happycat wrote:How do you heat the metal cylinder with the microwave option? Just pour in hot water?

That would be the safe approach. But it's very likely okay to heat the metal parts in the microwave if they are submerged in water. Well, I'm pretty sure it's okay...

naked-portafilter wrote:At 2300m it performed just perfect:

<video>

I used to do long bike trips... that looks awesome. I took a hario mini and aeropress in those days. Flair would be so much cooler.

... and heavier ...

At 1200 m, water boils at about 96°C, so everything will be 4°C colder than on the sea level and you'll have to compensate for it with darker roast, longer extraction, more preheating etc ...

naked-portafilter wrote:At 2300m it performed just perfect:

<video>

Thanks, nice video by the way!

vit wrote:... and heavier ...

At 1200 m, water boils at about 96°C, so everything will be 4°C colder than on the sea level and you'll have to compensate for it with darker roast, longer extraction, more preheating etc ...

Exactly. No chance for third wave experiments

As I said, I only take it to my kids homes when we visit. So, I heat a cup or two of water in a Pyrex measuring cup and just drop the portafilter into it. It does come out hot.

The only problem I've had is the little round piece comes loose and a small little sliver piece of plastic has broken off that holds it in place (this is the top of the plastic piston--caused by the roller rolling to the edge).

I'm at 7000 feet. I don't use it often at home, but do think that it still makes a good cup at that this altitude.

naked-portafilter wrote:Exactly. No chance for third wave experiments

What about a finer grind and longer preinfusion and maybe even some pauses during the pull... can pull lighter roasts....

I will try it next year , thanks

Bought a standard Flair, second hand , of a UK coffee forum for my trip to Germany.
Must say it produces really good espresso. My home machine is a Vesuvius combined with a Compak E10 so was going to miss my espresso until I bought the Flair.
After reading the User thread my process was:
Preheat the brewhead by boiling in kettle with water
16 grams of my medium roasted, Honduras Fuerza La Labor
34g out
Temp in brew chamber just before piston on Thermapen 94c. The brewhead moved from kettle to flair in a few seconds.
TDS 9.6% with an Extraction yield of 21.1%
Crema was thicker than I get on my home machine but all the flavours I get there were coming through.
For a travel espresso that packs in its own box it gives excellent results. Buying an additional brewhead from Flair as the workflow is smoother with two as cleaning out the head before espresso number 2 is tricky as its still hot.
Glad I decided to go ahead and buy as it has kept me caffeinated the last two weeks.

If price is an issue, Flair is offering a 25% discount on blemished models with only cosmetic, not functional issues. With this discount, at $120 for the Flair Classic model, its almost a no-brainer. They even throw in the metal tamper to sweeten the deal. Check it out, one per customer: https://www.flairespresso.com/blemished

Note: I'm not connected to the company, just received an alert about the savings and haven't seen it mentioned here yet.