To me it's very odd that they went with something as complex as a switching power supply (thereby requiring the separate power brick) for something as simple as a heating element with a few low precision settings. You could easily produce a simple heating element with basic analog control circuitry that has the same behavior as the one they show here and skips the separate brick, plus you would remove the dual plug problem. Sure, it would require more expensive development, but for $90 a unit skimping on something like that is pretty ridiculous (my best guess is they designed it the way they did to avoid the hassle of putting higher voltages into their product, which would likely require more expensive development and certification. As it is they probably just bought the power brick and control unit from someone else and threw it in). As for reparability (which is a very valid concern), this change would have no impact on that, as it could be done in the same style as the existing implementation, placing all the control circuitry on the outside and only having wires inside the unit. Source: I'm an electrical engineer

@@danielfay8963 you make it and we’ll buy it please 🙏

Aesthetic doesn't mean you have to own an automatic espresso machine that looks beautiful. Espresso machine was made because no one was smart enough to think of a manual one of a design that works, and the materials to make a manual espresso contraption was probably impossible back in the day. There's no such thing as aesthetic anything. But well, humans are picky anyway.

500$ repair? My gaggia is

They could design easily-repairable integrated wiring and circuitry. They just didn’t.

I second all of this. I bought the same unit, at the same time, for the same reason. The power controller really doesn't play a significant role in my daily use. It works well, it heats up quickly and I like the littke beep sound it makes. The piston spinning inside the brewhead is a bit annoying and can be tricky to turn it back. But that doesn't happen too often. Warning: You need at least a Niche Zero for this espresso machine because it likes really fine grinds. My niche is turned off the scale to get it fine enough. Overall, I love my Flair and use it everyday.

Yup. To add, I use an Eureka Mignon Perfetto dialed all the way down to usually around 1.25-1.5 for the Flair 58. I use the Perfetto as it makes life a little easier when I interchange with pour over methods. And no, I can't afford to types of specialised grinders. 🥲

I'm not in that boat, i'm in the "i want a good coffee grinder" boat. So every time I watch his video's, he sticks that Niche in there, and after time and research, I decided thats the giant counter paperweight i need for 1000 dollars to grind my coffee. hahaha.

Really glad to finally know I’m not the only one having to use such a fine grind size on the niche for the flair 58

@@williambaker7181 I use a sette 270 with ease and it’s not even shimmed.

Underrated comment

This is what goes through my mind every time he references temperature 😂

Get a coffee, get a mullet for free!

Hope no Rose rescues her father during the trip...

Brewin' in the 80's Is a new way I like to be I'm just brewin' in the 80's Come on, baby, run to me kzfaq.info/get/bejne/jqmZd9iqmdPWh4k.html

Just to be clear you are watching him not the reviews? So he could review spandex pants and if he delivers like this you would watch??? I might too LOL... I don't fully agree with his opinion here and think he is being overly sensitive about certain aspects of this. He knows more than I do but some of his grips is aesthetic in a way that anyone wanting this is not going to care about at all.

and the second I say this I take some back. He makes both pro and con arguments successfully I think. I just had to watch the video at 2x speed then it made sense. Video could have said all this in 12 min or 10 and still have his charm :)🍮 I am buying one of these after going back and forth on it and eventually some insane lever machine down the road that is almost impossible to use just for the challenge.

I appreciate the thought, research, testing and attention to the details ... similar sentiments when watching you too, Jack.

@@xjbladderx You wrote a two page long comment yet complain how long the video is 🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

Me too. I don't even like coffee, but I find the coffee technology and taste testing very interesting.

How true! These machines end up in arguably beautiful homes and end up being aesthetic pieces that are a joy to look at. That whole adapter cable thing seems like an afterthought and ruins the entire product appeal to be honest.

Why use it? It's a waste of time. You can do the same thing but automated and much faster with modern machines.

@@matthijskkr It's cheaper to operate (and replace) and takes up less space and requires less maintenance than your "modern machines". Said modern machines which are just plastic variations on manual hardware.

@@leudast1215 cheaper to operate? Yeah because you'll save 5 bucks a month in power maybe As you can see in the video, it takes up a ton of space Manual hardware is slow, that is why we have machines. Making coffee like in this video on a large scale is a waste of time and resources

@@matthijskkr excuse me sir, OP said 20 shots a day. How will a automatic machine help you be more efficient when you don’t even have that many orders to go with?? Im confused

@@henryt9731 It doesn't matter how small the amount of shots you make are. If it costs a lot of time to operate the machine, then it costs money, because you might as well do something else (for example: making another coffee at the same time for another customer)

The unplug instructions make the whole thing a write-off. Whomever approved the power supply and heating element for this shouldn't be working in consumer goods. Looks like a great device for people collecting patreon money and making youtube videos.

@@espressomatic Whoever* Edit: To forestall yet more responses with people being wrong, here's an explanation of when to use "who" vs. "whom." "Who" is used to refer to the subject of a sentence. "Whom" should be used to refer to the object of a verb or preposition. Unfortunately this doesn't help you at all if you aren't a huge English grammar nerd who remembers what subjects, objects, and prepositions are. (I assume most people remember that verbs are "doing words.") Luckily I, a huge English grammar nerd, am here to tell you what they are. I even brought my ugly glasses with tape holding them together in the middle. But first, a shortcut: try replacing "who/whom" with "he/him." If "he" sounds right, use "who." If "him" sounds right, use "whom." Let's look at the original sentence: "He approved the power supply" / "Him approved the power supply." A native English speaker automatically recognizes that "he" is correct here, which means you should use "who." This is easy to remember because "him" and "whom" both end in "m." Now, the subject of a sentence is the a noun that is doing or being something. "I am outside." -> the subject is "I". "The cat is playing." -> the subject is "the cat." In the sentence "Whomever [sic] approved the power supply," the subject is "whomever." Of course it should be "whoever" since they are the subject of the sentence. The object is... well, let's do prepositions first. A preposition is a word or phrase (but usually a very short, common word) that shows direction, time, location, place, spatial relationships, or... I forget what else. Examples are "at," "to," "for," "in"/"into," "during," etc. You may have heard that you aren't supposed to end a sentence with a preposition, but that's not correct. It IS correct in Latin, and many Latin grammar rules do apply in English, but this isn't one of them. The object is a noun that is affected by a verb or proposition. In our example sentence, "Whoever approved the power supply and heating element for this," there are two objects: the power supply and heating elements, both of which are affected by the verb "approved." Now, for an example of correct usage of "whom": "At whom is John angry?" First, identify the verb: "angry." That makes identifying the rest of the parts easy. The subject is the person who is "doing" the verb: in this case, John is angry. The object is the person affected by the verb, and since we don't know what person John is angry at, we write "whom." I spent about a half hour writing that so I damn well better not get any more responses with nonsense like "actually both are just fine" or "whom is the more grammatically correct version." Of course now that I've painted an enormous target on my back I'm confident that everyone who reads this comment in its entirety will do exactly that just to mess with me. It's alright; I'd do the same thing in your place.

@@Oberon4278 both are equally suitable terms

@@Oberon4278 Whomever is actually more grammatically appropriate for that sentence.

@@jordananderson2728 It is, in fact, not at all correct. I don't know how you can be so confidently incorrect, especially when you can just look it up in about twenty seconds on Google.

I have a flair 58 at home and the power supply is not an issue. The cables are long enough you can easily hide the whole thing below or behind a countertop. The T° control box could be prettier and better designed for the price tho.

I am 100% all for repairability. I'd rather have repairability first in most cases. But repairability doesn't require compromise. If that were the reasoning behind this design, I'd chalk that up to laziness more than anything. Repairability wouldn't decrease by having the housing mated to the apparatus. There are a myriad of ways to mate it to the chassis of the press housing while maintaining repairability. Additionally, having it more contained improves the ergonomics of it, and makes the whole thing a bit safer. When I look at the electronics they've designed here it looks either lazy, inexperienced, cost-saving, or all of the above. I can understand if their desire was to set it up this way for aesthetic purposes, as a call back to 80's electronics. But you can still stylize the housing in that manner and still mate it to the chassis. Ultimately, there are reasons why we don't design and ship electronics like this anymore.

@@JosephDalrymple yep, you can still have it internal, and for instance and plug in using a standardized DC plug, in case you can't buy the internal anymore, just buy an equivalent external one with the same DC plug With some simple tinkering you could technically easily replace almost every internal power supply, they could just make it doable by anyone though with next to no cost to the manufacturer

I don't think he was referring to incorporating the power supply on the machine, just the separate control box. Could still keep an external power supply but would be a much cleaner and more convenient setup. As-is it reminds me of the lamps that have the switch on the cord, I find I'm always reeling cord up from behind the couch or table to find the switch. The low-med-high selection being right on the unit would be much nicer.

As an electronics repairsman, i can tell that usually external power bricks are a lot worse to repair than internal power supplies. In general, you can crack them open in a bench vise, but it is near impossible to getting it together again in a tidy way. They are also often designed in a more cramped way, making repairs harder. For instance, usually the heat sinks are soldered into place and are covering the whole top and bottom of the housing. Desoldering a heat sink is very hard. It is not impossible to deliver something with a repairable power brick, but it is incredibly rare to see one that's repairable. That said, certain power bricks are very reliable - i'm thinking of the stuff Dell delivered with their D610-E6410-E5530 series of laptops. To keep with the coffee stuff, the Philips Senseo coffee machines have built in power supplies for their low voltage stuff. A certain capacitor always fails (a X2 self healing capacitor losing capacit It is trivial to fix for any standard repair shop. About a 30 minute job. Yes, you gotta bring the whole machine to the repair shop, but it's easier to repair than an external power brick which will likely just be thrown away and replaced by a new one - which just adds to the electronics waste pile. That's not a repair. The reason why it uses a power supply at all, is probably just to keep the development cost low. There is no reason at all to run a heating element on low voltage, technically. This thing could run just fine right on a mains socket. A triac dimmer circuit for the temperature setting, with a toggle switch for low/med/high or a knob for continuous control, can either be integrated into the base (they really are small!) or into the mains lead like a lamp cord dimmer. You need a LOT better isolation for the element which might make it look a bit bulkier, but all in all it can totally be done without damaging the sleek looks too much. However, this does mean that your device has to pass all relevant mains voltage electrical and fire safety tests, which can cost a lot of money. Using an external power brick means that those tests are the responsibility of the power brick manufacturer. For small manufacturers these costs are absolutely not negligible.

Probably written by the person who designed it. They did it with assembly in mind not disassembly.

Don't think you understand that diagram. Neither did James. That diagram is the sequence of connecting the power cord. There are four electric pins at Point 1 which could cause problem if you connect Point 2 first then incorrectly connect Point 1. The diagram shows the right order to connect those three sections.

@@jameschang8174 And thus they should have had a separate drawing for disconnecting, with the parts ordered 1 and 2.

@@jameschang8174 It doesn't matter if the diagram is technically correct. If a large number of people misinterpret it then its a bad diagram.

It doesn’t matter anymore which this vidya failed to mention.

Good luck getting where you need to go! Safe travels!

@@jameshoffmann Wow, a reply from the Dude! I am very honoured 😊 Your kindness always shines through, I have enjoyed watching your channel grow. It is well deserved.

I've used it for a year and never had an issue

It doesn't effect the usage unless you take it apart regularly. But if you do that, you just choose a different machine, this is not really for that.

It looks like, and is designed like, an after thought. That is what I'm sensing as James' issue.....it's a great idea, but could be done in a much classier way, and the VERY specific process to disconnect, that's described in that crazy assed way, just sinks of 'rushed to market'. It's certainly put me off paying the extra for this, so will stick to the Pro unit until (or if) they sort it out.

@@smokeybenj absolutely agreed and I'm going for the Cafelat Robot instead, which, according to JH doesn't need pre-heating

​@@smokeybenjthis is old news but uh you just connect everything before plugging or unplugging it. Such a weird gripe

How do you feel about the water funnel thingy on the v2? I have a v2 as well but I've found that to be frustrating to the point where I've just removed it. It never really stayed in place anyway (if you have the lever down all the way when not using the machine then the stem on the pressure gauge pushes it out of the way) and softens up even more when the machine is heated to the point where it's floppy and awkward. Also makes it harder to see into the chamber and know how much water I've added. The whole thing seems poorly designed. Fortunately I also have a gooseneck kettle and have found that you can add water just fine without the funnel so I've just removed it completely.

​@@kevadu OK, here is a funny story. One hour ago, probably at the same time while you were typing your message, I grabbed that funnel rubber thingy and threw it away to the trash can, as a gesture of frustration. I always make short shots anyway (14-15g max), and never fill the chamber to the point where I needed that funnel thingy. So yeah, I agree with you :) Btw, I noticed that in the 58x the funnel thing is a one-piece with the rest of the chamber rubber sleeve. I wonder why they haven't designed it this way for the 58 as well.

Just 10 shots.

@@servicesupport4871 yeah, I know, very few, it's been only one week. I still believe maintainance is going to be easy after many more shots as well though.

Can't wait for v3. Or maybe v4

I think it was designed so that you can easily pass the cables into holes or similar so you can hide the parts.

Yea, the multiple disconnects and the requirement to disconnect "2" before "1" seems like a clunky user experience. It crosses into electronic fiddly territory that the whole product ethos is trying to avoid.

To add to that, even if you need to keep the machine put away, you only have the short cord attached to the brew chamber. I made a semi-hidden space to keep the power brick and control box. All I have to do is take the machine out and make the one attachment. Since I use daily, there is no reason to put everything away.

👍 Confirmed, once you have hidden away the cables behind a counter, the whole setup is nice and clean and does not bother me at all! It is also nice that if turned off - the power brick does indeed draw no voltage, unlike some laptop devices 🤷‍♂️

Not everyone’s kitchen is setup to keep the Flair 58 plugged in all the time - mine certainly wouldn’t facilitate that.

No reason they couldn't build said power supply into a nicer-looking box and still have 1 easy cable connection to the back like James said, though.

Agree.

First words: I do not own the unit. By adding the PSU inside they've also needed to have all the possible variations with the cables/voltages. And if there's mains and water mixed in the unit then it needs to have all sort of regulations and certifications to be able to sell. I see this as an easier and cheaper way to get the unit to market. And there's always an option for them to sell the upgraded and more premium controller afterwards. I as an engireer do like that the "brain" sits outside so there's a possibility to tinker/hack it to be better. In theory you could "overpower" the heating element by replacing the controller but if the heat stays up and does not conduct well enough to the portafilter you are just risking the heating element and the components that do not withstand the higher temperatures. And possibly boiling the water inside the chamber during the press. But I would love to see a complete teardown of this machine :P

I expect it comes down to wire size. 85W at 115V is only .75A, a decent wallwart would provide plenty of power. Assuming the heater runs at 24V, there would be 3.5A on the low voltage side. This is a lot of amps, and needs a wire bigger than what most wallwarts have. Remember those laughable chargers for Mac laptops that would get too hot to touch? Also, three power ranges is silly. You are not heating water in the unit, just trying to keep it from cooling down. Just fix the temp at 95C, and adjust water temp as needed.

I loved my flair, but recently got a gaggia classic pro and I'm never looking back xD

@@hesa_jigalo I love my Gaggia. If they had the option of built-in preinfusion (rather than doing it manually) I would be over the moon. Preinfusion has added a lot of complexity to my espresso, which makes it worth doing every time; despite the fact that manual preinfusion can be a bit of a hassle.

@@OutOfNamesToChoose Are you talking about preinfusion on the Gaggia by letting steam/water out of the steam wand for a while? I've been trying that lately, though honestly I'm not sure if I taste any difference in the shots I'm pulling.

@@chriscase6929 ive found that preinfusion helps the most with light roasts. especially if you wanted to brew as espresso a light roast "intended" for filter brew (some call this "ultra-light roast" for espresso)

@@chriscase6929 Yes, that's what I mean. It worked better for me once I started grinding finer, as otherwise the preinfusion stage was far too short.

If I was inclined to take the plunge into espresso, I would probably start with the robot.

The robot is lovely, my first and hopefully last machine

My problem with the robot is why I go with Flair. Thermal management when dealing with light roast. And beyond this, workflow (SO MUCH faster than robot) and ease of use (one hand, no need to preheat, no awkward bending over the machine, more room under the portafilter for scale + cup) + the ability to use accessories from any 58mm. FInally, cables are completely hidden behind my station and only the pre-heat device sits nicely next to it. Robot is a great machine, but if you chase perfection, Flair can get you there much much easier

@@ant1.v I don't drink a lot of light roast beans so doesn't apply to me but I'm sure this is the case for people who do. I find the robot really comfy to use though, and the build quality is really great. I don't have issues with space because my scales (small and not v expensive) fit fine with an espresso or cappuccino cup. I also honestly find the flair a bit ugly

@@theoperrin9653 I agree with you on everything (beside the look haha, I also thought the Robot looked just straight up ugly but that's obviously all personal preference!). The Robot is a fantastic machine, proven its worth numerous times over. I had the pleasure to use it many many times, I just personally prefer the flow and overall feel of the Flair. And as someone who works in the industry, there is something really enjoyable being able to play with all my toys at work and on my Flair

That's why James considers Roger Moore the worst bond.

@@Assenayo lmfao

It occurs to me that great coffee technology has existed for a very long time but information was scarce. Even in modern times, most people are only vaguely familiar with the v60, which is literally just a damn funnel.

Temperature absolutely does increase with pressure, basic physics.

@@MegaKiri11 In the case of an ideal gas (or close-to-ideal), pressure increases temperature. For a incompressible liquid (or close-to-incompressible), this is not the case.

​@@jackaw1197 that makes sense, thanks! Can you please explain why my Wacaco Picopresso heats up when I start pumping and increase pressure, but does not heat up so much if I just pour inside some boiling water and close the lid, if liquid does not heat up? Maybe there is also some air trapped inside or maybe more parts come in contact with water when pumping? I don't understand.

@@MegaKiri11 Probably the water chamber is more insulated to maintain temperature, and when the water is pumped through the mechanism it is exposed to more parts which conduct the heat to the outside. But i don't own one of those, so i cant really say for sure.

you have to reassemble it on the machine every time, the flair 58 just stays put

@@tommihommi1 which isn't as huge of a hassle, especially since you have to do it anyway to clean the used puck out, fill it back with fresh coffee, etc. It's just a difference in the "last generation" flairs to the 58s, where you actually get a standard 58mm portafilter/brew basket with a handle and not just a more proprietary 49mm portafilter/brew basket that just fits into the whole assembly. Again, like Hoffman said, it seems like it's convenient but the implementation does need to be improved in future iterations (like the whole faff with the cable detachment order thingy and the low-mid-high switch). Honestly I would be interested to see a more capable heater that can preheat the chamber *and* maybe even heat up the water to ≥ 93˚C so it's even more convenient. But yeah, overall an interesting new product from flair.

@@olslimy6428 the order isn’t important anymore. Not in the newer iteration. They fixed it.

It would be more expensive to route the cable trough the body. Also, if they wanted to sell version with and without they would likely need 2 different types of body. This saves money in production.

@@spitfire83 So... don't make one without it? The Flair Pro is right there. Granted it doesn't have the 58mm portafilter, but... so what? Let this stand out for being the powered one. Even if they were dead set on making one with and one without, routing that cable wouldn't require a change of process on building a base model, just an additional part to be added to one line. More expensive than the unpowered? Yes, but so is this, and it would benefit from not looking like someone did it in their shed in an hour with bits they had lying around.

The issue is you're able to force the brewhead side connectors together incorrectly and contact the wrong pins. Its a keyed connector so its hard to do if you're paying attention, but it will burn out the control box if you short those pins while you're plugged into the mains. As long as you are unplugging from the wall first(or plugging into the wall last) theres not a problem. People used to burn out their amplifiers doing the same thing. Don't connect power to an unconnected system. I'd wager the flairs accessibility exacerbates the problem. If you've got a gaggia heating element wired backwards and flow power into it, you're going to have a bad time.

🙏🏻🙏🏻🙏🏻 nice surprise to wake up!

The electronics do look cheap, but from my own espresso machine buying journey I can say the only thing I can remember in this price range is the gaggia classic pro. So really not a lot of great espresso machines at $500. I can see why someone would like and buy this.

So what does one do for steaming milk when they go to a Flair?

@@stockraker1690 I'm pretty sure Mr. Hoffman also has a video of making milk foam without steamer

I have the new Flair 58 and it has the same warning instructions. The cord has an tag instructing you not to disconnect that part first. But for me it’s not a big deal at all.

I just pull the cable out of the power socket and dont bother with the other connectors.

@@raiuno90 ^. Its only an issue if you're trying to power a machine thats not connected lol. Assemble first, power last.

@@EdGodoyPlana They still have the instructions in there to be safe, but the problem is fixed.

@@tommihommi1 Ok!

Like, who had a kitchen where a power block is convenient to find a place to keep? Youd almost be forced to take it totally to pieces every time. And even then there's a bunch of crap laying on your counter, totally defeating the purpose of a small profile device.

@@skeetsmcgrew3282 inconvenient and also seemingly unsafe, especially with the apparently dodgy electronics here

Check out Alternative Brewing for a better Australian price. I just posted a link a few minutes ago … I think the algorithm ate me previous comment

Yeah I got my La Pavoni on eBay for significantly less than this. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me at that price point.

Price in Australia is ridiculous they are on sale this weekend at a more reasonable price but I already paid a high price for mine that I have not received yet. You are right about other options being more viable here.

The regular 58 comes with that rubber cap too, so you could take it camping if you wanted or whatever

@@travismiller1610 Different cap. The 58x cap has a hole to let steam through. 58 cap is to preheat with water, not steam.

😂

That power supply unit is positively massive. There are much smaller and easier to hide units that can deliver 100W

Wrapping high-temperature insulation tape around the kettle neck also helps minimize temperature drops.

What is your best point?

It’s apparent to me that some people might not want multiple large black plastic boxes hanging off a cheap feeling cable. As well one of the big appeals of the Flair is the ease of transport. Having to remember a disconnect sequence to fully breakdown the machine is a con. Not the end of the world, but not an advantage.

@@ryanhlushak7387 I agree the aesthetics of the electrical modules leave a lot to be desired, but to be fair they’ll most likely be kept tucked out of sight. Maybe they’ll offer sleeker upgrades that can just be plugged in due to the modularity of the cable, which is nice. The disconnect sequence is: unplug it from the wall. Done. 😉 Regarding portability, that’s not really the intention of this model, the Pro and lower models are intended to be more portable but this beast is really intended to remain in your kitchen.

@@ryanhlushak7387 I said nothing of fully breaking down the machine, though for whatever purpose you are unplugging it, all you need to know regarding a sequence is to unplug it from the wall. After that the sequence matters not. So, as to whether or not a sequence must be remembered for unplugging the machine, no, simply unplug it from the wall first as you would any other appliance.

@@ryanhlushak7387 My statement stands.

The original Flair models don’t have heaters and are substantially cheaper than the 58 :)

@@JeffLi528 indeed, those ones make way more sense for me :)

If you already have a working set up and your counter space is limited then yeah its probably not the most convenient machine to integrate but it has excellent reviews across the board even with its fault so I can't see it being bad. I plan to create my set up with the Flair 58 as the central piece so for me its a no brainer.

thanks!

I have a La Pavoni and was thinking exactly the same thing. A Flair Pro would possibly make sense for me, perhaps as a travel companion as unlike the 58 is dissembles easily into its own travel case, but at that price point not sure what this adds. 🤷🏻‍♂️

The La Pavoni can't do the long ratios that you might want for modern espresso, and it's temperature is a complete crapshoot compared to the Flair58

@@tommihommi1 with mods you can get pretty accurate temperature. The bong isolator for 50 euro stabilises the temp issue

The problem I see with a closed boiler machine, is the constant maintance, and the number of electric components (heating and pump). If something breaks its always a hassle to reapair, with the flair just metal could break (or in the 58 the heater), but everything is an easy fix that anyone can do.

@@tommihommi1 how long a ratio do you consider appropriate for ‘modern’ espresso and what’s the capacity of the Flair’s chamber? I agree a spro-over isn’t really viable, but would suggest you couldn’t do that with a Flair either and if I want a longer drink, I can perform a Fellini and introduce more hot water into the brew head without any of the faffing about that would be involved with the Flair. Also agree that with some simple mods temp control is much easier, but in truth with a temp strip on the head and a bit of experience, it’s really not a major issue.

temperature or 1980s? 1880s?

Jon, maybe they are trying to re-create the vinyl experience on the bottom of the puck. James is a great guy helping to expose us to new experiences &so are you. Over time I have simplified my coffee procedure. Moccamaster used like a pour over gives an exceptional cup with great beans. Simple and consistent.

Weird. I feel like I’m listening in the 80’s. If I could only get Hoffman to dial in my coffee and Darko to dial in my audio, I’d be able to sleep at night.

The big question though is: do you need one of those fancy weights you use on your stereo equipment to keep the power supply from pulling the unit of your counter? Audiophile coffee for the win! Love your channel BTW.

What do you think of the robot? Seems less fiddly, less cleanup, while still top notch shots... That's what I've been struggling to decide.... Robot or flair...

​@@YumEspressoYum At the time of buying mine, I considered 3 machine : Flair signature Pro, Robot and the last one Rok espresso. It was a big investment for me so my main consideration what the reliability. The flair have close to no plastic element : Some eternal silicon part but the manometer is in plastic. That is the only part that failed. The rok and robot have some plastic part. I know that rok users have issue with broken parts but don't know much about the cafelat and don't want to speak for something I don't know. To me the biggest things to think about are :  - Cleaning process. - Process speed. The flair is not this long to use, but the Kamira (which is not for espresso in any way) is the goto for speed : No pre-heat, brew and put the induction plate at 1000w and you have the coffee in 2 min). - Cost of a cup (16gr for the flair signature, let's be honest… this is a high amount of grain) - Reliability. - Price. The robot is way too much for we with the 300 to 350livre sterling asked. I would take another flair if mine break.

@@4sstylz got it thanks for the explanation

Besides the excellent reason given above, integrating the controls into a very large brick becomes even more inconvenient. You could theoretically get the brick out of your way (as James does in the video) and have only the small control to need to fiddle with.

100%

I should get one it seems... 🤔