The Five Things We All Wish We Knew Before Renting An Automatic Coffee Machine

An automatic coffee machine has become a welcomed luxury in the homes of those who settle for nothing less than Barista-quality coffee on tap – any time of the day. As with anything that brings convenience and an air of luxury to our lives, there is always some level of input required to keep it in great condition.

We wash our cars every weekend, we polish our jewellery and make sure we take car to never place a Birkin bag on t the floor. Like, ever. So why not take that level of care into the upkeep of your coffee machine?

Here are some tips to keeping your coffee machine in exceptional order:

Not Cleaning Your Machine Will Have An Impact On Your Coffee

This is number 1 priority and always going to be a stressed point we make when looking after your machine. Cleaning the milk circuit, the grounds container and the brew group (if suited) are vitally important. This function MUST be performed each and every day, to keep from any “nasties” stagnating, souring and potentially damaging your machine. The less build-up there is, the better, and it will go a long way in keeping your machine working well.

Neglecting The Warning Sings Is The Best Way to Damage Your Machine

I’m talking about the filter here, mostly. Tap water (or mineral water, for that matter) contain calcium and fluoride – the chemicals responsible for lime-scale depositing the inside of your machine. If your machine is prompting you to perform a Decalcifying rinse, or to replace your filter – it’s because it NEEDS TO HAPPEN! Otherwise, those deposits might just dislodge and make their way into your boiler, and once that’s happened, a whole range of knock-on effects can mean one huge headache for you. Unless you’re using purified water – there’s no getting away from this.

Emptying My Coffee grounds and (Eeek!) Re-Using Them Is A Trifecta of Bad

When your machine prompts you to empty the grounds container, and you open it and do a quick eye-judge on how full it is, you think “nah, it’ll take more cups, and my meeting is in 2 minutes”. See, your machine will think you’ve been honest and taken out those grounds, and it will not register that it is truly at maximum capacity. It will keep depositing those pucks into the tray and cause overflowing – which is a nightmare to clean up.

If you’re guilty of re-using coffee grounds – I both understand and berate you simultaneously. Please, do not do it! The machine has already extracted the maximum flavour from that coffee, so your punishment is two-fold; drinking poor quality, stale coffee, and also, *I’d assume you would add this ground coffee to your override doser – which (because it is still damp) can cause damage to the internal components. Just don’t do it J

Forgetting To Adjust Your Grind-Level and Aroma Strength Can Lead to Bad Coffee

We are not all the same, and we all like our coffee a little different. The reason you may hate the office coffee machine, and “Mandy” loves it – is because the settings are probably similar to how she enjoys here coffee. Don’t let these features slip by- read up about that model of coffee machine if it’s not yours or you are unfamiliar with it) – and experiment a bit. No point in wasting a great cup of coffee just because you’re not bothered to get it the way you like it.

Using Flavoured Coffee Beans Will Probably Damage My Grinder

Flavoured coffee beans mostly get their flavour from a sugary, sticky substance added to coat the coffee bean after it has been roasted. This residue is crushed up inside your grinder with each use. Firstly, the coffee purist who shares this machine with you will not appreciate the after-taste of you Caramel-Coconut coffee beans, and that residue is just going to keep being cycled around your grinder – because there is no real way to get inside said grinder to clean it out properly. Rather make use of a flavoured syrup that you can add to your normal coffee, and everyone stays happy.

What would you recommend to those investing in an automatic coffee machine that can save them heartache?