Simple Explanation of the Ristretto Coffee Extraction
So what exactly is a ristretto? In this video Luke explains what a ristretto is and how we use them here at Artisti Coffee Roastery.
Put simply it's the first half of a 'Normale' extraction and packs far more flavour, sweetness and complex flavours than the last half of an extraction. Each part of the extraction serves its own purpose depending on the type and size of drink a barista is preparing.
It's a very personal choice as to what you think of a ristretto.
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Here we go.
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There we go.
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You can see the distinct color as well.
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It's different. It's quite pale.
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There is cream coming through,
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but it's definitely a lot paler and a lot more blond.
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And then you go, there's a 20 just a tad over 23.1.
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So we still reached our normale recipe.
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But you can see distinctly they are totally different.
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We're going to Pale crema over here.
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It's a little bit more viscous as well,
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but this is a little bit thicker and juicier.
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And you can see how rich that crema is.
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So when you combine those two together to make a normale,
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it's beautiful and it's going to be that great double shot of coffee.
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If we're going to
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enjoy this part of the coffee.
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Oh, look, you're going to get your salts,
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your sugars and far more complex flavors out at the beginning.
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It's very syrupy.
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It's really coating your mouth.
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And look, I really enjoy a ristretto.
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If I wasn't going to have a ristretto and I only had the tail end
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or the second 22 and a half grams of our fully extracted shot,
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that is very thin,
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very watery and underwhelming.
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So that's why we do love the complexity of ristretto
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but this is here to balance it out.
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The two together work, but having the tail end definitely doesn't.
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If you're going to have this ristretto you want to think
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about what you're combining it with. It's going to be,
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as we said, in an eight ounce with a bit more milk,
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and it's going to be cutting through it a lot better as well.
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There's definitely a fad there
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for a while to have a restraint latte or a double ristretto latte in cafes,
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but I think people really understood why or what that was about.
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So this is why we went for that.
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We went for a sweeter, stronger coffee.
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We're using more coffee essentially to get a better, richer extraction.
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So how do you make a ristretto in your scenario?
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Well, we've got to look at what equipment you've had.
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You've got.
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So in here we've got our double spout
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handles with the 22.5 grams of coffee.
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So we've just gone through that recipe.
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But at home you might only have an 18 gram basket in there.
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So essentially you've got to start changing the maths a little bit.
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So if you've got 18 grams of coffee, your ristretto would be 18 grams as well,
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and it'd be 36 for your normale.
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But are you going to split that 18 grams into two cups
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into a latte and a cappuccino?
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Well that's fine. That's going to then basically give you
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a ristretto
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split into two cups, but it might be a little bit underwhelming.
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So have a think about that.
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You might want to go to a double ristretto
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because you got the double sprouts into one cup
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rather than splitting it into the two, if you've got yourself a single basket
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with something like a seven or nine gram, um single handles spout,
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I should say, with a seven or nine gram basket,
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you can't do a double ristretto because you can't split that.
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And then basically combine it into one cup so you can only do
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a ristretto into one cup.
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So if it's nine grams of coffee, your first nine grams essentially is
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a ristretto.
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When you hit 18 grams of liquid weight in a cup, that's going to be your normale.
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And if you're going to go for a lungo, it's going to be 27 grams.
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So it's just a single ristretto rather than a double ristretto into one cup.
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So I hope that helps you understand how to make those changes
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on your machine at home or in a cafe or whatever handle that you're utilizing.
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Now a common question that
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keeps getting thrown around in our YouTube channel,
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and we don't really have an answer for it is why don't we change the grind
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to get us a ristretto over our normale?
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And that's, we're a bit unsure about that.
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So if we went coarser on our grind, essentially we're going to be
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under extracting the coffee from our standard recipe.
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If we go finer, we're going to start to over
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extract the coffee, than our normal recipe.
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So we'd love you to comment and let us know a bit
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more about that because it's a concept we're a bit unsure about.
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We'd love to hear about more it and more on it.
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And if we have to explore it, we will.
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So moving on, from there,
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when you do try a ristretto in your home or cafe or wherever you're
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enjoying your coffee, if you're finding that the ristretto isn't enough,
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Maybe you need to think about how you can actually get that intensity
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and flavor that you're chasing without having to go to a full normale
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and get that tail end thinner liquid in there.
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And the way to do it is increase your actual basket size
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and the dose of your coffee.
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So if you're on a single handle like that,
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go up to a normal double spout handle of 18 grams.
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Or if you're already using something like a double spout,
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maybe you should move up to a naked portafilter handle
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with a 22.5 gram basket in it.
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And then essentially you can't do a double ristretto but
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you can do a really nice one to one ristretto there.
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So that would help you to change that intensity in the flavor
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that you're after rather than pushing a longer shot,
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risking getting closer to the bitterness which we don't want to achieve.
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So hopefully that helps you to understand how you can start to push flavor
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and maintain ristrettos without chasing that bitterness
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and the strength that most people think that they need
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to help cut through the milk
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or get that strong coffee that they're going to enjoy at home.
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If you do want to upgrade
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any of your baskets or handles, we've got plenty on our online store.
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Jump on there and check them out.
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And if you any questions, hey leave them below. We'd love to answer those.
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Thanks very much for watching.
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I hope that's clarified
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how we make a ristretto here at Artisti and our CAFE partners.
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We'll catch you next time. Cheers
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