I’ve been eyeing this machine for a while since my goal is to really control my press just like I have with the Aero Press. Still haven’t decided if this is a worthwhile investment.
Flair is a company that makes manual espresso machines, like the one in this post. In a regular or “semi-automatic” espresso machine like you’d find in a nice cafe, the machine heats the water and pushes the water through the coffee at high pressures. In manual espresso machines, you add the hot water yourself then use the lever to generate the pressure manually. This gives you lots of control over how the espresso is brewed at the cost of more work/effort to make your morning coffee. Some semi automatic machines do also have features to vary temp and pressure, but usually these are much more expensive ~2-3k vs ~$100-500. Another important difference is almost all semi automatic machines have the ability to steam milk, which is important if you plan to make lattes etc
