In a coffee shop, you may hear such ordering methods as "a glass of iced Americano, give me an extra shot", "have a double shot of espresso, thank you".

According to the situation, it is not difficult for us to guess that the "shot" or "serving" here refers to the unit for producing espresso. But if you ask how much coffee they have, it may not be clear.

What does "Shot" mean?

Regarding the origin of the word shot, Qianjie looked through the materials and found that there are many theories, and there are many differences. "Shot" as we know it today is mainly used as a quantifier of wine culture, referring to a small glass of spirits. Traditionally, a shot is equal to 1 ounce, which is about 30ml. The use of shot cups became popular in the middle of the 20th century. The store provided this kind of small cup of spirits that can be "suffocated" in order to allow customers to drink alcohol faster, more affordable and convenient.

Similar to the usage in taverns, the "one shot" that people talk about in cafes refers to a single serving of espresso, that is, a small cup of espresso liquid about 30ml.

Why does espresso quote the quantifier shot?

In Italian, espresso means "quick", and the barista can make a cup of strong coffee with rich crema in just one minute. After the customer pays, he gets the coffee, and he can drink it in two or three sips standing in front of the bar, which can effectively consume caffeine. Since there was no advanced equipment such as electronic scales at that time, the barista could only visually measure the coffee liquid into two 1-ounce shot cups using the diverter handle, and rely on the capacity of the cups to judge whether the extraction was completed. Coupled with the thick and strong taste of espresso at the time, it seems that people used "shot" to describe it at that time.

Of course, it seems that there will be errors in such an approach, and it is difficult to maintain the stability of each production. Therefore, baristas generally use liquid weight as the standard when extracting espresso. (The volume and weight of coffee crema are not equal, so the actual content of the shot with rich crema will be less than that of thinner crema.)

How much is a shot of espresso?

It is used as a quantifier of Italian extraction. For a long time, extraction shot formed an Italian extraction formula according to the standards of baristas at that time: single shot is to use a single powder bowl to extract 7 grams of coffee powder into 30ml of concentrated coffee. Coffee; as for the double shot, that is, the extraction formula of double concentration: using a double powder bowl, 14 grams of coffee powder produces 60ml of espresso.

Later, with the upgrade of pressurized coffee machines and the adoption of weight measurement units, it became possible to judge the amount of extraction from the volume of coffee liquid to the actual weight of concentrated coffee, and to precisely control coffee extraction. The quality of coffee beans and roasting techniques have been continuously improved, and the range of barista shots has also been reduced. When using a double-capacity powder bowl, in the past, 14g of espresso coffee was used to extract 60ml of coffee liquid, but now a single espresso usually receives 18g of powder to extract 36g (about 50ml) of coffee liquid.

Now, how much coffee is 1 shot?

If you order in two coffee shops, "Give me a shot, please", you may get a small cup of espresso that is only close to 20 milliliters, while another barista serves a cup of 40 or 50 milliliters. Why is there such a big difference?

Nowadays, most cafes use double shot by default. The barista will formulate an exclusive extraction ratio for their own beans, and use a specific amount of powder to extract the best-flavored coffee liquid in a single shot. Because of the different blending concepts and extraction ratios of coffee, it can be a concentrated solution ranging from a dozen to dozens of grams, and each store is different.

For example, Qianjie uses a powder bowl with a capacity of 20 grams, 19.8 grams of coffee powder, and extracts 38 grams of concentrated liquid in 29 seconds, so the "double shot" here is 38 grams. If the customer only needs a single shot, the barista will use the handle with a diverter nozzle to receive it into two cups, and only give one of them. A shot in the cup is about 19 grams.

Reference: kafeigongfang, makecoffee.cn