How Many Ounces in an Espresso?
Espresso is a highly concentrated type of coffee enjoyed by millions around the world. It’s made by combining high pressure, hot water, and tamped coffee grounds.
Whether you’re pulling your own shots or ordering a single espresso at your local Starbucks, you may be wondering how many ounces in a shot of espresso.
This is important to know, especially if you’re pulling your own shots. We’ll cover this and more in this guide. Let’s dive in!
The Short Answer
Pulling a single shot of espresso requires one fluid ounce (30 milliliters) of water. The typical ratio when making this concentrated coffee is one ounce of water to 7 grams of coffee.
Double shots use the same ratio as a single shot – just doubled. This means there are two fluid ounces (60 milliliters) of water in a double shot and 14 grams of coffee.
What About a Ristretto Shot?
Ristretto is a concentrated variation of espresso. We know what you’re thinking – there’s coffee more concentrated than espresso? Yes, there is!
To make a shot of ristretto, baristas use half an ounce of water with 7 grams of coffee. This means they’re using the same amount of coffee as they do when pulling espresso but reducing the amount of water. In turn, this produces a shot that’s twice as strong.
Likewise, if you’re making a double ristretto, you’ll need one fluid ounce of water and 14 grams of coffee. Talk about a strong cup of concentrated joe!
How to Pull a Shot of Espresso
Now that you know how many ounces in an espresso, let’s dive into how to pull the perfect shot. We live by these general guidelines – understand that this process may slightly differ depending on your machine and personal preferences.
Equipment Needed
- Espresso machine
- Grinder
- Portafilter
- Tamper
- Scale
- Cup
- Fresh coffee
- Filtered water
Directions
- Preheat Your Machine. Pull a shot of water without any coffee. This will preheat your machine, portafilter, and cup.
- Grind Whole Beans. Using your coffee grinder, grind fresh beans. The ideal grind for espresso is that to the texture of granulated sugar.
- Dose. This refers to how much coffee you’ll need to put in your portafilter. For a single shot, put 7 grams of coffee, and for a double shot, put 14 grams.
- Tamp. Tamping turns loose coffee grounds into a tightly compressed puck. This ensures equal water contact and consistency when forcing water through the coffee.
- Brew. Attach your portafilter to your machine and place your already preheated cup beneath it and initiate the pull!
The first part of your brew will be dark, and then it’ll turn into a foamy, golden brown color. The shot will stop once you’ve brewed 1 oz of concentrate for single servings or 2 oz of concentrate for a double serving.
Are your shots coming out unevenly? This simply means you need to work on tamping down coffee grounds more evenly.
Note: All espresso machines are different, as are people’s preferences. The process of creating the perfect espresso shot requires practice and experimentation. These are general guidelines to follow; however, feel free to play around with your grinds and adjust to personal taste!
How Long Does It Take to Pull a Shot?
Single shots of espresso should only take 20-30 seconds. If it’s taking more or less time, check grind size and tamp. You want to grind coffee until it’s very finely ground.
Also, be sure you’re tamping it down evenly until the coffee is fully compressed. Baristas recommend tamping down using 30 pounds of pressure, but some do as little as 20 pounds.
Pulling a double shot also takes 20-30 seconds because the double portafilter basket to an espresso machine is designed differently – it has more holes allowing more water through a little faster.
The Takeaway
In summary, a shot of espresso is one fluid ounce, a double shot is two fluid ounces, and a ristretto is half a fluid ounce. With this information in mind, get out there and start pulling shots of espresso to perfection. Happy brewing!
