As per instructions: Washed it and ran two water cycles before making first pot of coffee.
Nice and hot. Strength was strong but I used too much coffee. Delicious nonetheless!
Updated a month and a half later: unlike the cuisine art coffee machine I had that had a proper carafe that was lined with glass as well as steel. This only kept coffee hot for a maximum of two hours. This isn’t useful for me. I gave it to the charity shop.
If you want coffee that stays hot all day bite the bullet and get the cuisine art when This One won’t do it.