Weak coffee from an automatic machine is nearly always a setting, and most owners never change the settings.
Grind
Every bean-to-cup has a grind adjustment, usually a dial inside the bean hopper. It is often left at the factory middle.
Turn it finer, one step at a time, while the grinder is running — adjusting a stationary burr set can damage it on some machines. Wait a couple of drinks between changes, since the old grind is still in the chamber.
Volume
If the machine is dispensing 60 ml where you wanted 30, the same coffee is spread over twice the water. Most machines let you programme volume per drink; set it lower.
Strength setting
Separate from volume on most machines — it changes how much coffee is ground per drink. Turn it up.
Beans
A light roast in a machine dialled for dark will taste thin. Automatics generally suit medium to medium-dark roasts, because their grinders cannot go fine enough to extract light roasts properly.
The ceiling
Even set correctly, a bean-to-cup grinder has coarse adjustment — usually a dozen steps. If you have gone as fine as it goes and the coffee is still thin, you have reached the machine’s limit rather than made a mistake.
Check the brew unit
A brew unit clogged with old grounds under-extracts. Rinse it weekly.
Last reviewed 8 August 2026