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Home espresso equipment company Flair Espresso recently relaunched its entry-level Neo Flex machine with additional features. The company has also rolled out a motorization kit for its Royal hand grinder called the Power Tower.
Both new releases were showcased at the Southern California company’s booth at the SCA Expo in Chicago last month. (See DCN’s complete 2024 SCA Expo coverage here.) Together, the products constitute a well-rounded access point for budget-conscious home users to achieve repeatable, high-quality espresso.
The Power Tower is available for $229 on the company’s website. The Royal Grinder is priced at $159. Packaged together, they’re selling for $349. The upgraded Neo Flex remains at its original price of $99.
The New Neo Flex
Originally launched in 2023 as the company’s entry-level offering, the Flair Neo Flex manual espresso maker features a lightweight plastic construction for its base and ships with both a pressurized “Flow-Control” portafilter for users dealing with pre-ground coffee or a low-performance grinder, and a bottomless portafilter for use with espresso-capable grinders.
The relaunched version includes a slimmer and newly insulated brew group cylinder that no longer requires a hot water pre-heating flush in order to maintain brewing temperatures.
A group pressure gauge with a simplified dial is also now included. The gauge provides clear indication of when users have achieved the optimal espresso brewing pressure as they exert downward force upon the lever.
“We’ve removed 100 grams from that brew head. So you can pretty much add your brew water, lower the lever and go,” Jeff Walcott, head of e-commerce and marketing for Flair Espresso, told Daily Coffee News. “You get the two portafilters, the pressure gauge, obviously the lever and the stand, and that thin cylinder for under $100. It’s a great way to get into espresso, start brewing at home and then learn as you go.”
The Power Tower
Equipped with its own hopper funnel and grounds receptacle, the Power Tower converts Flair’s Royal manual grinders into motorized countertop grinders.
The Royal grinder, which launched about three years ago, features Swiss-made hardened steel conical burrs with 72 adjustment steps to allow for use with a range of brewing methods, from espresso to French Press. The grinder’s drive shaft contains multiple bearings to maintain alignment.
In keeping with the portability of Flair’s entire product line, the Power Tower includes a built-in lithium ion battery that can drive the grinder for up to an hour per charge.
“You can leave it on the charger if you want to, or if you’re traveling somewhere, if you have somewhere else that you want to be or you don’t want to have the wires on your countertop, charge it up,” said Walcott. “That one hour usually equates to about a full week of three or four grinds a day, generally.”
While the Tower is optimized for use with the Royal, it was also designed for compatibility with models from other brands.
“Right now we’re really focusing on compatibility across as many different grinder models as we can. We’ve started with the 1Zpresso lineup,” Walcott told DCN at the Expo. “You can buy an adapter kit on our web store, and it connects in just as easily as our Royal grinder does.”
A $25 adaptor kit includes an extended drive shaft and a silicone wrap designed to snugly secure other grinders.
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Howard Bryman Howard Bryman is the associate editor of Daily Coffee News by Roast Magazine. He is based in Portland, Oregon.
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