Why isn't my espresso coffee nice and strong?
You do not tell us too much about your equipment, so I guess that you are in the same situation me.

I was in the same situation when I bought my machine. I purchased a Rancillio Silvia, without a grinder. I blamed it on the coffee at first, but it turned out that all the pre ground espresso coffee I was buying in shops was simply not made for such a machine. I was so lucky that I got to grind the my beans at a local coffee shop, using the same find grind as they did in their machines. Only then I got the crema and punch that I wanted from my espresso.

Symptoms to look for:


Do your espresso come out too thin?
Extraction time less than approx. 25 seconds for a double espresso?


It didn't take me a long time to understand that I needed a own grinder to get exactly the espresso I wanted. 

If your grind is just a little too coarse it is possible to counter this by increasing the tamper pressure. But from what you explain you need more than this.