After taking notes for a year on my Pavoni, I'm noticing that somehow, I get some incredible shots when the weather is very bad (high humidity or just plain stormy weather, for Belgian standards).
At first I thought it was psychological, but it seems too consistent for that.
Problem is: I can't replicate it any other way and my influence on the climate is rather limited.

Am I losing it?

(my parameters are on average like this: beans a couple of days old, fine grind, light tamp, 14g, 110C boiler temp, 0.8bar, 85-90C group temp, 10 sec preinfusion, firm pressure, 35sec extraction, 25 gram shots)

I know. It's just very frustrating I can't get the same results with adjusting the grind. Today I thought I was in good shape, but I checked relative humidity: 95%. I know the shot isn't a looker, but the taste was amazing...

Marshall wrote:There is even an old legend that Italian baristas adjust the grind every time a breeze blows through the door.

Today it hit me! I should turn it around and turn legend into advice. Open the door so the breeze can blow through!

And surrender to being geeky and order a hygrometer for inside the house...

General thought to this: if what you consider 'over the top' one moment, makes sense the next, what does that say about sanity? Luckily, we as home-baristas gently slide into it, so the 'perceived sanity' is not too alarming and people around us accept the loss of sanity with the gain of great coffee.