The never-ending quest for the perfect caffeinated drink requires more than just finding a great blend of coffee beans. It also means finding the right way of preparing this blend. Many people customize the flavor and amount of caffeine of their coffee drink by specifying how many espresso shots they would like in it. One of the little tricks for finding your go-to coffee drink is to try ordering ristretto.
A ristretto is a short shot of espresso made with finely ground beans and less water. You may be wondering why anyone would want to order less coffee. Isn’t always ordering more coffee better? In most cases, yes, but ristretto is all about quality over quantity. When less hot water is forced through the finely ground coffee beans, the result is a more concentrated flavor. The coffee tastes sweeter and less bitter because of the shorter extraction time. In the simplest terms, ristretto means “restricted.” By ordering a ristretto shot, you are instructing the barista to limit the amount of espresso shot in your coffee.
Café Britt's Magic Formula
7 gr of our Costa Rican Espresso coffee beans
+
12 to 14 seconds of extraction
+
1 1/2 oz of purified water
Café Britt's Magic Formula
7 gr of our Costa Rican Espresso coffee beans
+
18 to 23 seconds of extraction
+
1 1/2 oz of purified water
You probably already know what an espresso drink is, but just in case you are a coffee newbie, here is a brief overview. An espresso is a strong shot of coffee prepared by quickly forcing water (high pressure water) through coffee grounds. It has a foamy surface and low caffeine concentration. Making an espresso requires an espresso machine. Most people consider espresso shots too strong to drink on its own, but it is used in many coffee drink variations such as ristretto, lungo, flat white and macchiato coffee.
