this post was submitted on 13 Apr 2026
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Coffee

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What's wrong with my daily espresso? (lemmy.ca)
submitted 1 week ago by GreatBlueHeron@lemmy.ca to c/coffee@lemmy.world
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I've used a home espresso machine, with built-in grinder, daily for at least 10 years. I'm generally happy with the results - there's some variability but most everything I make is acceptable, and I fairly regularly get something I feel is good. Recently I've been getting a lot of "acceptable" and it's been a long time (many months) since I've made one that I'd call "good". They're missing that bit of oily lustre that I feel really makes it perfect.

  • I drink a single shot over a small amount of hot water
  • I get my beans from a local (same province) roaster that say they roast to order
  • I like dark roast beans - the roaster calls it their Italian roast
  • my house water comes from a well and is naturally a bit hard, but we have a whole house softener
  • I've never de-scaled the machine because of the water softener - there's no build up or crusting at any orifices
  • I don't make any attempt to get perfect extraction quantity - I grind, tamp and trim with the tool supplied with the machine. When I first got this particular machine (about 4 years ago) I programmed the extraction time, but a can't remember the "recipe" I used
  • I've tried beans from one other local roaster (via a grocery store) with the same results

My experience says it's stale beans, but I'm buying roast to order, so I'm confused.

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[โ€“] CapuccinoCoretto@lemmy.world 3 points 1 week ago

Zeroing in "Missing the oily lustre"

  1. Beans have natural variation in batches as seasons change and inventory updates. Old beans, dry beans etc... Could try another coffee for comparison.

  2. Under extraction: Never mentioned the press, or your grinder. If your press is manual like a Flair, extraction is super sensitive to pressure which is dominated by grind size. If your grinder is aging, either slipping settings or wear on burrs could subtly increase grind size. Put the two together and boom! Underextraction, even with unperceptably small wear.

If you have an automatic espresso machine, could be slight changes in plumbing, like boiler temp (check with thermometer) or pumps. Service, repair, replace or simply retune via settings and controls.

Try one notch higher to bump extraction.