Italia Cafe

Unofficial Guide to Italia Cafe 1 super automatic espresso machine (distributed by RedFern) The Italia Cafe is a new to market 19 BAR with a Italian Ulka pump super automatic machine for the home show market by RedFern.

Manual

Online Manual Local Archive

Drinks

The menu on the machine breaks drinks into coffee, milk, two cup, bypass, and extra shot coffee categories:

Category	Drink	Strength	Volume	Temperature	Water	Strokes	Milk Foam	Interval	Notes
Coffee	Ristretto	10	30ml	High					Short pull
Coffee	Espresso	10	45ml	High
Coffee	Coffee	6	150ml	Medium
Coffee	Americano	10	45ml	High	135ml
Coffee	Espresso Doppio	10	90ml	High					Double shot
Coffee	Lungo	10	90ml	Medium					Long Pull
Coffee	Jug of Coffee	7	100ml	Medium	100ml	3
Coffee	Hot Water		180ml	Medium
Coffee	Green Tea		180ml	Low
Milk	Cortado	10	30ml	High			6s		aprox 1 part espresso 1 part milk
Milk	Latte Machiatio	10	45ml	High			36s	10	Milk first then coffee
Milk	Macchiato	10	30ml	High			3s		aka Espresso Machiatto
Milk	Flat White	6	50ml	Medium			20		Less milk then a latte, less foam then a machiatto
Milk	Cappuccino	10	60ml	Medium			24s
Milk	Caffe latte	6	75ml	Medium			36s
Milk	Milk Foam						20s
2x	2xRistretto	10	30ml	High					Short pull
2x	2xEspresso	10	45ml	High
2x	2xCoffee	6	150ml	Medium
2x	2xLungo	10	90ml	Medium					Long Pull
Ground	Ristretto	10	30ml	High					Short pull
Ground	Espresso	10	45ml	High
Ground	Coffee	6	150ml	Medium
Ground	Americano	10	45ml	High	135ml
Ground	Espresso Doppio	10	90ml	High					Double shot
Ground	Lungo	10	90ml	Medium					Long Pull
Ground	Cortado	10	30ml	High			6s		aprox 1 part espresso 1 part milk
Ground	Latte Machiatio	10	45ml	High			36s	10	Milk first then coffee
Ground	Macchiato	10	30ml	High			3s		aka Espresso Machiatto
Ground	Flat White	6	50ml	Medium			20		Less milk then a latte, less foam then a machiatto
Ground	Cappuccino	10	60ml	Medium			24s
Ground	Caffe latte	6	75ml	Medium			36s
DoubleShot	Latte Machiatio	10	45ml	High			36s	10	Milk first then coffee
DoubleShot	Cappuccino	10	60ml	Medium			24s
DoubleShot	Flat White	6	50ml	Medium			20		Less milk then a latte, less foam then a machiatto
DoubleShot	Caffe latte	6	75ml	Medium			36s

[!NOTE] The "Interval" parameter is specific to the latte macchiato recipes. The "Interval" parameter is the time allowed for the milk foam to form. The interval can be set between 20 and 60 seconds and affects the temperature and taste of the beverage.

The manual does not specify, but presumably the "Strokes" option under the "Jug of Coffee" is how many times the recipe repeats.

My Drink Preferences

Machiatto, Latte, and a Flat White for taste tests.

Working my way through various recipies to find what which variations work best (and which way will brew fasest). I am doing all the tests with same beans (samples received with the machine). (For reference, by previous home coffee prep was a 17:1 single cup pour over or an americano from the nespresso. I have an HFL super automatic at work where the coffee, americano, cortado and flatwhite are my preferences.)

Milk Drinks

Top 3 so far are:

1. Latte Machiatto
2. Cortado
3. Flat White

The Caffe Latte was too much milk and not strong enough coffee flavour for my preferences. The Cortado was very nice balance, through transparently, haven't tried the espresso machiatto to compare. Varitions on the to test list:

• Double shot Machiatto
• Increased strength flatwhite

Coffee Drinks

Favorite so far is a doppio followed by 130ml hot water. I will have have to re test coffee at strenght 10 vs americano vs doppio + water again.

I also will need to time an espresso shot plus an americano vs a doppio plus a hot water to see if either order makes a difference in total brew time. I will also test upping the ocffee portion of the maericano to 90ml, but I expect that might simply make a long pull instead of double the coffee. Not quite enough control to fully dial-in the Americano.

Variations to test:

• Double Lungo
• Americano (increase coffee volume)
• Americano (decrease water volume and run twice)
• Double shot latte with 0s of milk (Can I trick the machine into making me a double americano with one button?) 1s is the lowest it will go.

Cleaning

The manual describes the main cleaning functions in detail, but was a little light around the startup and milk cleaning options.

Startup and Shutdown

The machine runs a rinse cycle when it is turned on or off. Consider keeping a cup under the dispenser spout.

Milk System Cleaning

The 3 minute milk cleaning routine has two main phases:

1. Flush the system with detergent
2. Flush the system with clean water.

The manual references using a detergent but supplies no further detail. Most of the brand name espresso machines with milk has some sort of detergent available at coffee retailers or amazon. It is usally mixed with water.

[!TIP] If you you simply want to rinse the milk system simply fill your container with water. I use two mugs - one filled with water and one under the dispensing spout. Let it run through the detergent phase, then dump the waste water and refill the fresh water before hitting ok to run the clean water rinse.

Full Clean & Descaling

• Machine will prompt you after 200 cups for the 20 min cleaning cycle - requires a cleaning tablet.
• Machine will prompt when desczling is needed - requires descaling detergent.

Cleaning Products

Caffe Nu is well rated on Amazon as generic super automatic cleaning supplies. Never tested them.

• Caffe Nu Milk Frother Cleaner (Amazon.ca)
• Caffe Nu Cleaning Tablets (Amazon.ca)
• Caffe Nu Descaler (Amazon.ca)

AI Summary of Manual

I fed the manual into an LLM and asked it to summarize the maintaince requirments.

Daily and Regular Cleaning

• Appliance Body: Wipe the exterior with a damp, non-abrasive cloth and mild detergent to avoid scratching or damaging surfaces. Do this as needed.
• Water Tank: Rinse and dry the tank regularly.
• Drip Tray and Coffee Grounds Container: Empty, rinse, and dry daily or when the display prompts during use. Disassemble components if necessary, then reassemble and insert back into place.
• Milk Dispensing Spout and Milk Suction Tube: Clean after each use of milk-based beverages. Use the cleaning needle provided to remove scale deposits from the spout hole. Run the "Clean the Milk System" program daily if milk beverages were prepared. Coffee Beans Container: Clean before first use and as needed.

Maintenance Programs (Accessed via Settings Menu)

These programs can be started manually and guide you via the display. Follow on-screen steps.

• Clean the Milk System Program: Duration about 20 minutes [AI error] 3 minutes. Starts automatically 8 minutes after milk beverage preparation if not done manually. Place a container under the spout.
• Rinse Program: Automatically runs on startup and shutdown to clean internal circuits. Can be started manually for additional rinsing.
• Clean Program: General cleaning cycle for the appliance, duration 20 minutes. Run when the "CLEAN" indicator lights up.
• Descaling: Required when the "DESCALE" indicator lights up (frequency depends on water hardness setting). Follow display instructions; uses a descaling solution.
• Emptying the Internal Circuits: For long-term storage or to prevent freezing. Empties remaining water from circuits.

Additional Notes

• Automatic rinsing occurs on every startup and shutdown, dispensing waste water from the spouts.
• Use only authorized parts and avoid improper substances to prevent damage.
• The machine has indicators for descaling, milk cleaning, and general cleaning needs.
• For warranty, avoid unauthorized maintenance.

Programming and Adjustments

The manual has good screenshots of the various settings options. There are 6 user profiles. Each recipe can be tweaked to your reference and the recipies are saved per user profile. The details in the drinks list above are the default settings and give you an idea of the areas of available adjustment.

My Adjustments

• Coffee stregth to 10. 6 was too watery for my tastes.
• Water volume down to 130

Future Hacks

Might need to add a Fingerbot (tiny IOT devices that manually pressed buttons). I think I'd prefer if the machine started it's warm-up before I entered the kitchen. Will have to wait and see on that one.