Ristretto: What is it and how to make it?

Espresso, ristretto and allongé make up the supreme trinity when it comes to espresso coffee. If you enjoy intense, full-flavoured coffee in its simplest form, you might reach for an espresso as standard. But if you haven’t tried a ristretto, you may be just about to discover a completely new way to enjoy a short caffeine fix.

Here we explain the key to a good ristretto, how to make one, and what makes it different to the classic espresso.

The origin of the ristretto

Though it’s unclear exactly when, it’s likely that the ristretto originated in Italy, sometime in the late 20th century (after the invention of the espresso machine). The name is very obviously Italian; the closest English translation being to ‘restrict’ or to ‘narrow’ probably referring to its small volume and restricted extraction time.

This tiny drink arrived on this side of the Atlantic in the early 90s. It was popularized in Seattle before spreading out across the continent.

What is a ristretto?

Just as an espresso is a tiny, concentrated shot of coffee, a ristretto is smaller and even more concentrated. An espresso shot usually takes around 25-30 seconds to extract. This timing allows for a balance of flavors to be pulled from the ground coffee beans, starting with bright, sour and acidic notes, moving towards bitter, deeper chocolate notes towards the end of the pour. When making a ristretto, the flow of water is stopped short. The result is lower caffeine content, a more syrupy texture and a brighter flavor profile with much less bitterness than a regular espresso.

Ristretto recipe

A ristretto hinges on ratio, rather than volumes. A strictly traditional Italian ristretto would start with just 7g of ground espresso but nowadays we tend to use larger amounts for specialty coffee, so we adhere to the traditional ratios and play a little looser with the measurements.

A ristretto’s ideal ratio is 1:1.5 so if you’re using 18g of ground coffee, you will aim for around 27g of liquid espresso output. Weighing your inputs and outputs on a set of high-quality barista scales is crucial when making a ristretto.

How to make a ristretto

• Grind enough coffee for a double espresso and accurately weigh it.

• Place your cup or glass on top of your barista scales and tare.

• Using your machine’s manual setting, begin to extract the ristretto, keeping a close eye on the weight output and the time elapsed.

• Stop the water flow when the output weight reaches exactly 1.5x your input weight.

FAQ

Is a ristretto stronger than espresso?

A ristretto may taste more intense than an espresso due to its concentrated size, but since extraction is stopped earlier with a ristretto than with an espresso, there is less caffeine content as it does not have as much time to make it into your cup.

Does a ristretto have milk?

As standard, a ristretto is served black, without milk. You may ask for a ristretto bianco, which is a ristretto served with steamed milk.

Looking for other recipes? Read our article about coffee drinks explained.