De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (EC9155) settings for espresso
Espresso machine De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (EC9155) Grinder De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (built-in grinder) Roast date
Your recipe
- Dose
- 18g
- Yield
- 38g
- Time
- 25–32s
- Temp
- 92°C
- Grind setting
- setting 9
- Basket
- To the rim
- Tamping
- Firm, level
- Grind setting
- setting 9
- Shot time
- 25–32seconds
Freshness of your beans
Your beans are in their peak window. Most of the CO₂ has left the beans, which is why your espresso runs nearly the same every time. You don't need to change anything. Use the starting point for your grinder's setting below as it is and only adjust by taste.
This is your tailored dial-in guide for the De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (EC9155), matched to this bag of EasyEspresso coffee beans. The steps below move with whatever you choose above.
Tip: a scale around €15 is the biggest step toward better espresso.
How to set up the De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (EC9155) for espresso
One time only, before your very first cup
Getting your La Specialista Arte ready to use
Brand new out of the box? Flush the machine through completely once before you make coffee. It stops your coffee from tasting of plastic or factory residue. Expect the first four or five cups not to taste great yet. That's normal with a new machine.
Fill the water tank up to MAX and switch the machine on with the main switch. Put a container of at least 100 milliliters under the hot water outlet and press OK. The water stops by itself. Then lock in the portafilter with a basket in it: hold the handle at INSERT and turn right to CLOSE. Put a container under the portafilter and the steam wand and press OK again to flush. Finally, press the steam button for a few seconds, three or four times, so the steam wand gets flushed too.
The machine comes with a test strip. Dip it in your tap water for one second, shake it off and read whether your water is soft, medium or hard. Then hold the 1/2 cup button and the thermometer button together for three seconds, turn the selector dial to the descaling symbol and choose your hardness with the thermometer button. Confirm with OK. This tells the machine when to warn you to descale.
Which baskets and accessories should you use?
The machine comes with a one-cup basket and a two-cup basket. For our EasyEspresso coffee beans, always use the two-cup basket. Want a single espresso? Just pull a double and split it over two cups.
You also get a dosing funnel that clips onto the portafilter, a separate tamper and, with some versions, a rubber tamping mat. Both baskets have a raised ridge on the inside. After tamping, the coffee should come exactly up to that ridge.
Some versions also include a sachet of ‘softballs’. You put it in the tank to soften the water. Rinse it first, leave it in the water overnight and replace it every three months.
Let the machine warm up properly
Switch the machine on and lock in the empty portafilter straight away so it warms up too. The light next to OK flashes while the machine heats up and stays on when it's ready.
The La Specialista Arte heats its water with a thermoblock. That gets up to temperature quickly, but the portafilter and group head are still cold at that point. After warming up, run water through the empty portafilter once with OK, or leave the machine on for fifteen minutes. That stops your first espresso tasting sour and flat.
Setting the water temperature
With the thermometer button you choose between three levels: MIN, MED and MAX. For our EasyEspresso coffee beans, choose MED. That level moves with the roast date you enter at the top. Beans in their peak window belong on MED. Once they're past their peak, more than five weeks after the roast date, we recommend MAX, because warmer water gets more out of older beans. If your espresso then tastes bitter, go back one level.
You can also set the pre-infusion: the pause in which the coffee is wetted before full pressure kicks in. Hold 1/2 cup and the thermometer button for three seconds, turn the selector dial to Espresso and use the thermometer button to choose no pause, 1 second or 2 seconds. Confirm with OK.
Set the grinder to setting 9
The grind setting is the most important setting for your shot time and your taste. For our EasyEspresso coffee beans, start at setting 9. That starting point adjusts to the roast date you enter at the top.
You set the grind with the ring at the base of the bean hopper. A lower number is finer. Only turn the ring while the grinder is running, otherwise beans can get stuck.
Note: there are two versions of this machine. This recipe is based on the version currently on sale (EX:2). It has fifteen settings and ships on 9, the medium grind.
Today: use the starting point above as it is.
This is completely normal: the first one to three shots from a new bag of coffee beans are rarely spot-on. That's simply part of dialing in a new bag.
Do you have the first version with eight settings?
If the ring on your machine only has eight settings, you have the first version of the La Specialista Arte. The settings are further apart, so the numbers in this recipe won't match. Start at setting 4 or 5, which De'Longhi recommends for a medium roast on that version. All the other steps on this page apply to your machine as they are. The grind advice under ‘Today’ is based on fifteen settings, so roughly halve the number it gives.
What if the grinder grinds too little coffee after a long time?
After a few years the burrs wear, so the machine grinds less coffee on the same setting. You'll notice because you have to turn the dose dial (step 3) higher and higher. If the dose dial is on 30 to 40 to fill the basket, you can choose a second, finer grind range in the menu. How to do that is explained in the manual, under the extra grind setting.
Grinding and dosing
Before grinding, press the 1/2 cup button until the x2 light is on. Clip the dosing funnel onto the portafilter: press and turn until it locks. Push the portafilter into the cradle under the grinder until you hear a click. The grinder starts and stops by itself.
You set how much coffee the grinder grinds with the dose dial, from Min to 40. Those numbers aren't grams or seconds. Start at Min and turn it up step by step until, after tamping, the coffee comes exactly up to the raised ridge in the basket.
With a scale you can set the dose dial precisely. Weigh the portafilter with the empty basket, grind, and weigh again. Turn the dose dial up or down until you get 18 grams. Write down that setting, then you only have to do this once.
Common mistake: forgetting the x2 light
With the light on x1, the grinder only grinds half as much, even with the two-cup basket in the portafilter. The machine can't tell which basket is in it. Suddenly getting a watery espresso that runs fast? Check that x2 is on first.
Distributing the coffee and tamping level
Leave the dosing funnel on the portafilter and tap the side a few times so the coffee settles flat. Rest the portafilter on the mat or on a flat, sturdy surface. Tamp the coffee level and evenly through the funnel until it stops giving way.
Then twist the dosing funnel off anticlockwise and check that the coffee comes up to the raised ridge. You don't need to press hard. What matters most is that you press level and use the same force every time.
This is completely normal: after tamping there's sometimes a little coffee on the rim of the basket. That's fine. Wipe it off with your finger so the portafilter seals properly.
Common tamping mistakes
The most common mistake is tamping at an angle. If you press harder on one side, the coffee ends up sloping in the basket. The water then takes the easiest route, through the thin side. You get an espresso that tastes sour and bitter at the same time.
If the basket is too full, you won't be able to lock the portafilter into the machine. Turn the dose dial down a little.
Pulling the espresso
Lock in the portafilter from INSERT to CLOSE. Turn the selector dial to Espresso, check that x2 is on, put your cup underneath and press OK. The machine wets the coffee briefly first and then pulls the espresso.
Start a timer as soon as you press OK. After the first drops, you want a syrupy stream that looks like honey. After about 29 seconds, press OK again to stop.
Put your cup on the scale and zero the scale. Press OK and start your timer at the same time. When the scale is a few grams short of 38 grams, press OK again. A little more drips through afterwards, so you end up at around 38 grams.
The pressure gauge has a darker zone marked Optimal Zone. For a good espresso, the needle sits in that zone while brewing. If it stays below it, you're grinding too coarse or there's too little coffee in the basket. If it goes above it, you're grinding too fine or there's too much coffee in the basket.
How do you set the button to your amount?
From the factory, the machine gives about 70 milliliters with x2. That's more than you need for this recipe. Here's how to set it:
- Prepare the portafilter and turn the selector dial to Espresso, with x2 on.
- Hold OK. The light flashes orange.
- Let go of OK as soon as you have 38 grams in your cup. The machine remembers this amount from now on.
Taste, judge and adjust
Always taste your espresso on its own first, without sugar or milk. Give it a good stir with a spoon, because the top and bottom layers of an espresso taste very different. Then ask yourself what you're tasting: does sourness dominate, is there an unpleasant bitterness, or is the flavor full, sweet and balanced?
Only ever change one thing at a time, and start with your grind setting. Only adjust the amount of coffee or the temperature if you can't fix it with the grind. That way you know exactly what each change did.
| What you taste or see | Cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| The espresso tastes sour, sharp and thin, and the shot runs faster than 25 seconds. | The water runs through the coffee too quickly because the grind is too coarse. | Grind one setting finer. |
| The espresso tastes bitter, dry and burnt, and the shot takes longer than 32 seconds. | The water runs through the coffee too slowly because the grind is too fine. | Grind one setting coarser. |
| The time is right, but the espresso tastes watery and weak. | There isn't enough coffee in the basket. | Check that you're really using 18 grams, and add a little more if not. |
| The espresso tastes sour and bitter at the same time, and the stream runs unevenly. | The water finds an easy path through the coffee (channeling) because of uneven distribution or tamping at an angle. | Pay extra attention to distributing and tamping level in step 4. |
Measuring with a refractometer? With 18 grams in and 38 grams out, a good espresso sits around a TDS of 0.1 to 0.1 percent. That corresponds to an extraction of 18 to 22 percent. If your extraction is lower and the espresso tastes sour, grind finer. If it's higher and the espresso tastes bitter, grind coarser. In the end, trust your taste: the meter helps you understand what you're tasting, but it doesn't decide for you.
What does the puck tell you?
After brewing, a puck of spent coffee stays behind in the basket. It tells you less than you might think. Whether it comes out wet or dry mostly depends on your machine and says little about the taste. If your espresso tastes good, there's no need to worry about the puck.
Do look out for small holes or cracks in the puck. They show that the water found an easier way through in one spot. You'll taste that as an espresso that's sour and bitter at the same time.
Write down your settings
Pulled a shot you love? Write down the grind setting you used, how much coffee went in, how much espresso came out and how long it ran. Note the roast date of the bag as well. With the next bag you can start from that setting and you'll be dialed in much faster.
Steaming milk
Fill the milk jug about a third of the way with cold whole milk. Cold milk gives you time to create fine, glossy foam before the milk gets too hot.
You turn the steam on and off with the steam button. Press once and steam comes out after a few seconds. First let a short burst of steam blow into the drip tray to clear the water out of the wand. After steaming, press the button again and wait until no more steam comes out before you take the jug away.
Hold the steam wand just below the surface of the milk, to the left or right of the center of the jug, so the milk starts to swirl. You'll hear a soft hissing sound: this is where you're adding air to the milk. Keep going until the jug feels as warm as your hand (about 35 °C). Then push the wand a little deeper, so you stop adding air and the milk just keeps spinning. Turn off the steam as soon as the jug is just too hot to hold. The milk is then about 55 °C and at its sweetest.
How hot can the milk get?
Like your coffee hotter? Steam the milk two to four seconds longer. Don't go above 65 °C: beyond that, the milk gets thinner and loses its sweetness.
Keeping the steam wand clean
Wipe the steam wand with a damp cloth right after use and run a short burst of steam through it. If the hole still gets blocked, clear it with the needle that comes with the machine once the wand has cooled down.
Cleaning and maintenance
Knock out the puck right after use, rinse the basket and lock the empty portafilter back in. Every now and then, brush out the spot where the portafilter sits under the grinder and the chute the coffee comes out of, so no old coffee builds up.
When the red float in the drip tray rises, it's time to empty the drip tray. When the descaling light turns red, it's time to descale. This machine has no alert for cleaning the group head.
Descaling step by step
Descaling takes about forty minutes. Have a two-liter container ready.
- Take the softballs out of the tank, if you use them. Empty the tank, pour in De'Longhi descaler up to line A and top up with water to line B.
- Remove the portafilter and turn the selector dial to the descaling symbol.
- Put containers under the outlets and the steam wand and hold OK for at least three seconds.
- When the light next to OK turns white, rinse the tank, fill it to MAX and press OK to flush.
What can go in the dishwasher?
The drip tray with its grid, the milk jug and the cleaning tool can go in the dishwasher. The baskets, tamper and dosing funnel are better soaked in warm water for half an hour. Wash the portafilter, the tank and the bean hopper by hand.
This guide is written for the De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (model EC9155, both versions) and the EasyEspresso coffee beans from Easy Beans Company.
Frequently asked questions
Where do these settings come from?
The machine specs, such as portafilter size and temperature control, come from the manufacturer itself and were last checked on 30 July 2026. The grind-setting starting point above was separately verified against the manufacturer itself, with its own verification date of 15 October 2026. The dose of 18 grams and the yield of 38 grams were set by our barista for our EasyEspresso coffee beans.
Do I need a scale to make a good espresso?
No. Fill the basket to the rim, tamp firmly and watch the color and thickness of the stream: that's enough to get started. A scale makes your recipe more precise and repeatable, which is why we introduce it at the "With a scale" level, but it's not a requirement for pulling a good shot.
My espresso has no crema, what am I doing wrong?
That happens to everyone occasionally, and it's rarely on you. A thin or pale layer of crema usually points to beans that are a bit older, or a shot that ran too fast. Check the roast date above first, and grind a fraction finer if the shot is still running fast.
Why 18 grams and not the size of my filter basket?
The dose belongs to the bean, not the machine. Our barista set 18 grams in and 38 grams out as the ratio that gets the most out of our EasyEspresso coffee beans, and that ratio is the same on every machine. Have a smaller basket (14 or 17 grams)? Pick your basket under "Your setup" above: dose and yield then adjust automatically, with the same ratio.
Can I set the water temperature on the De'Longhi La Specialista Arte (EC9155)?
Partly. You choose the temperature with a switch or dial, not an exact number. Set it to the setting closest to 92 °C and then adjust by taste: a setting warmer if the shot stays sharp and sour, a setting cooler if it tastes bitter.
Does my water make a difference to the taste?
Yes. Water that's too hard makes your espresso flat and also scales up your machine. Filtered water or bottled water with a low mineral content works best.
Why does this recipe differ per machine?
Every machine has a different grinder, portafilter size and temperature control, so the same coffee needs a different starting point on two different machines. That's why we build a dedicated, verified recipe per machine rather than giving one general piece of advice that's not quite right for anyone.
Does the grind setting change as my beans get older?
Yes. Freshly roasted beans up to 6 days past the roast date want a slightly coarser grind, in the peak window of 7 to 21 days you use the base starting point, and beans older than 21 days want a finer grind. The freshness block above calculates this automatically based on the roast date you enter.
Should I adjust multiple settings at once?
No. Always change one variable at a time, usually the grind setting, and taste before going further. That way you know exactly what effect each change had.
That's it. From here, it's your recipe.
Print this page or bookmark it. If the age of your beans changes, open it again and the freshness advice moves with it automatically.