Single VS Double Espresso Shots: What's The Difference?

Starbucks popularized the double shot (doppio) in America in the 1990's, though they weren't its inventors. A double shot uses 14g of coffee and produces ... Categories Overview(2) WhatisEspresso? AGuideToMilkAndEspressoDrinks BrewingGuides(6) UltimateGuidetoEspresso SinglevsDoubleShots MakingYourOwnFlavorSyrups TroubleshootingYourEspresso LayoutYourHomeEspressoBar HowToTampSafely,Consistently BuyingGuides(9) SingleOriginVSBlends BestTravelEspressoMakers AutoVSSemi-AutoVSSuperauto HomeEspressoMachineFeatures AreLeverMachinesWorthIt? 9EssentialEspressoAccessories ABeginnerHomeEspressoSetup AProsumerHomeEspressoSetup GuideToPortafilterTypes Comparisons(4) ROKvsFlair:ManualEspressoShowdown IsNespressoRealEspresso? EspressoVSDripCoffee WetvsDryCappuccinos Maintenance(1) HomeEspressoMachineCare101 SingleVSDoubleEspressoShots:What'sTheDifference? Writtenby:GarrettOden Mostpeoplehavenoideawhattherealdifferencesarebetweensingleanddoubleshots.It’snotnearlyasstraightforwardasyoumayimagine(andcoffeeshopsdon’tdoagreatjobathelpingyoufigureitouteither). WhenImanagedaspecialtycoffeeshop,beingabletoexplainthedifferencetomycoworkerswasimportanttome-Iwantedthemtobeskilledandknowledgeable.SoIhadtoworkthroughthedifferencesindetailmyself.AndIwas,frankly,shockedathowcomplicateditwas. ButIdon’tsaythistoscareyouaway-you’regoingtolearnmuchfasterthanmostpeoplebecauseI’mgoingtoexplainsinglevsdoubleshotsintwoways: Theeasy,oversimplifiedway Andthecomplicated,frustratingway Ifyou’dliketoexplorethedepthsofthisquestion,youcan.Butifyoujustwantabasicunderstanding,youcanstopafterthenextsection Readytojumpin?   SingleVSDoubleShots:TheEasyExplanation WhatI’mabouttosayisabitofanoversimplification,butit’ssuitableformostcoffeeloversonapracticallevel. Traditionally,asingleshot(solo)ofespressouses7gofespresso-finegroundsandyieldsabout30mlofespresso(about1liquidounce).Weighingshotsisarelativelynewpractice,somostbaristasinthelast80yearsorsohavejustusedeyesighttojudgewhentheshotwasfinished. Starbuckspopularizedthedoubleshot(doppio)inAmericainthe1990’s,thoughtheyweren’titsinventors.Adoubleshotuses14gofcoffeeandproducesaround60mlofespresso(about2liquidounces). DoubleshotsarenowthestandardinAmericaandmanyplacesaroundtheworld.Ifyouaskforasingle,thebaristawilllikelypulladoublebutuseasplitportafiltertohalvetheshotforyou. Intermsofflavor,notreallymuchchanges.Theintroductionofdoubleshotswasreallyaboutincreasingoutputandmakingiteasierforbusybaristas-butthere’susuallynotmuchdifferenceinflavor. Accordingtocoffeechemistry.com,oneliquidounceofespressocanhaveanywherebetween30and50mgofcaffeine.Thatmeansthatadoubleshotwilllikelyhaveanywherebetween60and100mg. Well,that’saboutitforthesimpleexplanation.Andhonestly,thatgoingtobeenoughformostpeople.Butifyou’reextracaffeinesensitiveorarecuriousabouthowthiscouldgetmorecomplicated,you’llwanttoreadon. Read:TheUltimateGuidetoEspresso Becausewhathappenswhenyouuse20gofcoffeetopullashot?Isitatripleshot? Maybe.Maybenot.   SingleVSDoubleShots:TheComplicatedReality Ah,wheretostart… Inthemodernspecialtycoffeeindustry,espressoratiosgetalittlefunny.Thoughitwasn’tpossiblebefore,betterequipmentisallowingustogetmorecreativewithhowwepullourshots. Forexample,thetraditionaldoubleshotuses14gofcoffeeandproducesabout60mlofespresso.Seemssimpleenough,butwedon’tliketousevolumeanymoretomeasureourshots. Weusemass(weight). That60mlofespressoincludesalotofcrema,thegolden-brownlayeroffoamthattopsawell-pulledshot.Whenyouletthecremafallapartandlookattheliquiditself,itcouldactuallyjustbe40-50mlofespresso. Thisinconsistencyiswhyweusescalestomeasureshotsthesedays.Weliketobeprecise.Andthat60mldoubleshotofespresso?Itprobablyweighsbetween30and40g(we’llsay35forsimplicity). Read:TheGoldenRatiosinCoffeeBrewing Let’sbringitbacksowecanstayonthesamepage: 14gofcoffeeyields60mlofespresso(2liquidounces)-visualmeasurement 14gofcoffeeyields35gofespresso(1.2massounces)-scalemeasurement See?Bothstatementsaretrue,butit’sgettinghardtocommunicatewhatwereallymean.There’scommunicationtensionbetweenthetraditionalmeasurementmethodandthemoreprecisemodernone. Andthisisjustthebeginning.   3Shops,3Shots-AnExperiment Letmeshowyouareal-lifesituationIcameacrosswhenIwastrainingbaristas. Shop#1uses16gofcoffee.Theyproduce32gshots(around50mlliquidounces).  Thisisa1:2ratio(16gin,32out) Shop#2uses20gofcoffee.Theypull40gshots(about70mlliquidounces).  A1:2ratio(20gin,40gout) Shop#3uses20gofcoffee.Theypull28gshots(about30mlliquidounces).  A1:1.4ratio(20gin,28gout) Sohere’sthequestion:whichshoppullsdoubleshots? Ifyou’reusingthetraditionaldefinition,you’dknowthatShop#1istheclosest,butit’snotexactlyonthebullseye.Theshopuses+2gofcoffeebutendsupwith-10gofvolume.Still,it’scloserthantheothertwoshops. Read:HowToReadCoffeePackagingLikeAPro SohowdoyoudescribetheshotsfromShop#2andShop#3? It’satrickquestion.They’realldoubleshots. “Buthow,”yousay,“Theyothertwoshotsareverydifferentfromthetraditionaldoubleshot!” Rightyouare.Thethingis,veryfewshopsusethetraditionaldefinitions.   ModernPracticalDefinitions Frustratedyet?Yeah,it’sreallyconfusing.Butwe’realmostfinished. Specialtycoffeeshopsthesedayshavetheabilitytopullallsortsofwackyshots.LikeIsaidearlier,newtechnologyinscales,grinding,andespressomachinesismakingusmorepreciseandgivingusmoreflexibilitywithhowwepullourshots. That20gin,28goutshotfromShop#3isactuallyverydelicious.I’vetrieditmyself.ThatTexascoffeeshopcalleditadoubleshot,eventhoughitused+6gofcoffeeand-30mlofyieldcomparedtothetraditionaldefinition. Butwhy? Becausethere’sreallynoreliablestandardforsingleanddoubleshotsanymore. Someshopssaythattheirshotsaredoubleshotsbecausetheyusemorethan14gofcoffee.Somesaytheypulldoubleshotsbecausetheyproduceenoughyieldtosplittheshotintwowithasplitportafilter. Thedefinitionsareallovertheplace. AndIloveit. Read:WantToBeACoffeeAficionado?HereAre5ThingsYouNeedToKnow Ilovethatit’spossibletohavethismuchdiversityinhowwepullshotswithoutlosingquality.Ienjoytheintense,smallshots.Ienjoythesmoother,biggeronesaswell.Aslongastheflavorsareripe,crisp,andbalanced,whocareswhattheycallit? Butthisdoesbringaboutanewchallenge.   SoHowDoWeMeasureCaffeine? Unfortunately,whatwegaininflavordiversity,weloseincaffeineconfidence. Atthispoint,therearezerostudiesthatdeterminetheimpactthatthesediverseshotrecipeshaveoncaffeine.So,whileIwishIcouldgiveyouaclearanswerhere,Icannot. Here’swhatIcansay. Generally,caffeinecomesoutprettyearlyintheshot. Thatmeansthatthetotalyieldonlyplaysasmallpartinthetotalcaffeine.What’smoreimportantistheamountofcoffeeintheportafilter. Read:TheBestTimeOfTheDayToConsumeCaffeine Soifatraditionaldoubleshothasanywherebetween60and100mgofcaffeine,it’slikelythatamoderndoubleshotwithmorecoffeegroundswillhaveabitmore,sincemostshopsuse16-20gofcoffeeintheirdoubles. --- Itoldyouitgotcomplicated,butit’salsofascinating.We’relivinginanagewhereespressorecipes,techniques,andflavorsareverydiverseandveryflavorful. Andyeah,it’sabummerthatthetraditionaldefinitionsforsinglesanddoubleshassortoflosttheirvalidity,butit’satradeI’mwillingtomake. Ifyou’reahomeespressoenthusiast,Ihighlysuggestplayingaroundwithvariouscoffee:yieldratiosandgrindsizes.You’llbeamazedathowdifferentasinglecoffeeblendcantastewhenpulleddifferentways. But,ofcourse,ifyou’reusinglower-gradeoroldbeans,youwon’thaveanyfunexploringsingleanddoubleshotsbecausetherewon’tbeanyflavortoexplore. Freshlyroasted,specialty-gradebeansaretheonlywaytogowhenitcomestostellar,balancedespresso.Andforthat,checkthisout....--> AreyoulookingforatheBESTcoffeeclub?JavaPresseisthebestmonthlycoffeeclubintheworld.We'renotjustabout deliveringfreshlyroasted,organic,additive-freebeans toyourdooreverymonth.Wealsowanttomakesurethatourcustomersaregettingthemostoutoftheirjavaexperience.That'swhyweincludea FREEManualGrinder whenyousubscribe!You'llneverhavetoworryaboutbuyinganotheroneagain!WithourCoffeeClub,youcanenjoyfreshbeansanddeliciouscupsofjoeallyearlongwithoutbreakingthebankorsacrificingquality.Allyouhavetodoissignupandwe'lltakecareofeverythingelseforyou!Itdoesn'tgetanyeasierthanthis!   Sharethisarticle: Writtenby:GarrettOden ResidentCoffeeEducator Share ShareonFacebook Tweet ShareonFacebook PinIt ShareonPintrest BeGratefulT-Shirt BuyNow WINAJAVAPRESSEBUNDLE Eachmonth,we’llbegifting1luckypersonaJavapresseBundlewiththebestpictureandcaptionabouthowtheyuseourproducts.Checkoutthepicturesbelowforideas,&use#GroundedLivingor#JavaPressetoenter! 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