How to brew the perfect coffee

How to keep your espresso machine brewing the perfect cup of coffee

Have you noticed your espresso shots tasting less than perfect? It could be that your machine needs a service.

Espresso coffee machine maintenance and repairs! Yes, I know, this is the boring part of coffee, but if your coffee machine isn’t in top notch working order, or your grinder isn’t set probably, then the coffee isn’t going to taste too good.

We can help with your repairs and maintenance but if you follow a simple daily routine you will be able to avert some major problems from occurring. The key to preventative coffee machine maintenance is backflushing. However, keep in mind that even with backflushing the group head shower screens must be periodically replaced, as coffee oils will eventually build up and clog the screen.

Here’s how to backflush:

1. Remove the filter basket from the group handles and soak these in hot water overnight.
2. With the group handle removed, gently clean the group seal and the shower using a circular motion with a brush, this to remove all the visible coffee grinds in the group.
3. Remove the double filter from the double filter holder and fit your blind filter.
4. With the blind filter fitted, add some cleaning liquid to the blind filter. Place this into the espresso machine and press the espresso button just as you would do to make a normal espresso. Allow this to run for 5 seconds, and repeat it 10 times.
5. Remove the group handle from the espresso machine and run the machine for 5 seconds without any cleaner.
6. This will remove the espresso cleaner and any coffee oil from the coffee machine groups. This is very important because if not washed out, the espresso cleaner will spoil the first couple of coffees made the next day.
7. Once a week the group handles should be soaked in hot water to remove the coffee oils. Do this by placing them with the handle up, in a large container and fill with boiling water just to the top of the metal baskets. Make sure that the filter holder rubber handles are not in the water as this can damage them. Add to this one teaspoon of espresso cleaning liquid and leave overnight.
8. The following day rinse the handles thoroughly with fresh water to remove any cleaner.

Additional daily maintenance should include,

1. purging and cleaning of the steam wands with warm soapy water and a non-abrasive cloth to remove all milk residue. 
2. As a final daily routine, the drain tray should be removed and a jug of hot water should be poured into the drain cup to help rinse accumulated coffee grounds out of the cup and down through the drain hose.

La Casa del Caffe provide on­-site service, maintenance and repairs; workshop repairs and pickup and delivery service. When your machine comes into our service centre it will get a complete checkup including a check for coffee quality and consistency.

If your machine needs a service give the office a call to book it in 1300 LA CASA

This blog post covers preventative techniques for mostly commercial machines such as Futurmat, Mazzer, Bezzera, Boema, Brugnetti, Carimali, Cimbali, Cunhil, Elektra, ECM, Expobar, Faema, Fiamma, Fiorenzato, Gaggia, Gino Rossi, Grimac, Iberital, Klub, La Marzocco, La Pavoni, La Sanmarco, Leone, Macap, Mazzer, Nouva Simonelli, Pavoni, PONY, Promac, Rancilio, Reneka, San Marco, San Marino, San Remo, Vittoria Arduino, Wega.