re using as you dial-in your espresso. Light roasted beans typically need hotter water – close to 95° C, while dark roasted beans use water that is closer to 85° C.

Our recommendation for a great gooseneck kettle that also has temperature control is the Brewista Artisan Electric Gooseneck Kettle.

Brewing Your Espresso: Which Espresso Maker is Right?

The third required piece of equipment you’ll need to enjoy espresso at home is an espresso maker. We at Flair have dedicated our business to creating a full line of manual espresso machines that caters to any price point and experience level.

The Flair is probably the most simple real espresso maker we know of. That’s because we designed it to remove all the buttons and gadgets, and concentrate on what’s really important in espresso brewing; forcing hot water, at pressure, through a finely ground bed of coffee. You’ll notice that in that last sentence, we mentioned all four of the required tools for brewing espresso! For hot water, you need your kettle. For finely ground coffee, you need your high quality burr grinder that grinds freshly roasted beans. And the ability to force the water through the grounds is provided by the Flair espresso maker.

We’ve been told many times that espresso brewing on the Flair is simple, but that it also provides the most control over the process, even when compared to espresso machines that cost thousands of dollars. And a wonderful feature of the Flair family of products, is that most are upgradable, meaning that as you grow in your espresso abilities, you can add accessories to enhance your workflow and process.

So, the two most basic manual espresso makers that Flair sells are The NEO and The Classic, and these can be considered the starting point for great espresso. The differences between the NEO and the Classic, is that the NEO features Flair’s Flow-Control Portafilter, which helps build pressure to ensure a consistent and even extraction, regardless of how well you’ve ground your beans. This means that with the NEO, you can use any grinder, and you’ll get decent results in your cup.

The Classic, on the other hand, features a bottomless portafilter, which means a high-quality burr grinder is required to ensure a good extraction at pressure. So why would anyone choose the Classic over the NEO? It’s because being able to dial-in and control your shot is the best way to ensure you like the results of your extraction. On the NEO, you can’t control and change your variables like your extraction time or your pressure profile. But on the Classic, and any Flair espresso maker above it, like our Signature, PRO 2 or Flair 58, you can do whatever you’d like!

Optional Upgrades to Enhance Your Espresso Brewing Workflow

Now that we’ve gone through the absolute required kit to brew espresso at home (a maker, kettle ,high-quality burr grinder, and freshly roasted whole beans) let’s talk about other accessories that aren’t required, but definitely enhance the brewing process.

Managing Your Flow and Profile with a Pressure Gauge

First up is a pressure gauge. It is now generally accepted that specialty espresso is brewed between 6 and 9 BAR of pressure, with the brewer being able to select the exact pressure to ensure their shot of espresso isn’t under or over extracted.

Without a pressure gauge, it is impossible to tell what pressure you’re brewing at, and so we at Flair have created a beautiful and custom gauge that can be used on any of our espresso makers. Indeed, this gauge comes standard on our higher-end models, starting with the Flair Signature, but for those that chose to start with a Flair NEO or Classic, this gauge is available for only $56 dollars and is readily compatible.

Using a Scale to Manage Your Dose and Espresso Brew Ratios

Use of a scale while brewing is a key upgrade that any home barista will need to improve the level and quality of their extractions. Really, there are two major benefits to using a scale as part of your espresso workflow:

The first benefit is that you can accurately dose your coffee before grinding. This is important because ensuring the consistency of your espresso relies on knowing the weight of your coffee that you use in each shot; resistance is a function of grind size but also dose Without a scale, this is impossible!
The second benefit is that you can use the same scale to measure how much espresso you are extracting from your Flair espresso maker. Knowing the ratio of your input to your output allows you to pull different recipes with your espresso maker, such as a 2:1 shot, or a 3:1

In addition to the two basic benefits a scale provides – more experienced espresso brewers will also want to manage their flow rate with a specialty scale that can track the grams per second that is being extracted.

In terms of price, scales can range from simple electric units to high-end specialty scales made for coffee brewing. In general, we think that if you’re going to upgrade to a scale, spending the money will be worth it. Our recommendation is the Acaia Lunar, which can be found here.

Making Latte Art For Your Cappucinos and Lattes

Okay, you don’t just want to drink straight espresso at home, we get it, and you’re not alone. The vast majority of beverages made from espresso at a coffee shop or café have milk in them, either in the form of a latte or a cappuccino. But how do you get that delicious foamy beverage in your home that will meet all your requirements? The answer is a milk frother.

Milk frothers come in many different shapes and sizes, prices and styles. They range from simple and easy to use, more like an electric stirring wand, to full steam wands. In our experience, these can be separated into three categories:

Hand-held Frothing Wand
Electric Heating and Frothing Cup
Steam-powered Frothing Wand

The hand-held frothing wand will be the most affordable option, but does require that you heat your milk separately, like on the stove or in a microwave. These options take some getting used to, and the most inexpensive options on Amazon won’t give you the froth needed for latte art. If you’re interested in a hand-held electric wand, we suggest you go for the Nanofoamer, by subminimal, which we sell on our website. This wand is made for latte-art, and is the most affordable option we can find.

An electric heating and frothing cup, like the Bodum Bistro series, will heat and froth milk simultaneously, all inside a single cup you can use to pour into your espresso. Buyer beware here, we haven’t had great latte art results with this foam, but it closely mimics the consistency you’d get from a café, and considering it’s a heater too, this is a great option for those that want ease of use and convenience.

Finally, a steam-powered wand, like something you’d find in your local café, can be used and is your best option to replicate the latte art you’d find in a high-end, third wave cafe. The Bellman is a good option here, but using this tool isn’t the easiest. Because the Bellman requires real steam to operate, it must be heated on the stove before each use, a process which takes up to five minutes. But, once the steam is up to pressure inside the steamer, using the wand is simple and straightforward, and allows you to practice your latte art – which is a whole other process entirely!

So that’s it – those are the required, and optional additional accessories, that any home barista needs to handcraft espresso at home.

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