The coffee machine

You’re welcome to make full use of the coffee machine. Here’s a bit of a guide to help you get started if you’re unfamiliar with its use.

The coffee machine has a built in grinder, and you’ll find coffee beans in the pantry. You’re also welcome to use your own coffee beans.

So how do you know if you’ve pulled a good shot of espresso? It shouldn’t taste bitter, nor should it taste sour. If you’re getting bitter notes then you’ve probably over extracted. If you’re getting sour notes then you may have underextracted.

The machine is setup as well as it can for automatic extractions, but you’ll get better results if you do things manually.

A good recipe:

• Grind out 18G of coffee into the portafilter and tamp
• Pop the portfilter into the grouphead and lock into place
• Press (and hold) the double shot button for 8 seconds to allow for pre-infusion and to enter manual mode.
• Release the button and allow the shot to flow.
• You should see the pressure guage move to around a 1-2 o’clock position – this where you want it. Anything less and it will run too fast and anything more is likely to choke the machine.
• If all’s going well, you should aim to get 36-38G of liquid espresso out in about 28-32 seconds. If you’re a few seconds either side of that, don’t worry too much.

The easier way:

• Grind out coffee using the 2 shot button into the porter filter and tamp
• Pop the portfilter into the group head and lock into place
• Press and release the 2 shot button to use the pre-programmed volumetric dose
• Hope for the best

If you want to make a long black, then add water from the kettle. The ideal temperature is about 70 degrees for a long black.