The latte is way too dark?

Question

The stream comes out too dark at first. The grounds get stuck together. This was not happening before. Am I packing in too much espresso, or is there something wrong with the machine? Is the machine clogged or something? I'm not sure about cleaning it. I'm in Korea and all of the instructions are in Korean. Please advise. Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

How is the grind of the espresso?  It sounds like you've ground your espresso way too fine.  Are you using a blade grinder or a burr grinder (a grinder with grind settings)?  Like the first answerer said, you may also want to adjust how much espresso you're putting in your portafilter; make sure you have about a level amount of coffee in the portafilter before tamping it down.

Also, flush your machine-- run a cycle in which you are pulling a shot without the coffee, purge the steam wand.  Doing this regularly will prevent the machine from getting clogged as well.

Answer 2

Use less coffee. That's your answer when it's too strong!

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