Why Is My Espresso Shot Watery?

A weak, watery-tasting espresso clearly indicates that something is off in your brewing process. Some of the top reasons why you are pulling a weak espresso include;

Bad coffee

You will never pull a perfect espresso shot from stale or poor-quality beans. It’s like putting square tires on your car and trying to move around. As every coffee connoisseur knows, it all starts with the beans if you don’t like your coffee’s flavor. The delicious coffee flavor comes from volatile compounds produced during roasting. The compounds begin to dissipate immediately after roasting. Therefore, if you buy coffee beans over 2 weeks old, you will hardly pull a rich, flavorful espresso shot.

Order your coffee directly from a roaster or get a subscription for a continuous supply of fresh beans. The worst thing to do is to buy pre-ground coffee for espresso. Once you grind your beans, the volatile compounds that give coffee its flavor are on a fast track out of the coffee. The rule is simple; buy the freshest, top-quality coffee beans from a trusted roaster, keep them in an airtight canister once you open the bag, and only grind them right before brewing.

Poor grind size

The perfect grind size and a successful brewing process go hand in hand. A grind too coarse will let water pour through quickly, resulting in under-extracted, weak espresso. To pull a perfect espresso shot, you need 28 to 30 seconds. If your pull time is faster, do a finer grind; increase the grind size if slower.

Your tamping game is weak

Tamping is an art. It takes a lot of practice to get the sweet spot. You don’t want to tamp too hard as water will have difficulty seeping through the grounds, resulting in a longer pull-time. Not tamping hard enough will let water flow through quickly, resulting in a weak espresso. Although common wisdom has it that 30 lbs is the optimum tamping pressure, a level puck and a consistent amount of pressure are what matter.

Too cool brewing temperature

Hot water extracts flavors from coffee better than cool water. If you have been pulling weak espresso shots consistently, check and adjust your brewing temperature. The optimal brewing temperature varies for roasts, but the gold standard is 195 degrees Fahrenheit.

Maybe it’s the machine

If your machine could only pull a; ‘It’s me…I…am the problem, it’s me.’ Your espresso machine, however pricey, could fail just like any other machine out there. If you try fixing everything and still get weak espresso, your machine may be due for maintenance. Deep clean and dry your portafilter. Are you in the market for an affordable brand-new espresso machine? Check out my article on the best home espresso machine under $1000 for first-rate options with fantastic features.

How Do I Make My Watery Espresso Shot Thicker?

Since it can be difficult to pinpoint the primary cause of your weak espresso shots, you’d have to experiment with different solutions until the situation improves. The top solutions are;

Buy fresh, top-quality beans

Remember, if the flavor is off, the first place to check is the coffee’s quality. Choose freshly roasted beans that suit your taste. Invest in airtight canisters or containers with vacuum sealers for storing the beans after you open the bag. You will get current-week beans from a local roaster and month-old from your local supermarket. Strictly buy beans with a roast date on the packaging, and it should be between 5 and 21 days ago.

If you are an espresso noob, opt for medium and dark roasts, which are easier to brew than lighter roasts. If there is no local roaster, try the iconic Lavazza whole-bean coffee blend. The beans are affordable and tasty.

Get the right Grind Size

Facts: There is no such thing as a universal coffee grind size measurement.

Getting the right grind size as a coffee beginner can be frustrating, especially if you consume all the content from coffee lovers who obsess over making their brews in super-detailed ways. The best thing to do is start simple. Tweak one variable at a time. When you choose a setting on your grinder and don’t like how the coffee tastes, adjust it and brew another shot. You can take notes or do whatever, but the coffee’s taste is what matters. Is it getting better? Is it worse?

The grinder setting adjustments will help you fine-tune your brew. It may take 10 to 12 brews to fine-tune your brew, especially if your grinder is new.

Pro Tip: To work a dial, begin with a coarse size, then go finer until the espresso tastes great. If you start with a fine grind, you may have difficulty tasting and picking the direction to move the grind.

Fix Your Brew Temperature

In his YouTube video, ‘understanding espresso brew temperature,’ James Hoffman mentions how brew temperature adjustments can help fix many things you don’t like about your espresso shots. He recommends brewing darker, developed roasts at 85-90 degrees Celsius (185-194 degrees Fahrenheit). Medium roasts would be best extracted at 88-92 degrees Celsius (190.4-197.6) and lighter roasts at 90-95 degrees Celsius (194-203 degrees Fahrenheit).

Rule of thumb; the hotter the water, the more you extract. This can be good for lighter roasts or unpleasant and unbalanced for dark, developed roasts. You have to play around with the temperature to find a sweet spot within the recommended ranges.

Dose Correctly

The normal espresso dosage is between 18 and 20 g for a shot. If you are pulling a double shot, you’d have to bump up the dosage to 40-45 g. A low dosage will allow water to flow through the grounds too quickly, resulting in a weak, watery-tasting shot. If you are pulling weak espresso shots, increase your dosage in small amounts. Start with 0.50 grams and work your way up until you reach the sweet spot.

A high-quality weighing scale is a must-have for maintaining dosage consistency.

Poor Tamping Technique

An insufficient tamp may be the cause of your consistent watery espresso shots. A poor tamp does not break up clumps and closes down all the pore spaces between the grounds, causing channeling.

Channeling is when water flows through the coffee puck through a narrow path. The uneven water flow results in under-extraction (watery taste) or over-extraction (bitter taste).