Grind coarser. If the shot takes over 35 seconds, the coffee is usually too fine. Other causes: too much coffee in the basket, tamped too hard, or a clogged basket. Adjust the grind coarser in small steps.

My espresso only drips — what to do?

Grind coarser. If the shot takes over 35 seconds, the coffee is usually too fine. Other causes: too much coffee in the basket, tamped too hard, or a clogged basket. Adjust the grind coarser in small steps.

Why that is

A dripping, choking espresso is the exact opposite of a gusher: the water faces too much resistance from the coffee puck. It struggles to push through, and in doing so, extracts far too much from the grounds. The result: a dark, sludgy shot with spotty crema that tastes bitter, woody, and astringent. The coffee is severely over-extracted.

Most common cause: grind is too fine. Particles that are too fine pack together so tightly under 9 bars of pressure that the water can barely pass through. The solution: adjust the grind a half or full step coarser. Always work in small increments.

Other causes:

• Too much coffee: Stuffing more coffee into the basket than it was designed to hold creates an impenetrable wall. Match the dose to the basket size (typically 18 g for a standard double basket).
• Tamped too hard: While rare to completely choke a shot with tamping pressure alone, excessive force on an already fine grind can push it over the edge. Tamp firmly, but don’t lean your entire body weight into it.
• Clogged basket: Old coffee oils or limescale can block the microscopic holes in the filter basket. Soak the basket in coffee detergent (like Cafiza) and hold it up to the light to check if the holes are clear.
• Beans are too fresh: Coffee roasted less than 5 days ago is still heavily off-gassing CO₂. This trapped gas expanding in the puck severely slows down the flow rate. Let your beans rest 5–7 days off roast before brewing espresso.

Systematic troubleshooting:

1. Check the basket — are the holes clear?
2. Check the dose — don’t overfill beyond the basket’s rated capacity.
3. Ease up slightly on the tamping pressure.
4. Adjust the grind one step coarser.
5. Pull a shot and time it.
6. Repeat until you hit the 25–30 second window.

A special case: if the espresso starts flowing normally, but suddenly sputters, slows to a crawl, or stops entirely halfway through, the puck has collapsed under pressure — a clear sign that the grind was too fine or the distribution was highly uneven.

In practice at Green Wall Coffee

At Sophienstraße 27, I had this exact issue recently with a freshly delivered batch of beans — just two days off roast, the puck simply refused to cooperate. The solution wasn’t the grind size, but patience: after five days of resting to degas, everything flowed perfectly. When guests at home describe a choking shot, I always ask first: how old are the beans, and when did you last adjust your grinder?

Related questions

• My espresso gushes through — what to do?
• Why does my espresso taste bitter?
• How do I make the perfect espresso?

You can find more in-depth information in the article How to make perfect espresso. Or drop by Sophienstraße 27 — Mon–Fri 8am–5pm, Sat 10am–5pm.