User Experience: Flair Signature PRO - Page 7

#61: Post by **SunSurfH2o** » November 20th, 2019, 3:20 pm

dale_cooper wrote:Thanks! Wasn't looking for a silver bullet as I'm used to fishing. My question was more of a general question that I'm not crazy to think I should be going quite a bit more coarse on the flair. Reading a couple other resources, it seems to be that the flair prefers a grind in between "standard espresso" and drip. I'll just do more experimenting tonight of going way coarse and seeing what happens to shot timing, and viscosity of the liquid coming out.

FYI, I'm used to 58mm shots pulled on my breville dual boiler, doing a slayer style shot with increasing pressure.

Following flair's suggestion of 18g had a thin looking shot and sour.

Updosed to 20g after reading this thread - now we're getting somewhere. Better taste, feel, but the time is too slow. Went quite a bit more coarse, and the timing and viscosity seemed to improve. I'm going to keep going more coarse at 20g just to experiment and see what happens. I guess I was looking for ...

"yes Joe, try dosing to 20g, and go much more coarse than you may be used to when pulling shots on a 58mm machine".

I completely recognize all the variables in anything related to coffee. Contrary to belief, there is simplistic general direction you can give someone without going down a rabbit hole.

Great to hear your getting better results. General questions lacking specificity puts people like myself that wants to help you at a disadvantage. We have no way of knowing how much background you have in brewing espresso. It's a simple suggestion, feel free to ignore. As to the proper grind for someone with your vast base of knowledge, it's no where near drip. Stick to "a few clicks coarser than what you grind out for your 58 mm and equivalent dose." Problem here though is i don't know what a few clicks end up being on your grinder. That could be measured it .02 mm or in .30 mm or larger still. Best of luck!

November 20th, 2019, 6:16 pm

Just did 3 more shots. 20, 20.5, 20.5 (I'm using light and medium roasted SO). Went coarse and even more coarse. Lever was easier to manage (not requiring ridiculous power), good shot timing, flow, etc.... and dang, pretty good taste! I think I have enough to play around with now.

Now I just gotta figure out some workflow tips with this thing. Things like - putting just enough water in so I don't necessarily have to weigh my output and let off the lever early, etc It really isn't too much work to pull a shot though, in fact, less than I expected. Water is quick to heat up in my kettle. I can go weigh out the beans, grind directly from my niche into the portafilter, tamp lightly. Fill up the brew chamber with boiling water, dump, maybe do it again (or maybe experiment with steaming preheat from mokapot base). Put on top of portafilter, put in flair, and go.

I can do all this, easier than the heating and prep on my BDB... nice! This just may be the ticket to satisfy an espresso fix for me, without having a machine.

November 20th, 2019, 7:17 pm

One thing I've been doing to make my workflow easier is just sticking the entire brew chamber in my PID kettle with a pair of tongs. The silicone is still relatively cool enough to transfer to the portafilter with your hands. I waste less water this way and the brew chamber gets right to my desired temperature.

#64: Post by **SunSurfH2o** » November 20th, 2019, 9:56 pm

dale_cooper wrote:Now I just gotta figure out some workflow tips with this thing. Things like - putting just enough water in so I don't necessarily have to weigh my output and let off the lever early, etc ...(or maybe experiment with steaming preheat from mokapot base).

so make sure that you never under-fill the chamber or else you get a sponge and spring-back behavior due to air's compressibility. you can customize the volume of chamber simply by pressing the plunger in before you preheat and fill. I find that with my 18-19 g dose if I sink the plunger about 9-10 mm i can fill all the way to the well and complete a 1:2.5 pull fairly often. Experiment and soon you'll sight the height you need to start the plunger for this brainless, scaleless volumetric pull.

what kettle are you using to preheat? i set my kettle to boil and place the entire brew head on the steam vents. by the time i have my water ready i have my brew head up to temp as well and don't need the tongs or to waste any water preheating.

November 20th, 2019, 10:05 pm

Yeah I've been pushing the plunger in before I fill - seems to work well. I have a Stagg kettle and omg it appears the brew head fits on the top, perfectly centered, with the steam holes in the brew head. Wonder if the excess heat will discolor the the lid handle on the stagg kettle. That's such an awesome tip though, gotta try it.

#66: Post by **drgary** » November 21st, 2019, 12:15 am

dale_cooper wrote:Just did 3 more shots. 20, 20.5, 20.5 (I'm using light and medium roasted SO). Went coarse and even more coarse. Lever was easier to manage (not requiring ridiculous power), good shot timing, flow, etc.... and dang, pretty good taste! I think I have enough to play around with now.

Now I just gotta figure out some workflow tips with this thing. Things like - putting just enough water in so I don't necessarily have to weigh my output and let off the lever early, etc It really isn't too much work to pull a shot though, in fact, less than I expected. Water is quick to heat up in my kettle. I can go weigh out the beans, grind directly from my niche into the portafilter, tamp lightly. Fill up the brew chamber with boiling water, dump, maybe do it again (or maybe experiment with steaming preheat from mokapot base). Put on top of portafilter, put in flair, and go.

I can do all this, easier than the heating and prep on my BDB... nice! This just may be the ticket to satisfy an espresso fix for me, without having a machine.

Joe,

I'm glad you're making progress. For simplicity, rather than decide on a dose weight and adjust the amount of brew water, I would eliminate a variable and leave the top of the cylinder all the way up. Adjust the dose and grind to go with that amount of brew water. You'll dial in by taste. For workflow I also found it effective to fill the cylinder twice with water off the boil while it's seated in the silicone cap. I did that first before weighing my dose and grinding. Then I emptied it out and filled it again with water off the boil. Now it was time to fill the portafilter, tamp, and place the shower screen on top. You can also place the cup. Then empty the cylinder, remove the silicone cap, fasten the portafilter to the bottom, place it on the platform, fill with brew water and pull the shot.

#67: Post by **jfranco** » November 25th, 2019, 10:11 pm

dale_cooper wrote:Flair pro users - how much more coarse are you having to go with regard to grind, compared to pulling a shot of the same beans on a pump machine?

I'm done experimenting for the night, trying to dial this thing in, but I don't think I've been going coarse enough....

Thanks!

For some reference, I'm using a Sette 30 with a Flair Pro and a with Robot along with light-medium roasted beans.
With the Flair Pro, my grind setting is on number 11. For the Robot, it is on number 5.