True, it does have a better lever overall, and a thinner puck might give a lower resistance overall. I love my Pro2 though, this is the fourth year I've been brewing with it now, and I might make a four-year follow up video.

Absolutely. Brewing up my coffee is definitely amongst my favourite daily rituals. And the tiniest little variations make so much difference, which means it isn't a monotonous ritual either.

No I use a Helor 101. I've now upgraded to the Lagom Mini!

I had the same issue when I started; in my case it was because I was grinding too coarse, and then tamping too hard. It took a while to get the grind size vs tamp pressure balance just right. I've heard people say tamp pressure doesn't matter, but personally, I've always found it to make a difference. Ideally, you shouldn't have to tamp really hard, just enough to compress the grounds to the lowest level without straining your muscles. I've always brewed with 18g, I ought to try some variation in this too- I'm contemplating making another video to document all that has changed in the four years that I've been brewing nearly every other day with the Flair.

Hello, the ingredients are in the description, and the linked full video has the entire recipe (kzbin.info/www/bejne/pZeVhWBonZucq5I)

Had to make it! :)

I haven't gotten there yet :) I might use a frozen portafilter if I ever get a fancy espresso machine at some point.

I pretty much exclusively preheat it by putting it on top of the kettle now- I don't use the silicone cover to pour hot water and drain it over and over anymore. I put the kettle on, put the brew chamber on it for 10-11 minutes (10 for darker roasts, 11 for medium roasts) and brew right after. I usually take around five of those minutes to grind the beans and prep the rest of the stuff.

Yes it is :)

Fifteen minutes from start to finish, I timed it :) Including heating up milk.

I got the stick-on thermometer thing from a Bangalore based coffee equipment store called Benki Brewing Tools, it seems to be perpetually out of stock since I got it though. I have stopped looking at it now though. I put the brew chamber on my kettle for exactly ten minutes (which gets the water to 85-86°C, 11 minutes will get it to 92°), and then brew right after.

It does, but not in an overpowering way. Like the chocolate cake I made using this as a base did not taste coconutty.

Great question, doing this soaks the puck and collapses any air cavities that might eventually lead to channelling. It makes the coffee puck a lot more homogenous, and makes for a much more even extraction. Not to say that it won't work without, but there's a chance the water might flow through the coffee unevenly, and the water might get to certain lower bits of the coffee much later, not extracting completely.

It took me quite a lot of trial and error to get this right; it's a little bit coarser than standard espresso, but to complicate things even more, it'll vary between roast levels. I usually mark the median spot on my grinder and then adjust basis how well the shot pulls. If it takes a LOT of time to extract, I grind a unit coarser, if it flows through super quick with a lot of channelling, I grind finer. It's a very hands-on system, but I actually like that about it.

Interesting! I now have a dedicated WDT tool which is similar to what you describe, with little looped ends that don't scratch the basket. I'm going to feature it in an upcoming follow-up video on the Flair.

True, I might make another video about it. I'm contemplating getting an ultrasonic cleaner for the basket and shower screen.

In the works! Planning out my videos for the year ahead now :)

Yes! Apparently if you use the fruit whole it's a preserve, and if you dice, blend or crush it, it's a jam.

Yes, tonic has a _slight_ sweet-bitter flavour to it, which does make it taste a lot more like a sweet gin and tonic. You can skip it, and it'll be a ginny cake, which is also delicious.

Usually, just one bar. Beyond that it'll start dripping through way before the 15 second preinfusion time.

Thank you! I took a while to get the tamp just right in my first few months with the Flair. Eventually I got it to just the right pressure where the coffee wasn't too compressed to impede flow. I try out a new coffee variety every month, so it's always an experiment dialling in the grind. Exactly (wrt. pre-heating while grinding), though I'm upgrading to an electric grinder, so I might have to rework that process. I'm contemplating shooting a follow-up video in a month or two, considering it'll now be four years since I've been brewing coffee with the Flair, so stay tuned!

Helor 101, and the grind setting varies depending on the coffee, but if I remember correctly, it was between 22 and 24.

Yes! This was the starting point, then I made the cake for a friend's birthday almost exactly four years ago, and the last Tiramisu Cake was the perfected version of that one, though I think I'm still one iteration away.