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Getting started with your espresso machine

Oct 03, 2026

This guide takes you from an unboxed machine to your first good espresso. It applies to most boiler espresso machines, for example E61 machines from Rocket, Profitec, Quick Mill and Torre. Always read the user manual for your model as well; you will find it on the model's resource page.

First start-up: fill the boiler

  1. Fill the water tank with cold, soft water (see water and filters).
  2. Check that the brew lever is down (off).
  3. Open the steam valve and switch the machine on. The pump now fills the boiler. When the pump stops, the boiler is full.
  4. Close the steam valve. The heating element starts to heat up.
  5. When the pressure gauge shows about 1 bar: open the steam valve for a few seconds to let air and steam escape, then close it again.
  6. Lift the brew lever and let a cup of water run through the group head. This also fills the heat exchanger and the group.

Warm-up

The boiler is hot after a few minutes, but a brass E61 group head needs 15–20 minutes before it holds a stable temperature. Lock in the portafilter when you switch the machine on so that it heats up at the same time. If your machine has a timer or ECO mode, you can schedule the warm-up.

Cooling flush on heat exchanger (HX) machines

On a heat exchanger machine, the water in the heat exchanger sits still while the machine is idle and gets hotter than the ideal brew temperature. So flush 1–3 dl (100–300 ml) of water through the group just before you brew, until it stops hissing and spitting. If the machine has been idle for a while you need to flush more; straight after a shot you hardly need to flush at all. Dual boilers and PID-controlled groups do not need a cooling flush.

Your first espresso

A good starting recipe: 18 g of coffee in, 36 g of espresso out, in 25–30 seconds. Use a scale. Then adjust only the grind size:

  • Runs too fast and tastes sour or thin: grind finer.
  • Runs too slowly and tastes bitter: grind coarser.
  • Bubbly, pale crema straight after warm-up: the water is too hot, flush a little more.

Steaming milk

Purge the steam wand for a second before and after each use to blow out condensation and milk residue. Wipe the wand straight away with a damp cloth. Milk that bakes on clogs the holes in the steam tip and gives weak steam. Soak the steam tip in Cafetto MFC milk system cleaner once a week.

What you need from day one

Barista & Espresso