Why Clean Coffee Machines Matter, Insights from World Barista Champion Mikael Jasin
Mikael Jasin, the 2024 World Barista Champion, is known for his precision and attention to detail, where even the smallest variable can define the final cup. Speaking at the 2025 Coffee Magazine Creative Coffee Week in Johannesburg, he reinforced one of the most overlooked fundamentals in coffee: You can’t make great coffee in a dirty machine.
As Jasin explains: “When you brew a coffee, the taste that you get is the taste from the actual coffee, not the residual taste from the coffee beforehand.”
Over time, coffee oils and residue build up inside your machine, on group heads, shower screens, and internal components. These residues quickly turn stale, introducing unwanted bitterness and masking the true character of your coffee.
This becomes even more critical when brewing different coffees: “If you’re changing a lot of single origins… or making different roast profiles, it’s very important to make sure that it’s clean. So that what you’re getting is what you actually put in.”
The impact is clear:
- Flavours become muddled and less distinct
- Bitterness increases from old coffee residue
- Extraction becomes inconsistent
A clean machine, on the other hand, ensures flavour clarity, balance, and true-to-origin expression, exactly as intended. At competition level, this is non-negotiable. But whether you’re at home or in a café, the same principle applies: Your coffee is only as good as your machine is clean.
The bottom line:
If you want better tasting coffee, start by cleaning your machine.
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