Test Drive: Making Espresso by Hand with the Flair 58 Plus 2 Espresso Maker

The Flair 58 Plus 2 Takes Manual Espresso to the Max

BY JOSH TAVES
BARISTA MAGAZINE ONLINE

As a long time coffee professional, I’m conflicted about the “home espresso scene.” Hear me out.

I think my biggest hang-up is that home baristas and commercial baristas are chasing two different things and those two things get confused. Group A—the folks with very little hands-on coffee experience—want to chase nearly unattainable perfection without understanding what that actually means, and they will either spend far too much money doing it or wish they had spent more.

Then there’s Group B—the professional baristas who have all of the coffee knowledge and the gear to make exceptional espresso at work and they really just want to make 100 decent shots in a row and go home with their tip money.

Both groups have difficult and lofty goals that take a level of expertise that can take years to build. And you can’t achieve one goal through the path of the other group and vice versa. They can inform each other, but they aren’t the same. Two ways to espresso, both valid, both different.

There is, however, a way to please both parties, and it comes in the form of the all new  Flair 58 Plus 2. While on the one hand, it is squarely in the home barista category, I can tell you that as a professional barista, I’m really enjoying it.

This espresso maker doesn’t confuse the paths of home barista and professional barista, and in the end, I think that’s my favorite thing about it. It’s not “prosumer,” and it’s not $12,000, but it does allow any form of pressure or temperature profiling your heart desires in a simple, durable, and highly modifiable package. There is no end to the espresso-nerdery heights you could climb to with the Flair 58 Plus 2. And, if you really wanna mess around, I would argue it is more capable of parameter adjustments than much more expensive machines like a La Marzocco, La Spaziale, or Lelit. And that’s what being a home barista is all about, right?

If you’re unfamiliar with Flair, they’ve been around for a while making espresso makers that operate with a lever and piston to apply manual pressure to the bed of espresso grounds like a commercial citrus juicer you might see at a bar. Flair machines do not grind coffee, they do not heat water, but they are popular with the home espresso crowd on a budget. The 58 Plus 2 is their newest model and has all the bells and whistles. 

First off, Flair has specced a commercial standard 58mm bottomless portafilter for the 58 Plus 2, so if you want to use an aftermarket basket, they’ve got you covered. There is even a handy magnetic mirror you can attach to watch your extraction and fully utilize the bottomless aspect of the portafilter. 

As far as water management is concerned, the Flair 58 Plus 2’s main upgrade over its less expensive siblings is the integrated heating element built into the brew chamber. This allows you to preheat the brew chamber to one of three pre-set temperatures to ensure minimal heat loss when you add your water. Want to play around with different temperature settings for your espresso? Grab a good electric kettle, and you’re set. 

Lastly we all know you need proper pressure to extract espresso. Like all of the equipment in the Flair line, the 58 Plus 2 uses a long handle to apply the pressure with an integrated pressure gauge to show exactly how much pressure you are applying. Want to pre-wet, ramp up to 12 bar, and then back down to four bar at the end with a 201°F brew temp? You can do that. Want a consistent six bar at 183°F? You can do that, too. Sixty-second shot at three bar? You do you. 

Wood handles, a sturdy base, and a flat black finish make this machine a stunner, as well. And if you’re still not satisfied with infinite temperature and pressure profiles, you can check out Naked Portafilter’s website for a bluetooth integrated graphing app that you can add. There are also a host of other aftermarket accessories for the Flair 58 if you go looking!

Alright, but why did I like it? Here’s what I did: I heated up the chamber, loaded 18g of a coffee I knew nothing about into the portafilter, tamped it (the tamp that comes with the unit is really nice to use, it should be noted), loaded the portafilter, poured 201°F water from my kettle, and pressed gradually until I got to nine bar. I then pulled the cup when I reached 2oz of volume.

The shot was shockingly delightful. No scale on the drip tray, basic pressure profile, no ultra fancy coffee. When was the last time you pulled a shot without thinking of all the parameters and just enjoyed it? I know it’s been a while for me. And herein lies the beauty of the Flair 58 Plus 2 and why it will be staying on my bar for a while: while it is perhaps the most infinitely adaptable home espresso maker on the market, it is also one of the simplest. It was a joy to use. I could think about the shot way too much or not at all, and both experiences brought me joy.  

So, there you go. If you want to make a bunch of drinks in a row, steam beautiful cappuccino milk, or prepare for the U.S. Coffee Championships at your house, this isn’t what you want. But if you want something simple that allows for maximum espresso nerdery, I don’t think you could find a better espresso maker than the Flair 58 Plus 2.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR

Josh Taves owns Dialed Coffee Services in Michigan and is the creator of the Cupping Brewer. He is also a 2017 United States Barista Championship finalist, so he knows his way around lots of different coffee gadgets. He’s been working in the coffee industry since 2006, and enjoys taking advantage of all the great adventures the outdoors has to offer. 

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