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Pressed is best: Handcraft the perfect cup of joe with the Flair Espresso Maker

Rick Stella
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Over the past several years, the coffee industry has seen a massive influx in on-demand espresso machines geared toward making the coffee brewing experience an absolute breeze. But what about those coffee drinkers who actually enjoy crafting the perfect cup of joe each morning? Well, thanks to a savvy inventor named Sergio Landau, the dying art of concocting your own hand-made espresso just received a much-needed jolt of life.

Launched via Kickstarter this month, the Flair Espresso Maker ditches modern instant coffee maker design for something a touch less traditional — it’s as if someone mixed a hand-pressed juicer with a customizable espresso brewer. In essence, Landau asked himself one question: “What is the minimum you need to make a great espresso?”

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Born from this question was the minimalist Flair Espresso Maker that (according to him) has been the vehicle for the perfect cup of espresso every day for the past six years. Though he leaned on a simple design, Landau’s solution makes it easy for anyone to enjoy a dynamic cup of espresso.

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Flair Espresso Maker
Flair Espresso Maker
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Though he leaned on a simple design, Landau’s solution makes it easy for anyone to enjoy a dynamic cup of espresso. Owners simply fill the included portafilter grounds of their desired choice of coffee and tamp them down with the espresso maker’s measuring cup. After sliding the portafilter into the maker’s main post, users then fill it with hot water to its fill line, insert the machine’s piston, and manually pull down on its lever. Depending on how long they wish to extract the coffee grounds — 25 to 45 seconds — a perfect shot of espresso awaits underneath.

“Far easier to use than expensive espresso machines, Flair lets you brew a double shot espresso and control the temperature, the pre-infusion time, and pressure by hand,” said Flair’s Kickstarter video. “There are no pods or electronics and nothing to plug in. It’s easy to use, easy to store, and super easy to clean.”

Available to early adopters for just $115 — though there were only three left at this price level as of this writing. If everything goes according to plan for Landau and his Kickstarter campaign, he’ll bring the Flair Espresso Maker to market at a retail price of $160. Thus far, this innovative espresso machine has raised nearly $28,000 to its fundraising goal of $45,000 with 14 days left in the campaign.

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Rick Stella
Rick Stella
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Rick became enamored with technology the moment his parents got him an original NES for Christmas in 1991. And as they say…
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