We encourage you to play around with the settings on your new machine a little bit to see what the results are.  This is a good way to learn what things affect the taste of your drink and to make sure you are getting the taste you enjoy the most.  Here is a brief breakdown of the ways that you can control the final result on a super-automatic machine.

Remember though that the freshness of the coffee and the water quality are two of the most important factors in making a good espresso.  None of the guidelines below can compensate very much for stale coffee and bad water.  Getting your beans fresh from a local roaster once or twice a week will make for a better drink than buying beans from chain coffee shops or brands imported from Europe as many of those have been sitting long after their freshness has run out before they even get to the store where you can buy them. 

This may seem overwhelming to you at first and it is true that there are many variables that go into your espresso or coffee but just take it one step at a time and once you understand how all the variables come into play, it will be easy to make adjustments whenever needed.  Many people are perfectly happy with the settings right out of the box and never change anything and that is all right too.  The only thing that counts is that you enjoy the cups you make. 

Grinder Settings

Adjusting the grind is an often-neglected part of setting up super-automatic machines but it has a huge effect on the espresso quality.  Some experimentation is generally required as different beans react best with different grinds.  In general, the darker the roast, the coarser the grind should be.  You can tell when your grind setting is right if the espresso is coming out thick with plenty of crema and neither too fast or too slow. 

The grind is ultimately changing the length of time that the water is in contact with the ground coffee, called extraction time.  A coarser grind is easier for the water to move through, so it will pour out faster.  A finer grind will slow down the pour.  The longer the water is in contact with the grounds, the more it will absorb out of them.  The first things it absorbs are aroma and flavour, then caffeine and tannic acid (tannic acid is responsible for stomach problems for a lot of people and makes the coffee taste bitter).  If you let the water absorb too much, it will run out of the good things to absorb (flavour and aroma) and then only be extracting the bad things (caffeine and tannic acid).  If you don't let it absorb enough, it will taste very weak and not have any crema.  So you want to find the perfect balance where it absorbs the full flavours but little caffeine or tannic acid.  This doesn't mean the centre setting on the grinder generally, but the perfect point is usually closer to the finest setting.

So, in a nutshell, if the espresso is coming out very quickly, with little or no crema and little or no taste, the grind is quite likely too coarse.  Try turning it a few notches finer.  If the espresso is coming out very slowly, or barely coming out at all, and the taste is harsh and bitter, the grind is probably too fine.  Try turning it a bit coarser.

Remember, on many machines you should only change the grinder setting while the grinder is actually running (always read your user manual).  Start making a drink and then adjust it a couple of settings while you can hear the grinder working.  It will take a couple of shots before you notice the difference so test it a couple of times before you change the setting again.

Water Volume

Obviously, if you want to make a larger or smaller sized drink, you would adjust the water volume setting.  This can also be used to change the strength of the drink.  By keeping the amount of coffee that will be ground the same but adjusting the water, you can make a smaller, stronger drink or a larger, milder drink.  But don't forget about extraction time! 

Coffee amount

Espresso

Pressure Brewed Coffee