gr2020 wrote:+1. Try your 18g in, and maybe start with 36g beverage weight. Adjust your grind finer until that 36g takes about 30 seconds or so. That should at least get you in the right ballpark!

avid wrote:Have you run a cleaning cycle or descaled lately?

another_jim wrote:How sudden with this change? Are you using an RO system? I'm suspecting the rejection rate on the membrane is set too high, and the water you are getting is too demineralized. Here's why:

You are using a very coarse grind and high dose (you might want to grind finer, dose lower, and have a flow rate a lot slower), nevertheless, your puck is soggy. Normally at these grinds, the puck will be bone dry -- generally, the finer the grind, the soggier the puck.

I've only seen this when the water water being used is so demineralized that the puck gets gelatinous. So I'm thinking there may have been a sudden change in your water system. If you are using a salt softener, my suggestion is wrong, since the water will still have its alkalinity. But if you are using an RO system, you may be oversoftening the water. Buy yourself a TDS meter (for all of about $15). For espresso, you want a TDS content at least 40 ppm. When you get below 20, the coffee gets really disgusting, and the pucks turns gelatinous. For no scale, good cleaning, cooking, and drinking water, along with acceptable coffee, a TDS between 40 and 60 is the best compromise. You can set the rejection rate on the RO membrane to get to this level.

ltespresso wrote:You may be on to something. I just tested the TDS in the RO vs tap (soft) water. The soft sink water was 206ppm and the RO was 12ppm. I do not see an adjustment on the membrane for the rejection rate. I may have to call the company and ask if it can be adjusted (Dupure UltraPur).