Brew Like a Pro Guide | Advanced Discussion

Budget espresso machines typically use pressurized baskets or portafilters that both artificially build
pressure in the basket to increase contact time and aerate the coffee to give the appearance of crema.
Non-pressurized baskets and portafilters such as you find on the Flair system, as well as all commercial
espresso machines, require you to properly grind, dose, distribute and tamp in order to achieve the
resistance needed to brew with 6 – 9 BAR pressure. Being off by even a little will yield disastrous results
when you introduce pressure to the system.

For espresso, only use a quality burr grinder which creates more uniform grounds than a blade grinder
can and allows you to accurately control your grind size. Your burr grinder must be able to grind not only
fine enough for espresso, but also precise enough so that you have more of the right sized particles to
extract. A grinder with alignment issues, burr wobble or dull burrs will yield a very wide spectrum of
particle sizes. An uneven grind will cause your coffee grounds to both over and under extract, all at the
same time, because the size of the particles determines the amount of surface area, and that dictates
how short or long the contact time needs to be to properly extract the coffee (all else being equal).
Additionally, a grinder with too few adjustment points will prevent you from targeting the optimum
particle size. You will need 60 or more adjustment points to obtain a good result, the more the better
and we highly recommend a grinder that is “step-less” or else has hundreds of settings.

As coffee ages, it loses the CO2 generated in the roast process that is chiefly responsible for crema.
Always try to extract coffee that has been roasted within days or weeks, rather than months for the best
flavors and most crema. When you grind your beans you are fracturing the cell walls that hold in CO2
and other volatiles from the roast process. For best results, you should only grind your freshly roasted
coffee just before it will be extracted. Every minute counts as you set the clock ticking on aroma and
CO2 loss, and the onset of oxidation.

Brewing with a Gauge

Brewing time should typically be between 30-45 seconds at 6-9 BAR pressure, sustained. Light roasts
might require even more time for proper extraction. Everything starts with the grind and dose, which
creates the resistance to achieve desired pressure and brewing time. Use the Brew Chart below to
adjust your grind and dose appropriately so that you can target ideal pressure and time.

Keep all variables but one constant while attempting to improve results. If your grinder has 60 or less
adjustment points, however, it is likely you will not have the precision required to make the small
incremental adjustments needed to “dial in” your grind. Do not look to tamping force to increase or
decrease resistance in the coffee cake, instead look to your dose size.

Where you see “Grind More Coarse” you can choose to lower your dose instead, or a combination of the
two. Likewise, where you see “Grind More Fine” you can increase your dose, or a combination of the
two. Generally speaking, tamping pressure is less of a determinant here. A good tamp only needs to be
level and with enough force to compress the bed of coffee to the point resistance is felt. This is point
where air pockets have been collapsed and there’s not much gained by applying greater forces. An even
distribution of the coffee grounds, along with a level tamp, does more to prevent channeling than higher
force tamping. Changing coffee beans, or the same beans aged, may require you to adjust your grinder
setting from the last one used; it’s not a set-it-and-forget-it grind setting selection.

Brewing Naked

The PRO uses a non-spouted portafilter, a so-called “bottomless” or “naked” portafilter. Removing the
spout(s) provides an unobstructed view of the filter screen where the extraction happens. With the help
of a small compact mirror, ideally with 3-5x magnification, you can easily observe the extraction as it
occurs. This is vital information for determining the evenness of extraction across entire coffee bed. A
spouted portafilter hides this.

If you observe regions that are significantly lighter or darker than the average, you have areas of over or
under extraction relative to the whole. This suggests that there may have been issues with your
distribution or tamping for that given shot, and that brew water has flowed more easily through some
parts of the coffee bed than others due to channels opening up under pressure.
When you lay bare the bottom of the basket in this way, spritzes and spurts can develop and coffee can
spray objects below. Just as when you place your thumb over the opening of a garden hose to create a
“jet effect” and propel the same flow further to reach parts of your garden you’d otherwise not reach
with the water pressure at your home, the openings in your filter basket can clog and create the same
effect. Coffee beans are comprised of both soluble and insoluble solids. Sometimes the insoluble
materials lodge themselves inside the perfectly circular holes and create the same partial occlusion that
you do with your thumb. Sometimes channeling occurs and allows water to flow faster in one region of
the coffee bed than another and this “jet” of water will exit the filter screen at a higher velocity than the
rest of the streams. There’s little we can do about partial occlusion, but channeling can be combatted
with good distribution techniques and pre-infusion. TIP: if a jet of coffee occurs, a subtle and momentary
decrease in pressure is sometimes enough to either dislodge the material or collapse a formed channel.

Pre-infusion

Pre-infusion is the act of wetting your coffee grounds with low pressure moments before applying higher
pressure. The goal is to soak the entire puck, evenly, without commencing extraction. By doing so, you
can achieve higher extraction rates and minimize the occurrences of channels forming in the coffee bed
when higher pressure is applied. The PRO is equipped with a bottomless portafilter. Once coffee begins
to drop into your cup, extraction has begun. By monitoring the filter basket from below, you can
accurately control the low-pressure pre-infusion and prevent extraction from occurring by backing off or
holding pressure when you see the first drops beginning to push through the filter. To introduce pre-
infusion into your brew, slowly pulling lever down until 1-2 BAR is achieved, and then hold the lever still
for the desired period of time has elapsed. Once you have reached the desired dwell time, move
forward with extraction as normal.

It’s important that you do not release pressure in between pre-infusion and extraction phases e.g. apply
low-pressure, hold, apply high-pressure and complete the pull. For the o-rings installed inside the
cylinder to engage and seal against the portafilter, the commencement of the pull must be marked with
a constant and firm force on the lever. Should the force applied to the lever waiver or diminish, the
cylinder may rise up in an attempt to release pressure and this will result in some leaking. NEVER PUMP
THE HANDLE. If you do not wish to include a pre-infusion in your brew, we recommend a slow ramp up
from “0” to your desired brew pressure. Always continue in the direction of the pull once you have
started.
Pressure Profiling

You can use the gauge to implement pressure profiles that mimic other machines - from other lever-
based machines, to high-end modern pumps with customizable pressure profiling capabilities. As you
pull the shot, you can ‘draw’ the pressure accurately against the time axis with the help of a timing
device such as your phone, watch or a coffee specific scale that includes a timer. Two examples of
possible profiles to try are shown below. One is similar to a conventional straight 9 BAR pump machine
while the other a lever. Using a timing device, attempt to hit the pressure changes at the appropriate
time using

CAUTION: If you find that you have ground too finely and there is little to no flow occurring into your
cup with a pressure as high as 10 BAR, you’ll need to start again with a coarser grind and/or lower
dose. At this point, you have built up pressure within the chamber that will need to be released
before you remove the brew head from the base. Using your free hand, hold the brew head down
firmly while you raise the lever fully. Next, while still holding down the cylinder, lift up on the stem of
the piston (the part the gauge attaches to). This will release the pressure in the system and make it
safe to remove the brew head from the base. Skipping this step may allow the cylinder to “pop-up”
and off the portafilter, releasing the brew water within.