How Much Espresso Goes into the Different Cup Sizes?
One thing that can get a little confusing when starting out as a barista is learning to understand how much espresso you need to put in each of the various cup sizes. For example when making a coffee for a customer in a small 8 ounce take away cup should you use a normale, a ristretto, or a double ristretto?
In this video Luke talks us through each of the standard cup sizes from a 4 ounce cup up to a 16 ounce cup to explain how much espresso should be dropped into each. The main goal for a barista should be maintaining overall consistency and flavour across the cup range.
VIDEO TRANSCRIPT
0:00
four six eight twelve sixteen ounce cups how much espresso should you put into each one
0:05
of these cups when combined with milk hey I would just want to dive into the logic
0:09
behind how to work with espresso and split it through this takeaway cup range [Music]
0:18
perhaps you're a Barista working in a cafe and you've got this lineup of takeaway cups in
0:23
front of you and it gets a bit confusing about how much espresso needs to go in each cup whether
0:28
you're going to split into certain sizes what's a double shot shot what's a ristretto or are you
0:34
a person buying yourself a 16 ounce cup and not really knowing how much espresso is in there is it
0:40
a three shot a two shot whatever's going on well I'm gonna try and break it down a little bit for
0:46
you how we do it here at Artisti and you can apply this logic perhaps to your Cafe the key thing is
0:53
if you've got to take away a range of Cups you really want to match your dining cups to the
0:57
same sizes because then the logic is going to work really easy so I'm going to start with the biggest
1:02
myth and that's the good old eight ounce cup now we think traditionally that that would have one
1:08
shot of espresso and if we were going to go to a 16 ounce that we would put two shots of espresso
1:15
because 2 8 is 16. well the math sounds pretty right but when you taste it it really doesn't work
1:21
so I'm going to buff that straight up if you're getting two shots of coffee and 16 ounce it's
1:27
just going to be milky and definitely not enough flavor cutting through that huge amount of milk
1:32
that's in the cup and I'd be wary about paying a good price if you're only getting two shots
1:38
of espresso in there so I'm going to start now on the smaller sizes now in workflow you might have
1:44
the ability to split a double espresso now I'm not talking recipes here or the amount of coffee
1:49
I just want to talk about splitting or putting two sides of one group handle into one cup so
1:58
it's really easy to get yourself a little Piccolo or an espresso and a six ounce cup and split into
2:04
those two that's pretty common these days if you wanted to up the flavor volume of those you would
2:11
ask for a ristretto or a double a double ristretto and they will be really super really Punchy so I
2:17
would be ordering a double Shredder in this and in the six ounce splitting them to me it's just still
2:23
too mild for the intensity and the flavor of the espresso I want to get with a small amount of milk
2:30
then you've got your good old eight ounce now a lot of people have been splitting
2:35
um into an eight ounce and then maybe a dining cup or even the six it's just too less espresso to cut
2:43
through the eight ounces of milk so I definitely wouldn't be splitting into this it would have to
2:48
be a double ristretto just to give that intensity and flavor into the cup and again if you want it
2:54
to be strong you'd order your double shot and you'd be super happy with that kind of flavor
3:00
most of us drink a double shot latte in this kind of size that love coffee and it
3:06
really does allow the intensity and the subtle flavors to come through with milk
3:11
then this 12 ounce it is a double shot of coffee there is no way you could be splitting anything
3:17
into this kind of cup you couldn't split from a six or an eight it's got to be a full double
3:22
shot it can't be a double ristretto it is going to be super milky so definitely a
3:28
double shot that's going to go into this one and you'll keep your customers happy
3:34
now the 16 ounce for us in Australia this is what we call a tradie coffee it's usually going to have
3:40
a cut sugars and the guy's going to line up for it in the morning and just pump them out you know
3:46
very early five six o'clock up till about eight nine o'clock and it's quite a big part of that
3:52
drive through takeaway business now I would want to make sure that it has a full double shot and
3:58
a split shot on top now the logic there is that you may have your six ounce or an espresso that
4:05
you would be able to take a spare shot off this double handle and add it to a full double handle
4:11
into your 16 and that's going to keep the workflow going really quickly now it's pretty common to get
4:17
to 16 ounces and if you've got a two group machine you would simply load up a split shot into maybe
4:23
two little Piccolo glasses then load this handle in to this cup into the other handle and run a
4:29
double shot you'd be able to grab the little Piccolo pour it in and you've got your three
4:34
ready for one cup redo another handle for a double shot in another 16. grab your second Piccolo and
4:41
you've basically produced two 16 ounce tradie coffees really quick and that flavor is going to
4:47
be quite substantial it's not gonna be milky it's not going to be mild and most of the customers
4:53
will appreciate a much stronger full body coffee first thing in the morning they're going to feel
4:59
like they've got that charge and that kick that they really need to get going throughout the day
5:04
later in the day hopefully they come back and get something maybe a bit smaller because they don't
5:07
want that full hip that you've just given them in the morning but that for me is how to handle a 16
5:13
to make sure your customers come back there are a lot of places that are doing double shots in here
5:19
it is simply way too milky and if anyone's looking at a bigger size of coffee well good luck I don't
5:25
even want to look at it it's not the space we get into but we do hear about sizes like 20
5:30
ounce or larger look I'm going to leave that space totally to you to work out how much profit you
5:35
want to put into those kinds of cups so hopefully that's given you an overview and a guide of how to
5:41
work with how much coffee should be in this full range the other thing you've got to consider is
5:47
what type of roast are you using is it a dark roast a light roast or a medium roast if you
5:53
apply this same logic to a light single origin with milk it's always going to be milky it's
5:59
too light there's not enough body in that roast to cut through the milk if you've got a medium roast
6:05
something like our champion blend which all our Cafe Partners use it's a great amount of espresso
6:10
that's going to balance really well with your milk and that's going to line up quite nicely through
6:16
this whole range and you'll probably find that the balance of flavor in a six ounce the eight the 12
6:22
all the way up to the 16 should be pretty similar when that customer buys the full range because
6:28
that's what we want to do we don't want one size to taste very different to another if you're
6:33
looking at a really bold Italian or French roast kind of coffee something that's in around second
6:38
crack this logic may not work because you may be putting way too much espresso into this and it
6:44
could just be a really strong bitter cup of coffee that's not going to be enjoyable for everyone so
6:50
what you have to do is really take this logic and start and taste the coffees with the milk and the
6:56
beans that you're using ensuring that it actually tastes great across the whole range well there you
7:01
have it my assessment on how much espresso should go in this range of coffee cups now I hope that's
7:06
stirred a few things up in you in your business and what you're doing perhaps maybe do this
7:12
assessment sit down with your boss your manager or as a customer ask a couple of questions how much
7:18
coffee is going into these cups if you want to go further again as a barista maybe start to look at
7:24
the recipe you've got how much espresso is in your double shot handle is it a 16 and 18 or like us
7:30
a 22 and a half gram espresso basket if you're a customer look for a specialty grade style coffee
7:36
shop because most of us are using 22.5 grams of coffee and it's going to give you a much better
7:42
flavor as well rather than a bigger store maybe or a group that's trying to push you know 14 or
7:49
16 grams of coffee in their double shots because that's really what's happening when you're buying
7:54
your cup you're getting less coffee but you're still getting a double shot so ask some questions
7:58
and try and make a better cup for your customers so they come back all the time hey if you've got
8:04
any questions about this breakdown hey please leave a comment down below I'd happily answer
8:09
those and thanks very much for watching guys and we will catch you next time cheers [Music]
8:19
foreign
Found it for less?
We want you to get the best value for your money. If you see the same product (size & colour) in stock at another store, let us know so we can do our best to match the price for you. Fill out the form below and our team will get back to you as quickly as possible.