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Coffee Machine Maintenance

March 16, 2025

Coffee machines are a bit like pets; the quality of their companionship is a  reflection of how their owner treats them. It’s not a difficult process, it’s just about reading the signals it sends you. The more you love and understand your machine, the more it’s going to love you back… with great tasting coffee (ok, done with the pet thing now).

To keep your coffee tasting at it’s best you’ll want to avoid impurities, which really just means a clean machine and a good bean. Our beautifully air roasted espresso ESE coffee pods are immediately sealed in an oxygen-free environment to maintain their freshness, therefore the only thing for you to worry about is a clean machine.

(P.S. Don’t forget to throw your used ESE coffee pods straight in to the compost or even straight in to the garden. They are 100% biodegradeable!)

General maintenance


Each time you are finished making coffee with your machine, you need to flush the group head of any residual coffee before leaving it. This is easily done by locking the handle down on the empty “group head” and running water through it. This will keep it in good condition for a while, but it will eventually want a better clean. If you use a small lever, you can pop the metal basket off the base  and use a damp cloth to remove any coffee grit left underneath. The spout also unplugs from the base to be cleaned and is best done with a little brush cleaner, like ones used to clean a metal straw.

For those of you wondering “what is a group head?”, it is where the final magic happens. Pictured right is the La Piccola ESE coffee pod “group head”. The coffee is locked into a chamber where water passes through it under pressure to extract the coffee. 

If you have steamed milk with the steam wand, immediately wipe any milk residue off the wand. It is important then to turn the steam on for another second to flush any left over milk out of the steam wand.

Remember …. Clean machines deliver delicious coffee.

Changing the Main O-ring in a La Piccola coffee machine

There are two ways to check if the o-ring needs changing. One: there will be some liquid leaking out the side of the pod, this may result in some black leakage down the back of your drip tray – this is just coffee that didn’t make it into your cup. Two: run your finger over the o-ring while the machine is off and NOT HOT, to feel if it has become rough

Changing the o-ring


Cleaning the base

Every time you finish making your coffee(s), you should run some water through the group head to flush out any residual coffee oils. These may turn into impurities that can give unwanted bitterness in your next espresso. Over time this leftover coffee will slowly build up in your base and you will need to pull it out and give it a clean.

 

Support

If you would like some more information about the correct way to look after your machine or if you are worried it might be something more serious, our website has information or you can phone us for support. We have techs on standby for all issues with coffee machines purchased from Lucaffe Australia. No problem is too big, no problem is too small!

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