Specialty coffee in a fully automatic machine - how to make it taste really great! ☕🔥

Do you have a fully automatic machine, but your specialty coffee tastes weak, bitter or simply not as intense as you would like? Then it's probably not the coffee itself, but the settings on your machine.

Here you can find out why supermarket coffee often works better in a fully automatic machine (unfortunately 😅), what you can do to set specialty coffee perfectly and whether it might be time to switch to a portafilter or hand filter after all.

Why does supermarket coffee (unfortunately) work better in a fully automatic machine? 🤷‍♂️

You may have already noticed: Cheap supermarket coffee tastes kind of okay from a fully automatic machine, while specialty coffee sometimes seems too mild or unbalanced. This is due to the following factors:

🔸 Darker roast: industrially produced coffee is often roasted dark to very dark. This produces roasted aromas that are not complex, but are strong. The fully automatic machine therefore has fewer problems extracting flavor.
🔸 Robusta content: Supermarket coffee often contains a high proportion of Robusta beans. These provide more bitterness and body, which often has a "fuller" effect in the fully automatic machine.
🔸 High oil content: Dark-roasted beans are oilier, which makes for a denser crema - the eye also drinks.
🔸 Generous grind tolerance: Supermarket coffee is often optimized for "average" fully automatic grinders. Specialty Coffee needs more fine-tuning here.

With specialty coffee, you get a completely different quality - but you have to set your fully automatic machine correctly!

The perfect setting for specialty coffee in a fully automatic machine 🎯

To ensure your specialty coffee doesn't go under, you need to set your machine optimally. Here are the most important settings:

1️⃣ Grind size: finer is better!

🛠 Why?
Fully automatic machines usually have relatively coarse grinders. Specialty coffee needs a finer grind for more extraction.

🎯 Recommended setting:
➡️ Make the grind as fine as possible without clogging the machine or allowing the coffee to pass through too slowly.
➡️ If the coffee tastes too sour, the grind is still too coarse. If it becomes bitter, it is too fine.
➡️ Caution: Brew 2-3 cups after each grind change to allow the grinder to "settle".

2️⃣ Coffee powder quantity: More is more!

🛠 Why?
Most fully automatic machines dose too little coffee (6-8g per cup). Specialty coffee needs more to fully develop its aromas.

🎯 Recommended setting:
➡️ Set the amount of powder to the maximum (often 10-12g, some machines allow up to 14g).
➡️ If your machine has a "strength" setting, select very strong.

3️⃣ Brewing temperature: hotter is better!

🛠 Why?
Many fully automatic machines brew at 85-88°C - this is okay for dark roasts, but specialty coffee needs more heat.

🎯 Recommended setting:
➡️ If your fully automatic machine has a temperature control, set it to high (90-96°C).
➡️ If you do not have a temperature control: Rinse hot water through the machine before brewing (so that it warms up).

4️⃣ Water quantity: Less is more!

🛠 Why?
The more water runs through the coffee, the thinner and less balanced it becomes.

🎯 Recommended setting:
➡️ Espresso: 25-30 ml
➡️ Café Crème: Maximum 120 ml (otherwise it will be too watered down)
➡️ Americano instead of café crème: Prepare a double espresso and then dilute it with hot water - tastes better!

5️⃣ Use the pre-brew function (if available)

🛠 Why?
Brief contact with water before the actual brewing process ensures a more even extraction.

🎯 Recommended setting:
➡️ If your fully automatic machine has a pre-infusion or pre-brewing function, be sure to activate it!

Get even more flavor out of it: Additional tips! 🚀

💡 Use good water quality
Lime-containing water destroys fine aromas. Use a water filter or filtered water.

💡 Clean the machine regularly
Oils and coffee residues make the taste musty - clean the grinder and brewing group regularly.

💡 Sieve support feeling with double extraction
If your machine allows two espresso shots, use 2x single shots rather than a double shot. The extraction is often better.

What if specialty coffee still doesn't taste good? 🤔

Sometimes it's simply down to the limits of the fully automatic machine. These machines are made for convenience - not perfection. If you really want to get the best out of your coffee, there are two alternatives:

✅ Portafilter: You have 100% control over grind, quantity, brewing temperature & extraction.
✅ Filter coffee (e.g. V60, Chemex, AeroPress): Specialty coffee unfolds even better with light roasts in particular.

Conclusion: Your fully automatic machine can do more than you think! 🎉

Yes, a fully automatic machine is not the first choice for specialty coffee - but with the right settings, you can get an incredible amount out of your beans !

💚 The 5 most important takeaways:
✔️ Make the grind finer
✔️ More coffee powder per cup
✔️ Higher brewing temperature
✔️ Less water per brew
✔️ Keep the machine clean

And if you now feel like testing the whole thing with really good specialty coffee - then try our NaturBohne coffee ! 😉