Espresso Explained - The Ristretto Extraction

tl;dr: not changing your grind size means the ristretto is less extracted than your normale, which generally changes the flavor profile (instead of just producing a more concentrated version of your normale). Whether this is a problem depends on your preferences and the coffee you are using. If you pull a ristretto like you guys do, by only lowering your ratio from 1:2 to 1:1, you are essentially trading some extraction (in terms of how much of your dry coffee dissolved into your drink) for concentration of flavor (how much of the actual beverage is dissolved coffee solids). What some people in the comments are suggesting is that this means that the drink cannot taste good anymore, because if your 1:2 ratio tasted good, and you are now stopping your shot early, then the resulting 1:1 shot is missing some (or many) of the things that made the 1:2 shot so tasty. Herein lies the reason many people think you should grind finer to pull ristrettos, because by grinding finer, you can extract more efficiently, allowing you to to extract all the same flavors that you did in a 1:2 ratio shot, using half the amount of water. Although espresso is an incredibly complex drink in terms of the science behind it, to my knowledge this is basically correct. If you want the same flavor profile in your ristretto as you have in your normale, only more concentrated, you will have to grind finer for your ristrettos. However, I think two things are of note here. First, just because the flavor profile changes from a 1:2 to a 1:1 ratio, this does not necessarily mean one of the two is not tasty. There needn't be only a single tasty flavor profile for any given coffee. Many coffees can taste good at various different level of extraction and concentration. A single coffee can be presented both as a concentrated ristretto, with punchy acidity, sweetness, and syrupy texture; or as a more balanced normale, focusing on clarity and balance of flavor. Second, the first half of a 1:2 shot already contains most of the flavors of the final shot, the second half serves a somewhat different role. While cutting a shot short undeniably results in a lower extraction, it's been shown that most of the extraction within a shot (or pour-over for that matter) happens at the start. The tail-end of a shot (or brew) serves to pull out to final couple of flavor notes for complexity, pull out some enjoyable bitterness for balance, and to dilute the brew to the desired consistency, which serves to adjust the intensity of the beverage to the desired level and to provide clarity of flavor. Thus, it seems to me like you should just evaluate what works and what doesn't for the coffee that you are using. If it tastes good at both ratios without changing your grind, no worries. If your coffee is a bit more picky about when it does and does not want to taste good, maybe adjust your grind for one of the two ratios so that the flavor profile differs a little less between them.

P. S. Thanks so much for offering these videos for free. A few things are different in my part of the US but they have been invaluable as I try to expand my knowledge 👍

You guys are great! Love your down-to-earth, very sensible style of explaining everything!! I finally understood the reasons why I generally don't like ristrettos: because I like bitter!

This is a great video, thanks for the information.

I think in a ristretto you can grind finer because you will cut your shot earlier, and with less water involved in the extraction, so to achieve the same extraction in less liquid you can grind finer, without getting an overextracted shot. I understand as basically offseting variables.

This is an amazing video. I've always had issues with weak coffee so maybe a 1:1 ristretto flat white might work. It seems like it's essentially a less diluted version of an espresso/normale

When you brewed your example, are you performing a preinfusion, then performing a main extraction at a higher pressure? I'm not very familiar with ristrettos but accidentally brewed one when my machine ran out of water. I added water to make an Americano and was very pleasantly surprised. It was balanced, a bit brighter, but very enjoyable. Also, are you shooting towards an specific brew time for your ristrettos?

hi, I would to know if It is a good an idea use pre- wetting and also if this is different to pre- infusion ?. you are the best in Australia keep it up

Please make a video about best coffee beans types, for daily use .

22gr in, +\- 22ml out (ratio 1:1-1:5) is double ristretto??if split porta 11ml is single ristretto??

please how many gram of basket are you Using?

I'm so confused. My espresso machine doesn't have a ristretto setting. I assume most people's machines don't. Am I supposed to fill my double shot portafilter, but push the single shot button?

What coffee grinder you have

Technically speaking...the extraction time (24s-32s) should be the same for different brew ratios ristretto (1:1), normale (1:2), and lungo (1:3). Adjust the grind to match the ratio and brew time. Generally speaking darker roasts for a ristretto/normale and lighter roasts for a lungo, due to bean density. I don't think you can extract a normale and spit it, then call it two ristretto's. It's just a split normale, different flavor profile to ristretto.

So okay how do you get this roast to eight ounces do you just keep brewing the coffee until it finally drips there because I want to try eight ounces of this stuff

Thanks for creating and sharing this informative content, bery useful indeed! However, I've questioning what is the real defintion a "double" ristretto? I saw an example when someone extracted a dose of 20g input for a 20g output and called it a "double ristretto" which is a bit odd since it was still a perfect 1:1 ratio. Is there a standard definition of a "single ristretto" has to be within 8-10g of input or output?

One viscous the other is thicker ??? Is there any difference between the two words ??? 🤔

so if we making ristretto with 22.5 dose, the yield will be 22.5 ml right? how about a double ristretto? how much yield we have to take?

What size grind?

When changing from ristretto to normale, do you change the grind size? If yes hoe do you make it at a cafe with alot of order