LIKE ANY self-respecting coffee snob, I have a battery of beans and grinders and brewing apparatuses at home. But crafting a perfect espresso shot is one trick I’ve always been content to leave to practiced baristas with way-beyond-my-budget, cafe-quality espresso machines.
That is, until a pal tipped me off to the Flair Pro 2—the flagship in a suite of manual espresso machines that has been earning accolades from bean nerds since a 2016 launch. As a devotee of low-tech java gadgets like the moka pot and AeroPress, I was curious if the sexy Flair offered more than geek cachet. Could I really produce top-level espresso at home for a few hundred bucks, using little more than my own elbow grease?
