Petar

And it explains the very common report that a cafe's beans taste different at home. Often it is not the machine.

The alkalinity point is the one that explains most "my coffee tastes flat" complaints, and it is separate from hardness even though they usually come together.

Practical version: if a coffee described as bright and fruity tastes like nothing at your house, that is almost certainly alkalinity flattening it. Grinding finer will not fix it and will make it worse.

Cheapest diagnostic in the hobby: brew the same beans with bottled water once. Ten minutes and it tells you whether to keep chasing the grinder.