Hi,

as a newbie, I've watched all the "newbie introduction 1010 videos" videos provided on this site (thank you for that by the way, they are great). I have a Breville 870XL and seems like I'm able to get good results from it (from my perspective).

For the last couple of days, everything was fine and was getting a good extraction. So I kept going with the same settings (same beans, same grind setting, same quantity, same tamp pressure ).

But since yesterday,it started clogging the machine at the point where only a couple drops coming out. I really need to lower the tamp pressure for coffee to come out.

I know I'm a sinner not using the best beans around (I use beans from a big costco bag). But how come that all of a sudden my extraction changes drastically like that without changing anything?

Thanks

Could be just a change in the weather/atmosphere/humidity. I wouldn't change your tamp pressure, it is better to keep your tamp consistent. Just loosen up your grind slightly (grind coarser) and no worries!

Thank you heavyduty, I will try to change the grind setting to see if the result improves

More humid air = grind coarser.
More dry air = grind finer.

Coffee is hygroscopic, so that it tends to absorb moisture, therefore creating a "tighter pack." in humid weather compared to dry weather.

Humidity can give large changes in grind settings. This is true unless you have really big burrs 80mm+ flat or 68mm+ conical). Especially titan conicals tend to keep their settings better when weather changes.

It is probably just be the beans aging in the hopper. As other have said you need to change the grind settings, although I usually end up making the grind finer as the beans age.

BTW - The Costco branded coffee beans are not half bad, especially when considering the price.

Everybody above is correct. I just want to add two things.

Tamping pressure hardly changes brew time. And you should not change your tamping pressure anyway.

You can also reduce the dose of the ground coffee in the puck to get faster flow. (But with a clog like you describe, you really need to change the grind setting to coarser).

What kind of grinder are you using? And
When's the last time you cleaned it?

Rich

I think this is the machine with the built in (Smart)grinder? ...Dan?...
Probably partaking in pre-Super Bowl festivities.

Haha, this was pretty much my feeling for most of my espresso career. Switching to a conical grinder has immensely reduced this "problem." But I consider coffee in general to be such a changing thing that it's always good to pull some calibration shots now and then to see if you can get a better extraction with a different grind or dose.

Coffee, even costco coffee, changes from day to day ... embrace change and adjust the grind and/or dose.