Wasn't aware about Meticulous machine coming out, thanks for the info. Watched the presentation video, quite interesting concept ... just a bit confused about 85°C brewing water temperature used/suggested by constructor. I believe it can go higher (to "normal" espresso brewing temperatures) as he said but this is giving me a kind of strange feeling. Good luck with it ...

Was supposed to do some testing today and trying ab's trick and ... we lost power from 8 AM to 5 PM So hopefully tomorrow I do some more shots. Basically both Flair and the merchant are accepting a return but are advising me to take another two weeks with it to see if I would get used to the shift because they are both assuring me this is a normal migration and it takes some "getting used to". I still remain not 100% convinced by this claim and to Brewzologist's point - yeah, you are right, I cannot go buy and return machines in the hopes of getting a "good" unit.

vit, haha this is exactly the video I was watching last night to see if that shifting moment occurs and I fell asleep before it got it lol. You could see the event occurs but Lance does not appear to try and get the pressure back up to 9 bar.

jpender, unfortunately true - F58 is one of its kind - manual, heating element, pressure feedback and a very simplified workflow. You don't get all of that on any other machine.

I must admit, I as well am interested in Meticulous and was thinking of having the Flair as a supplementary machine for when I feel like I want more hands-on brewing experience. The price of those together is quite smaller than one of my original ideas - to stick with Bianca (but in white this time!).

Decisions, decisions ...

I have the original 58, and don't seem to have your problem. Your pressure is all over the place. I preinfuse, then bring the pressure to 8-9 bars, then start backing off the pressure after pulling about 20g. Here's a vid of my routine:
Rob

Is this also your video (youtube just suggested it at the end of above video) ? I think I can see this issue at 2:15 (though to less extent than on OP's video)
This probably also depends on exact moment of changing from preinfusion to full pressure and maybe some other details that vary slightly from user to user

I do 1:3 shots and based on what I saw in his videos he was already backing off the pressure before the lever would trigger the drop.

I agree that it depends on the process.

For me it's 5-10 seconds of 1-1.5 bars of pressure for the preinfusion, then I extract at six bars until about 50g and let it taper down naturally.

I can recreate it every time it's just less significant with the method I've been doing a few days into this thread.

vit wrote:Is this also your video (youtube just suggested it at the end of above video) ? I think I can see this issue at 2:15 (though to less extent than on OP's video)

This probably also depends on exact moment of changing from preinfusion to full pressure and maybe some other details that vary slightly from user to user

I have the new plunger style valve and I get a similar shift in the plunger, similar to what we see in this video.
The drop in pressure is only about 0.5 bar so it's not a concern really.
There is however a 2nd, more "violent" shift but it's much later in the pull. It doesn't happen even on a 60g yield. It mostly happens when I discard the excess water while the puck still has resistance.

I tried aligning the plunger before the pull and I did notice a lesser "shift" but it's very incremental for me.

To the OP, if you're ok with the amount of "shift" showed in the previous video, maybe check with Flair if they are willing to replace your unit instead of returning it for a refund?

I mean, I also have my eyes on the Meticulous but even though it would allow for more control over the Flair58 and may actually have the potential to brew slightly better espresso (at least more consistently), I fear (scratch that .. I know!) I would miss the pleasure of the tactile part of a manual lever extraction.

JonTheFisherman wrote:jpender, unfortunately true - F58 is one of its kind - manual, heating element, pressure feedback and a very simplified workflow. You don't get all of that on any other machine.

You can get everything in your list in another machine except for the heating part.

Yep, that's my vid...I do usually get a little "wiggle" part way thru the shot, but I don't get a big pressure drop.

I just saw something on the manual machine thread on Espresso Afficionados Discord about a new update on the Flair 58 , specifically targeting the plunger from what I gather. Anybody heard anything?

Hi All,

i was having the same issue with my new flair 58, and was experiencing a mid shot pressure drop, this was significantly impacting my extraction and my cups were coming bitter, flat and of bad quality. Flair customer service reverted to me that this drop in pressure is normal and is part of the workflow, however i was not satisfied and decided to return the machine, until i gave it a last try and removed the back small non latching hook (the black part with a pin), and to my surprise this made all the difference, and the issue is fully resolved. i managed to brew excellent shot quality today and also pressure was very consistent. so if you are facing the same issue, i advise you to remove this back hook and this will solve the issue fully. enjoy! Nasser