Don’t underestimate how important a clean machine is. Old coffee oils will make your espresso taste terrible regardless of how well you’ve managed every other factor — grind, water, tamp, none of it matters if the machine itself is dirty. Here’s my routine.

Rinse the portafilter and basket after every shot. Knock out the puck and rinse both under hot water straight away, before the oils have a chance to dry on.
Flush the group after every session. With no portafilter attached, lift and lower the lever a few times to run a little water through the group. This clears loose grounds and, since the Europiccola has no 3-way valve to do it for you, is the closest thing to backflushing this machine gets — which is to say, it isn’t backflushing at all, just a plain water flush.
Wipe the group and shower screen while it’s still warm. A damp cloth or a stiff (non-metal) brush around the underside of the group and the shower screen keeps coffee oils from baking on. I do this most sessions, and give it a proper scrub with a bit of espresso-machine cleaner (Cafiza or Puly Caff) every week or so, depending on how much I’ve been using it.
Empty and rinse the drip tray daily. Standing water in the tray gets funky fast.
Wipe the exterior with a soft, damp cloth and mild soap if needed. Wring the cloth out well — you don’t want water finding its way into the base near the electrics. Avoid anything abrasive on the chrome or brass.
Check the piston and group gaskets periodically. These are wear parts. If the lever starts feeling rough or resistant, or you see water weeping between the portafilter and the group during a shot, that’s usually the gasket telling you it’s due for replacement.
Descale the boiler when it needs it. Scale builds up over time, more so with harder water. I keep the descaling details on the maintenance page — check there when it’s due.

‘Nuff said!

Cleanliness