So here’s the deal: I now have my own Flair (a beautiful matte white Flair Signature from Etica Lifestyle); I want to use it every day; and I exert too much effort using it that I just want to drink good, no-fuss coffee the rest of the day. I wish I have an automatic coffee maker – oh wait, I have an OXO Brew Pour Over Coffee Maker with water tank so I’m good. Let’s discuss.

Using the Flair Signature Espresso Maker in the morning

I like to drink coffee during or after breakfast, not necessarily espresso. However, since I now have a Flair Signature (the copper-plated portafilter base against that bone/matte white is so aesthetically pleasing) my go-to recently has been espresso, Americanos to be exact – but it’s still not necessarily about the espresso. Can you follow? No? I struggled how to word that, not really your fault.

Here’s another stab at it, I want to use the Flair to help me “start my brain” in the morning. Like I said about the Flair Signature I got to try last year, you really have to work for one shot of espresso. So the combination of needing to focus (especially not to burn your fingers) and the need to exert effort physically, I think that helps me prepare for the rest of the day while also getting to drink strong coffee after it.

The process up to the actual espresso itself does wake me up, but it also makes me too lazy to be intricate about the other cups of coffee I’ll be drinking after it. I wrote before that during times like that, especially now that it’s summer and so humid, I wish I had a coffee maker that I just press a button for and I’ll have good coffee at the ready. I didn’t buy an electric coffee maker/batch brewer, but I did buy an OXO Brew Pour Over Coffee Maker with water tank and it’s a solid compromise.

Using the OXO Brew Water Tank for everything else after my morning espresso

I would use the entire OXO Brew system itself, meaning the tank with the brewer/dripper, but I ran out of filters and I plan to go through my cone and wave filters first. So now I just use the tank paired with my other drippers (or really just the Origami).

So I boil the water, grind the beans, pre-wet the filter, add the coffee, put the tank on top of the brewer, pour my target water, put the lid on, and just sit back and wait for my coffee to finish brewing. And you know what? The coffee is not bad. In fact, if you dial in the grind size and water temp, it tastes as good (or even better) than you pouring water on the coffee grounds because it’s more consistent.

I prefer prepping both the tank and the brewer before adding the coffee, so I pre-wet the filter through the tank to hit two birds with one stone (wow, haven’t heard that in while). I also like the brew to be slightly longer than my usual target brew time without the tank with whatever dripper I’m using, so I grind finer and use a lower brew temp. There is no need to bloom, just pour all the water on the tank and let it flow.

I’ll probably write an “Unqualified Thoughts” piece about the OXO Brew, but I’ll do it when I can brew with the dripper itself again (to be fair). For the purpose of this article, however, I satisfy my need for no-fuss coffee after having to work for espresso at the beginning of my day. Like I said in my IG post, it’s gear that’s good to have in your corner when you’re too lazy to make coffee manually (and don’t want a batch brewer).

In conclusion

So that’s my current coffee making routine throughout a workday. I still want a proper espresso grinder, but the Timemore C2 Chesnut Grinder still works since I’m only making one or two shots. I almost bought a Flair Pro 2, but I decided to use the price difference for shoes instead. Really happy I bought an OXO Brew as it works with my needs while still enabling me to remain team #manualbrewonly.

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