It’s clearly past it’s 2010 expiration date on the bottom…

(JK these things last forever)

Also, after you clean it up, run a few brews through because the cleaning can bring out some bad aluminum taste that a seasoned moka pot coated with oils doesn’t have.

My go to is usually club soda when I’m out and SodaStream at home. I don’t like mock tails because I don’t want the sugar and could care less what other people think of me being sober. Most bartenders don’t even charge you, but I tip as if I was drinking.

This is just my personal experience, but drinking less was worse for me than drinking more. It can take 10 days for alcohol to leave your system so if your going to have drinks more frequently than that you’re just punishing yourself with constant withdrawal and anxiety cycles. After reading This Naked Mind it really changed my views on alcohol and I realized I was way better quitting entirely. I’m over five years sober and don’t regret a single day.

Moka is definitely a very robust brew. If you find you’re getting bitterness, try tweaking your extraction with a larger grind size, higher temp (thus faster brew time), or both.

This. I switched to stainless. No aluminum or rancid oil, both of which I think negatively affect flavor. I even pour my La Croix into a glass because I don’t like the taste of the can. Maybe I’m just sensitive but I love a clean moka pot. I have at least one moka everyday.

Never thought of air fryer fresh roast… 😀

I love my Flair because each pull is unique and when the pull is great it’s some of the best ever. If you prefer consistency, may not be for you.

My personality gives me a lot of pleasure in tinkering and control so I love being completely hands on with the Flair. You will pull some of the best shots you’ve ever had when you get it dialed in. You will also have many fails. Although once you get the basic techniques down the fails are not undrinkable.

But because I enjoy this totally hand-crafted approach I even enjoy my fails. It’s like jazz improvisation.

I’m a Flair user and a little unfamiliar with the Robot. How is the preheating better? Is it in some method of temperature control or a way you don’t have to handle a detached brew chamber?

Thank you! I stumbled on this once and couldn’t find it again.

Great set up. Curious why the Bambino doesn’t work for light roasts. Water temp? I struggle a little with lighter roast extractions because of my altitude.

Totally. I’ve kind of gotten into a groove with it, but other people think I’m a little nuts. It’s fun and you can dial it in, but there’s a decent learning curve to get there. Most of my friends see it and are fascinated by it, and then are like, “nah, I would never do that.” 😂

It’s really just more my own person way of thinking about it after watching Hoffmanns’s method. It certainly is drip. But Hoffmann swirls the grounds so that you get a kind of best of both worlds of drip and immersion. I prefer to think of it as immersion when I’m trying to dial in the extraction because using Hoffmann’s method the grounds float around in the cone.

Edit to add another thought I had: I think Hoffmann has a video where he shows his swirling technique. The idea is that suspending the grains exposes them more equally to the water for a more balanced extraction. That said, many people do not do this with their pour over so it would have some other similarity to drip and percolator methods. If memory serves, Hoffmann also has a percolation vs immersion video that is worth watching.

I absolutely love my Flair even more than a more expensive machines because you can totally geek out on different pressure profiles. But, I was describing it to a friend and he thought it was way more trouble than it’s worth. He wanted something more convenient.

I use pour over when I want a clean, paper-filtered cup of coffee that is richer than your typical drip brew. All of the other methods I prefer to use — mostly Flair espresso and moka pot, but occasionally cafetière—are unfiltered. That leaves more body (oils and solubles) which I prefer. But sometimes you want that clean brew from the paper filter.

I think of a pour over as an immersion style of brewing. So in some ways it is similar to the cafetière. But because of the filter method, a French press is going to require larger grind size which results in a slightly different (in your case “woody”) extraction.

I also like that the pour over gives me more room to experiment with grind size and volumes. This is oversimplified but extraction comes down to basically three things: grind size, water volume/contact time, and temperature. The grind size on a cafetière can result in a hollow extraction sometimes where you’re not getting the full range of what the bean has to offer.

Of course, the main downside to a paper filter is the removal of oils, which also affects the flavor. Especially if you prefer an oily style in which the cafetière, espresso and moka excel.

Totally agree. My wife talked me into the pressure gauge and I have no idea how anyone can pull a great shot without it. And most of the fun is experimenting with different pressure profiles. And it’s pretty easy to preheat as @neanderthal said. I put my brew head on top of my open kettle so the steam heats it while the water starts to boil. The brew head itself is very thick and retains heat well. I saw a video that shows you do get a drop in temp over a pull which is usually 30-60 seconds for me. But also I’m at high altitude so while I have a different set of temperature issues to deal with I don’t know that I’m experiencing as dramatic a drop off.

I love my Flair Pro. I like being able to dial in my pressure profile (basically extraction flow) by hand depending on the beans or just my mood. Other wise I’m a stainless moka pot guy.