I used a flair for a long time and loved it. Find a bean that’s got a lot of body and richness at a very light roast, and then grind it as fiiiiine as you can get it. Then you can crank the absolute heck out of it and overcome any heat or extraction issues with some huge pressure. Gauge add-on is highly recommended, but as far as other solid cups from budget machines, Breville makes great user-friendly machines at around/under $500, my rec being the Infuser/BES840XL
Yeah I had the original, and the pressure gauge for that had something similar at 12+ bars, but honestly I pulled it at like 13-15 bars every day for ~2 years and never had an issue so long as I had put it together neatly and sealed well
Mostly I use a stove top bialetti these days. And would really love to have a decent espresso device.
Flair anyone? https://flairespresso.com/
https://www.tomsguide.com/best-picks/best-espresso-machines
https://www.goodhousekeeping.com/appliances/coffee-maker-reviews/g29069348/best-espresso-machines/
I used a flair for a long time and loved it. Find a bean that’s got a lot of body and richness at a very light roast, and then grind it as fiiiiine as you can get it. Then you can crank the absolute heck out of it and overcome any heat or extraction issues with some huge pressure. Gauge add-on is highly recommended, but as far as other solid cups from budget machines, Breville makes great user-friendly machines at around/under $500, my rec being the Infuser/BES840XL
The 58 that comes with a dial has a damage warning above 12 bar
Flair 58 lever coffee machine’s pressure gauge marked as showing pressure in bar with tick marks for each bar and numbers at 5 and 10 bar. A red area between 5 and 10 is labeled 'Espresso". A black area from 12 bar onwards is labeled 'STOP! BREAKAGE!"
Yeah I had the original, and the pressure gauge for that had something similar at 12+ bars, but honestly I pulled it at like 13-15 bars every day for ~2 years and never had an issue so long as I had put it together neatly and sealed well
I use a flair 58. I love it. Pull any pressure pattern. I don’t use milk though, and it is more work than the popular machines
More work, lower cost, fewer parts to break / replace. I’m talking myself into a Flair.
More work just because you’re the pressure source. But that also means you can use the pressure however you like
You need a really expensive machine to have that kind of control automatically