James Harwood

If you make filter coffee at home, there is a small decision to make once the last cup has been poured: what do you do with the used coffee grounds and the filter paper?

The obvious answer might seem to...

If you spend enough time looking at espresso machines, sooner or later you'll come across the term E61.

And if you're shopping for a portafilter, you'll probably come across phrases such as:

“Fits E61...

With apologies to Shakespeare, looking after your coffee machine should not require quite as much deliberation as Hamlet’s famous dilemma.

Yet choosing the right maintenance product can be surprisingly...

We sell portafilters and filter baskets. Occasionally, we appear to sell optimism.

The listing explains which espresso machines a part fits. The photographs show the item and its dimensions. Sometimes...

De’Longhi says EcoDecalk is specially formulated for its machines — but what does that really mean? We look at the chemistry and whether it is genuinely different from other suitable coffee-machine descalers...

How often should you descale your coffee machine?

Once a month?

Every three months?

Every six months?

If you have ever bought a coffee machine or a bottle of limescale remover, you have probably seen advice...

If you've heard people talking about backflushing an espresso machine and quietly nodded along while having absolutely no idea what they were talking about, don't worry. It sounds far more technical than...

There is a particular moment experienced by thousands of home espresso enthusiasts.

You have watched the videos. You have seen the perfectly centred stream of espresso slowly forming beneath a naked portafilter...

If you own a DeLonghi coffee machine, you will eventually need to descale it. DeLonghi recommends its own EcoDecalk descaling solution, but do you actually have to use EcoDecalk, or can you use an alternative...

“Good quality.” “Poor quality.” “Premium quality.”

These are phrases we see and hear all the time. Manufacturers use them. Retailers use them. Customers use them in product reviews and feedback.

But what...