Get started with De'Longhi espresso.
Your first shot on a De'Longhi machine: what to switch on, what to weigh, and when. Filtru guides the shot, and with a Bluetooth scale it measures it live.
Available for iPhone and iPad.
A quick word about De'Longhi.
De'Longhi is the Italian appliance maker from Treviso that most people meet before they meet any other espresso brand. Founded in 1902, the company has spent decades making coffee machines for regular kitchens rather than cafes, and that shows in how approachable their manual machines are.
Their home espresso range splits into two families. The slim Dedica line is a compact entry point with a classic portafilter and a fast thermoblock. The La Specialista line adds a built-in conical burr grinder, guided dosing and tamping, and temperature control, so one machine covers the whole bean-to-shot workflow while still leaving you in charge of the shot.
Every machine below uses a 51 mm portafilter, which is smaller than the 58 mm commercial standard. That is worth knowing when you buy accessories, and it also means doses run a little lower than cafe recipes, which is completely fine once you dial in your own numbers.
Popular De'Longhi home machines
- Dedica Arte (EC885) — thermoblock, 51mm portafilter. A slim 15 bar machine that De'Longhi says is ready to brew about 40 seconds after switch-on, with a manual My LatteArt steam wand for milk.
- La Specialista Arte (EC9155) — thermoblock with Active Temperature Control, 51mm portafilter. Adds a built-in conical burr grinder, a barista kit with dosing funnel and tamper, and three brew temperature settings.
- La Specialista Arte Evo (EC9255) — thermoblock with Active Temperature Control, 51mm portafilter. The Arte plus Cold Extraction Technology, which pulls a room-temperature cold brew style shot in under five minutes.
- La Specialista Opera (EC9555) — stainless-lined thermoblock with Active Temperature Control (PID), 51mm portafilter. A 19 bar pump regulated to 9 bar at extraction, PID temperature stability and cold brew make this the sweet spot of the line for many owners.
- La Specialista Maestro (EC9665) — dual heating system (thermoblock plus a dedicated milk heating system), 51mm portafilter. Five brew temperature profiles between 90 and 98 C, a smart tamping station and the LatteCrema automatic milk system, so espresso and steam are ready at the same time.
- La Specialista Touch (EC9455) — thermoblock plus a second heating system, with Active Temperature Control (PID), 51mm portafilter. A 3.5 inch touch display with drink presets, 15 grind settings and an automatic steam wand, while the shot itself still runs through a real 51 mm portafilter.
What you need.
- Your De'Longhi machine
- Cup or a mug
- Kitchen scale
- Coffee tamper
Any kitchen scale gets you going. A supported Bluetooth scale takes it further: Filtru reads the weight live under your cup, so dose and yield are measured as they happen, not eyeballed after.
Grind setting for espresso: extra fine.
Your first shot, step by step.
De'Longhi builds these machines around thermoblocks, which heat water on demand instead of keeping a big boiler hot, so the switch-on wait is short: the Dedica is quoted at about 40 seconds and the La Specialista machines are ready in well under a minute. The metal portafilter and your cup still start cold, so give them a moment too.
- Switch on the machine Let the boiler inside heat up the water while you grind the coffee.
- Weigh out the coffee and grind it 1tbsp ~ 12g. Make sure you adjust the grinder first to get the right grind size.
- Remove the portafilter and rinse the machine A short water cycle should remove any residual grounds from before.
- Place the coffee in the portafilter Make sure the coffee is evenly distributed
- Tamp the coffee with little pressure Make sure the tamper sits evenly in the portafilter
- Attach the portafilter
- Place the scale and the cup The scale will help Filtru record the espresso shot.
- Turn on the scale, ensuring it reads `0g` Some scales will require to switch to "Grams" mode. Filtru-supported scales will need to be tare'd manually.
Before your first real shot, lock in the empty portafilter and run a blank shot of hot water through it into your cup. It rinses the group, warms the portafilter and cup, and lets you watch how the machine flows before any coffee is on the line.
Dial it in with a scale in the loop.
The fastest way to better shots on your De'Longhi is measuring them.
Pair a supported Bluetooth scale with Filtru and every shot gets recorded as it pours: live weight, real yield, shot time, and a graph you can compare against yesterday's. When the numbers are honest, dialling in stops being guesswork. Adjust one thing, pull again, and watch the extraction even out.
No scale yet? Filtru still guides the shot, times it, and keeps your log of dose, yield, and taste, so you always know what to change next.
The answer is YES
Pulling shots on a De'Longhi? These all have the same answer:
- Can I use Filtru with my De'Longhi machine? Yes
- Can Filtru time my espresso shots? Yes
- Can I log dose, yield, and taste for every shot? Yes
- Can I see live shot weight with a Bluetooth scale? Yes
- Will Filtru help me dial in my grinder? Yes
- Is Filtru free to download? Yes
Getting started on another machine?
Espresso basics · Breville · Gaggia · La Marzocco · Lelit · Rancilio · Sage
De'Longhi is a trademark of its respective owner; Filtru isn't affiliated with or endorsed by it. Machine details come from public manufacturer information as of July 2026. Spotted something out of date? Tell me and I'll fix it.
