Hi,
I could not find a topic covering this so I wonder if more experienced baristas could explain what is happening.

I was making espresso the other day. I had been washing dishes and there was few drops of water on top the bean hopper lid of the vario grinder. As I weighed the beans and added them in the hopper, few drops of water went down as well. Not surprisingly, the grind was different and the resulting shot poured right through (35g/15s). I noticed that the grind became more static and much more fluffy.

What is interesting is that this grinding result has remained fluffy even though I have made a dozen or so drinks after the incident. I have had to tighten the grind and also reduce the dose to fit the dose in the same basket. Could it be that the burrs were stuck somehow earlier and the water lubricated them loose? Or that the water just cleaned the burrs? I clean my vario once every 1-2 months. I want to reason that the fluffy grind result is better than the earlier one. Taste wise I think the fluffy grind shots taste maybe a bit better, but the difference is not huge.

I am really troubled by this one.

Look up RDT. I think that may explain what's happening.

I was looking at that one, but it mainly deals with removing static from the grinder. I seemed to get more static. I was using Monsuun Malabar which is a really dark roasted and now I am using another dark espresso variety.

What I experienced was a substantial increase in how fluffy the grinds are and was wondering what caused this.

I'd say, open the burrs and see what they look like now, in terms of cleanliness and stucked on coffee.

In my experience, static causes a grind to be less fluffy. Occasionally (due to me being cheap and slightly patriotic), I'll pick up a kilo of southern Italian espresso. These are usually robusta heavy, dark roasted and very staticky. The grounds stick to the sides of the pf, cling to my OE funnel and fly all over the counter. On lighter roasted 100% arabica blends, I get a nice fluffy mountain of grounds right in the middle of the basket.

FinnLight wrote:I... was using Monsuun Malabar which is a really dark roasted and now I am using another dark espresso variety.

What I experienced was a substantial increase in how fluffy the grinds are and was wondering what caused this

Dark-roasted coffees are in general less dense and can result in the fluffiness you mention. There must be additional moisture being removed during the extended roast since the beans simply weigh less given the same volume. An 18g dose can look more like 20g in and require a larger filter basket. If this behavior was coincident with trying your dark Malabar, this may provide your answer. In addition, I've seen some Indonesian coffees such as Sumatras and Javas - but maybe your Indian Malabar too - show some a looser texture when ground, and especially (again) if roasted into mahogany territory.

Tap the PF a few times before tamping that will do the trick, no need for a bigger gram-size basket.