Complete Guide to Making Good Coffee

Welcome. You are about to learn how to use our coffee-machine. First of all you should take a moment to appreciate that the machine is hand-made and pretty expensive. It should be treated with caution and care. Since it is likely running at ten times the usual workload for a machine of this size, taking extra care is necessary to ensure it's longevity. Explaining how to do this is the purpose of this guide. Its second goal is to give you the tools to enjoy a good or even perfect espresso or cappuccino.

How to make espresso

Start by grabbing your portafilter (the round thing with the handle). There are two sizes. A small one for a single shot of espresso and a bigger one for a double shot. For a cappuccino, tradition demands a double shot, but a single shot is fine for a smaller cup and lighter taste. Your coffee will taste a lot better if the filter is warmed up in advance. So if it is cold, consider mounting it into the hot brewing head for a minute or two (See step 9).
Check the water level by lifting the lid off the machine. Only use filtered water to fill the tank. This is important and violations of this rule can result in serious damages to the machine and also in me giving you angry looks. Damages due to limescale are also not covered by the warranty, just saying.
Continue by selecting the right grinding time for your coffee by pressing the button on top of the grinder (technically not on top but above the display) – Two little espresso emojis for a single shot, three for a double (makes sense doesn't it).
Press your portafilter against the button below the dispenser of the grinder. Wait until the grinder is done. If you selected the wrong time and the coffee powder starts falling down to the side messing up the table you can interrupt by pressing the button on top of the grinder (the one you selected your time with).
For the double shot, the filter should be filled up to the edge but not much beyond. The single portafilter should actually have a bit of volume left. Normally you shouldn't have to think about these things so take this as a way to cross-check our settings.
Noticed how I didn't mention the grind size? That's by design. If you suspect the grind size to be off, come to me. Just don't change it by yourself :).
After filling the portafilter, the coffee has to be tamped. Thats probably the hardest step on your part but don't worry. It isn't that complicated. Make sure the coffee powder is distributed in the filter more or less evenly. Then take the tamper (the other round thing with a handle) and press from the top. You can use a bit of force, but don't exaggerate. The goal of this task is to create a flat and homogeneous puck of coffee so that the water is flowing through the powder evenly. After tamping, the height of the coffee puck should coincide with the small indentation in the portafilter. If it is too high, you will press the coffee powder into the brewing head. If it is too low, the water will flow through the puck too quickly.
After tamping you should use the brush or your finger to clean coffee powder off the edge of the portafilter. This is important to keep the brewing head clean.
Now you can finally turn towards the coffee machine. To the right of the brewing head you find a lever. It is controlling both the pump of the coffee-machine and the valve of the brewing head. Open it by bringing it in an upward position (upward means parallel to the floor in this case). Most likely you will hear a bubbling sound. This means the water flowing out is close to boiling temperature. This is suboptimal for brewing but all you have to do to fix this is let the water running for a few seconds until the temperature has stabilized.
Turn the portafilter slightly leftwards and insert it into the brewing head (from the bottom). Mount it by turning the handle rightwards. Don't use excessive force please!
You're almost done. Take some warmed-up cups from the top of the machine, place them under the brewing head and raise the lever. If it takes approx. 30 seconds to fill an espresso cup, everything has gone perfectly. You can watch the brewing pressure on the pressure gauge (the right one). If it doesn't climb to 9 bar, there might be a problem with your tamping or the grind size (which, again, you should not change ;-) ).
Congratulations! Enjoy your espresso. But before you leave remove the portafilter, empty it in the bucket to the right of the grinder and rinse it in the sink. Also, raise the lever of the coffee machine and let some water flow through the brewing head to flush residual coffee.
Enjoy!

How to make cappuccino

Start by brewing a single- or double shot of espresso in the cup of your choice.
Get a milk jug and fill the appropriate amount of milk. The volume of the milk will expand by something like 1/4 to 1/2 when steaming. The jug should not be filled higher than to the point where the nozzle begins.
Open the valve of the steam wand (left of the brewing head) and let out some steam to clear the wand of residual liquid water.
The next part needs practise and you shouldn't be discouraged if the milk is not perfect the first time.
Place one hand on the wall of the jug. This is to feel the rise in temperature. The most important parameter for a tasty cappuccino is the final temperature. In my opinion getting the actual foam right is secondary to hitting the optimal temperature.
Lower the tip of the steam wand (where the two little holes are) down into the milk at an angle and a little off-center (to get a nice spinning swirl later) and open the steam valve completely.
Lower the jug a little until you hear air being sucked in. This sounds a little like making bubbles with a straw, but with a higher frequency. This coincides with a rapid increase in volume. If you're doing well, most of the resulting bubbles should be small and fine and the milk should start swirling or spinning. The trick is to barely let the tip reach the surface. If you get too far out the jug you create big, ugly bubbles instead of fine, creamy foam.
If the sound you hear is more like a cat, being forced to watch the Twilight trilogy, the wand is still too deep in the milk. Once you reach the surface and start drawing air, the sound should go away.
Once the volume has increased enough and the milk starts warming up (feel with your hand) lower wand a little (that means raising the jug), such that you don't draw more air and only mix foam and milk. If you get a nice spin, you did great. If the milk is not moving (Cat in pain, remember) try altering the angle of the jug/wand or its position in the milk.
The optimum temperature is a little above 60°C or when holding the jug becomes uncomfortable. Listen to your hand and don't be a hero. If you are not sure, it's better to stop a bit early than to heat up the milk too much. Stop the process by closing the steam valve (quickly but without force)
Set the milk aside and quickly wipe the steam wand with a damp cloth (hopefully next to the machine) to remove milk residuals before they dry/burn.
"Purge" the steam wand by opening the valve fully for up to a few seconds. This is critical. When the wand cools, the contraction of the steam/air inside the wand sucks residual milk up into the machine. So you have to blow it out before it dries. Please (!!!) don't forget this step :*
Now its time to make your cappuccino. You can swirl the milk a bit with your hand to make it more homogenious and also stomp it on the table. This is no hipster-barista-shit, only a small trick to break up any large bubbles left. If you find this silly, don't do it.
Pour in the milk into your cup (make some latte art if you want).
Enjoy!