Filter (drip) coffee maker

I have just bought one. What do I do first?

1. Put it together and find each part. The water reservoir, the arm or head the water comes out of, the filter holder, the jug and its lid. Check the outlet arm, if it is removable, is pushed fully home.
2. Stand it on a flat, level surface with room above it. Away from the hob and not inside a cupboard while it runs. It makes steam.
3. Run it with water only. The Moccamaster manual asks for one or two cycles of clean water before first use, and again if the machine has stood unused for some time. Most makers ask for something similar.
4. Fill the reservoir with fresh cold water, from a different jug. The reservoir's marks are the recipe's water. The Moccamaster manual advises not filling it from the coffee jug, because coffee residue builds up inside the machine over time.
5. Fit the right paper and weigh the coffee. The paper has to be the size and shape the holder is made for. Weigh the coffee: the maker cites a standard of 60 g per litre, which is 75 g for a full 1.25 litre jug, and says plainly that it is a matter of taste.
6. Set the batch, put the jug in place and switch on. On a machine with a half and full setting, choose it now. Make sure the jug and its lid are in position before the water starts.
7. Leave it alone until it has finished dripping. Do not pull the jug or the filter holder out while it is brewing. The manual warns of burns.
8. Stir or swirl the jug, taste, and change one thing. The first coffee into the jug is stronger than the last, so mix it before pouring. Then change one thing for the next batch: usually the amount of coffee or the grind.

What each part of a filter machine is for

Water reservoir

Holds the cold water for one batch and is marked in cups or litres. The machine brews all the water you put in, so the reservoir is the measure.

Heating element

Heats the water and drives it up to the outlet. The owner cannot set it. The Moccamaster manual gives its water temperature as 92 to 96 °C.

Outlet arm or spray head

Delivers the water over the coffee. A head with several holes wets more of the bed than a single stream. Where it sits over the basket matters: the manual asks for the arm to be positioned over the centre of the filter holder.

Filter holder or basket

Holds the paper and the coffee. Many have a drip-stop at the bottom that closes when the jug is removed. A blocked drip-stop is a common cause of an overflowing basket.

The paper

Catches the grounds and most of the fine particles and is part of what slows the water. It has to match the holder.

Glass jug and hotplate

The jug sits on a heated plate that keeps the coffee hot. On the Moccamaster the plate is a separate system from the brewing and switches itself off 40 minutes after the brew started.

Thermal jug

An insulated jug with no hotplate under it. It keeps coffee hot by holding the heat it arrived with, so it works better warmed first.

Mixing lid

A lid with a tube that carries the incoming coffee to the bottom of the jug, so the batch mixes itself as it fills.

Switches

An on and off switch, and on some machines a selector for a half or a full jug. That selector is the one brewing control such a machine gives you.

An automatic brewer still has variables

The machine fixes two things a hand-pourer controls: the temperature of the water and the way it is poured. Everything else is open. The amount of coffee sets the strength. The grind sets how long the water stays in the bed. The size of the batch sets how deep the bed is. The coffee and the water are what they are.

Two things from hand pour-over do not carry across. There is no bloom or stir to adjust unless you open the machine mid-brew, which puts a hand in steam. And a brew time is not yours to set: it follows from the batch, the grind and the machine.

So the adjustments are few and they are clear. Too weak or too strong: change the amount of coffee. Balanced but thin, or harsh and slow: change the grind. Fine first cup and bad second: change what happens to the jug.

Why half a pot is not just half the recipe

A filter basket is shaped for a full batch. Half the coffee in the same basket makes a bed half as deep, and the water passes through it faster and touches less coffee on the way. A half batch brewed exactly like a full one tends to come out thinner than the ratio would suggest.

Makers deal with this in different ways. The Moccamaster KBG Select has a half-jug setting on which, the manual says, the water is pumped through more slowly for a longer extraction. The manual adds that this setting can be used for a whole jug as well.

On a machine with no such setting, the usual answers are to grind a little finer for a small batch, or to accept that the machine is at its best nearer full. A very large dose can go wrong the other way: a basket filled too high, or ground too fine, can overflow.

Hotplate or thermal jug: what happens after the brew

A hotplate keeps adding heat to brewed coffee. Coffee kept hot goes on changing, and most people find it turns flat and then bitter the longer it sits. That is common experience. The plate is doing its job; the coffee is simply being held.

A thermal jug adds no heat. The coffee cools slowly and changes more slowly. It will never be hotter than it was when it went in, which is why the manual recommends rinsing the thermos jug with hot water before brewing.

Either way, the manual's own line is that coffee tastes best immediately after it is brewed. If the first cup is good and the last is not, nothing about the brewing needs to change. Brew less at a time, or move it to a warmed flask.

A problem with the brew, or a fault in the machine?

Most disappointing coffee from a filter machine is a brew problem, and the cure is in the coffee, the grind, the amount or the holding. Those are yours to change.

Some things are not brew problems and no recipe cures them: the machine does not start, water does not move, it takes far longer than it used to and makes a lot of steam, it leaks from the body, the light is on and nothing happens, the cord or plug is damaged. Those are the machine.

For a machine fault, stop adjusting the coffee. Unplug it, descale it if slow flow and steam suggest scale and the manual describes how, and otherwise contact the maker or the supplier. The Moccamaster manual says repairs must be carried out by skilled service technicians and that a damaged cord needs a special replacement.

One maker's machines as an example: Moccamaster

These three share a heating element and a way of working. What follows is from the maker's manual for its household models and, for the Cup-One, from its product page and its own, Dutch-language manual. It is given as an example of how to read a filter machine's manual, not as a recommendation.

• Moccamaster KBG Select
• Moccamaster KBGT
• Moccamaster Cup-One

What changes what in a filter machine

Each line is a tendency and the mechanism behind it, not a promise about taste. The last part of each says what else the result depends on.

Amount of coffeemore or less for the same water

The main control of strength. More coffee is a stronger cup and a deeper bed, which the water passes through more slowly.

But it also depends on: The basket. Too much coffee, or too fine, and it can overflow.

Grindfiner or coarser

Finer holds the water in the bed longer and takes more from the coffee. Coarser lets it through sooner.

But it also depends on: The machine's flow, which you cannot change. A grind that suits one machine may flood another.

Batch sizea full jug or part of one

A small batch makes a shallow bed that the water passes quickly. A full batch makes the bed the basket was shaped for.

But it also depends on: Whether the machine has a setting for small batches.

A half-batch setting, where there is oneon or off

Slows the water so it stays with the coffee longer, which the maker of one such machine describes as a more intense flavour.

But it also depends on: The machine. It is one maker's design, not a general feature.

The paperthe maker's size and shape, or another

A paper that fits lies against the holder and drains evenly. One that does not can fold over and let water and grounds past.

But it also depends on: Using the size the holder is made for.

Holdingdrunk at once, kept on a hotplate, or kept in a thermal jug

Coffee kept hot on a plate keeps changing and is commonly found to turn flat and bitter. In a thermal jug it cools and changes more slowly.

But it also depends on: How long. A jug emptied in a few minutes shows little of this.

Waterharder or softer

Hard water leaves scale on the heating element, which slows the flow and lowers the brewing temperature over time. Softened water behaves differently in the bed: one maker warns it can make the basket overflow.

But it also depends on: Where you live and whether your water is softened.

The coffeefresher or older, lighter or darker, regular or decaffeinated

The largest change of all. Decaffeinated coffee can also drain more slowly: one maker says it can clog the holes of the filter bag.

But it also depends on: Nothing on the machine.

When a filter machine goes wrong

The first three are the machine. The rest are the brew. Knowing which you have decides whether to change the coffee or to stop and call for help.

The machine does not start

Consider

• The plug is not fully in the socket
• No water in the reservoir: many machines will not start dry
• On a thermal model, the jug is not pressing its switch
• A fault in the machine

Try first: Check the plug, the water and the position of the jug. The Moccamaster manual's answer for a power light that is on with no brewing is to contact the supplier. Do not open the machine.

Water does not move, or moves very slowly with a lot of steam

Consider

• Limescale in the machine
• An outlet arm that is not seated
• A fault in the machine

Try first: This is the machine, not the coffee. The Moccamaster manual's answer for a slow cycle with a lot of steam is to descale, possibly several times. If descaling as your manual directs does not cure it, stop and contact the maker.

Limescale, and how you would notice

You suspect scale

Consider

• The cycle takes noticeably longer than it used to
• More steam and spluttering than before
• A cloudy tube or white deposit in the reservoir
• Hard water where you live

Try first: Descale as the manual for your machine directs, with what it names. The Moccamaster manual lists a slow cycle, heavy steam and a cloudy glass tube as its signs.

Check how hard your water is

The basket overflows

Consider

• A blocked drip-stop under the filter holder
• Coffee ground too fine: the manual names espresso grind
• Too much coffee for the basket
• Decaffeinated coffee, or softened water
• A paper that has folded over

Try first: Clean the filter holder and its drip-stop, then use a filter grind. The Moccamaster manual's further answers are a smaller quantity and, on the Select, the half-jug setting.

Read an overflowing basket in Make my coffee better

It brews too fast and the coffee is thin

Consider

• A small batch in a large basket
• A coarse grind
• Too little coffee

Try first: Weigh the coffee against the water first. If the amounts are right, grind a step finer, or use the small-batch setting if the machine has one.

Read a thin, fast batch

It brews too slowly

Consider

• A grind that is too fine
• A lot of coffee, so the bed is deep
• Scale, if it is slower than it used to be with the same coffee

Try first: If it has slowed over weeks with nothing else changed, think of scale before the coffee. If it is slow from a change you made, grind a step coarser.

The coffee is weak

Consider

• Too little coffee for the water in the reservoir
• A scoop where a scale would be more exact
• A small batch brewed like a full one

Try first: Weigh the coffee and read the reservoir's marks. The Moccamaster manual's answer is to increase the dosage for stronger coffee.

Work out coffee for the batch

The coffee is harsh or bitter

Consider

• It has been sitting on the hotplate
• A lot of coffee for the water: the harshness fades when a little hot water is added to the cup
• A grind that is too fine, with a slow drip
• Old coffee oil in the jug, the holder or the machine

Try first: Taste a cup straight after brewing. If that one is fine, the hotplate is the cause. If the fresh cup is harsh too, add a little water to it: if that softens it, use less coffee.

Read a bitter batch, with the checks in order

There are grounds in the jug

Consider

• The paper folded over or was not seated
• The basket overflowed
• A paper of the wrong size
• A torn paper

Try first: Seat the right size of paper flat against the holder and use a filter grind.

A thermal jug seems cold

Consider

• The jug was cold when the coffee went in
• A small batch in a large jug
• A lid that is not closed
• It has simply been a long time

Try first: Rinse the jug with hot water before brewing, as the manual recommends, and close the lid fully. A thermal jug holds heat; it does not add any.

A drink that is not hot enough

The coffee is fine at first and poor later

Consider

• Time on a hotplate
• A jug that was not stirred, so the first cup was the weak top or the strong bottom
• A thermal jug that was opened often

Try first: Swirl the jug before the first cup, and brew less at a time. Nothing about the brewing needs to change.

Change one thing, observe, learn

Each of these changes one thing and holds the rest. Brew the two side by side where you can, and write down what you notice before deciding which you prefer.

• The same batch at two doses

  Change

  Brew a full jug at your usual amount of coffee, then with a tenth more.

  Keep the same

  The coffee, the grind and the water.

  What to notice

  Strength, and whether the balance moved with it.

• A fresh cup against one held

  Change

  Pour one cup as the brew finishes and cover it. Pour another from the jug after it has been held for half an hour.

  Keep the same

  It is one batch.

  What to notice

  What holding did. This tells you how much to brew at a time.

• Half a jug, with and without the small-batch setting

  Change

  If your machine has one, brew half a jug on each setting. If it has none, brew half a jug at your usual grind and a step finer.

  Keep the same

  The coffee and the ratio.

  What to notice

  Which half batch tastes closer to your full one.

• Stirred against poured straight

  Change

  From one batch, pour a cup before touching the jug, then swirl the jug and pour another.

  Keep the same

  It is one batch.

  What to notice

  How different the two are, which is how unevenly a jug fills.

What to avoid

• Removing the filter holder or the jug while it is brewing. The manual warns that removing parts during brewing risks burns.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Touching the outlet pipe, the filter holder or the hotplate during or shortly after use. They are hot.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Pouring anything into the reservoir but water, or a descaling or cleaning product the maker recommends.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Running the machine without its outlet pipe, or inside a cabinet.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Putting a glass jug over a flame or on a hob, standing a hot jug on a cold surface, or using one that is cracked or has a loose handle.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Using the machine with a damaged cord or plug, or putting the machine, cord or plug in water. The manual says a damaged cord needs a special replacement fitted by a skilled technician.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Leaving the machine or its cord where a child under eight can reach it, or letting the cord hang over the edge of a worktop where it can be pulled. The manual also says to pull the plug out before cleaning and if anything goes wrong during use.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Trying to cure a machine fault with coffee. If it will not start, will not pump, or leaks, changing the grind does nothing. Unplug it and contact the maker or supplier.CoffeeHQ reasoning
• Opening the machine in the middle of a brew to stir the bed. It is a hand-pour habit that does not belong here, and it puts a hand in steam.CoffeeHQ reasoning
• Changing the dose, the grind and the batch size together. One change per batch.CoffeeHQ reasoning

Cleaning, descaling and the parts that wear

Every time

• Empty the paper and grounds and rinse the filter holder and the jug. Old coffee oil in either gives every batch the same stale edge.Common practice
• Regularly clean the jug, the filter holder and the lids, and wipe the outside with a damp cloth once the machine is unplugged and cool.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster

From time to time

• Descale. The Moccamaster manual recommends once every 100 cycles, which it puts as each box of 100 filter bags, or at least once every three months, with a recommended descaler used as its own instructions say, followed by two or three cycles of clean water. That is this maker's interval for these machines. Its manual for the Cup-One gives a different one, every 80 cycles.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Clean the inside of the machine as well. The same manual asks for it four to six times a year depending on use, with a product the supplier confirms is safe. That too is this maker's instruction.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• Clear the drip-stop under the filter holder. The manual gives a clogged drip-stop as a cause of an overflowing holder.Maker's instructions: Technivorm Moccamaster
• For any other machine, the interval and the product are in its own manual. Makers disagree on what a machine may be descaled with, so do not carry one maker's advice to another's machine.CoffeeHQ reasoning

Parts that wear

The glass jug

A crack, or a handle that has worked loose. The manual says not to use it, and that parts are ordered from the supplier or the maker.Maker's instructions

The filter holder and its drip-stop

A drip-stop that sticks open and drips on the plate, or sticks shut and floods the basket.CoffeeHQ reasoning

Lids, the outlet arm and other loose parts

The manual lists loose parts such as covers, the jug, the outlet pipe and the filter holder as outside its warranty, and says to order parts from the supplier or the maker.Maker's instructions

The cord

Any damage. It is not an owner repair on these machines.Maker's instructions

What else changes how it is used

Only the things that change the brewing. None of this is a list of things to buy.

A scale

The amount of coffee is the main control an automatic machine leaves you, and a scoop does not hold it steady.

Papers of the right size and shape

The holder is made for one. The wrong one folds, floods or lets grounds past.

A burr grinder

The grind is the second control. Pre-ground coffee fixes it for you.

A separate jug for filling the reservoir

The maker's own advice, so that coffee residue does not get into the machine.

A warmed flask

For coffee you will not drink at once, in place of a long stay on a hotplate.

The descaler your manual names

Scale is the commonest thing that goes wrong with these machines, and the right product is the maker's to say.

From the first brew to knowing it well

1. Weigh the coffee and measure the water. One recipe, written down, brewed the same way until two jugs match.
2. Set the strength. By the amount of coffee alone, a tenth at a time.
3. Then the grind. A step finer or coarser for balance, watching that the basket does not flood.
4. Sort out the holding. Brew what you will drink, mix the jug, and move the rest off the heat.
5. Learn your batch sizes. What a half jug needs on your machine to taste like a full one.
6. Keep the machine clear. Descale and clean on the schedule its manual gives. A scaled machine brews cooler and slower, and no recipe makes up for it.

Improve this, from here

• Make my coffee better: automatic filter machine — Tick what you noticed and get the possibilities, the quickest check and one change.
• Batch brew calculator — Coffee for the number of cups or the litres you are making.
• Coffee-to-water ratio calculator — For a smaller batch, or a machine with no marks.
• Grind size guide — Where a filter-machine grind sits, and what to check when the grinder is the problem.
• Water suitability helper — Hardness decides how fast scale builds, and softened water behaves differently in the basket.
• Maintenance planner — What builds up where, and how you would notice.
• Cleaning or descaling? — Two different jobs with two different products.
• Batch brewers — The larger machines used in offices and cafés, which work on the same principle.
• Extraction basics — Why a weak cup and an unbalanced one are different problems.