What is a Ristretto coffee?
Ristretto coffee is very strong coffee made from a shot of Espresso beans, always served with a glass of water and it is also known as a short black. The caffeine in Ristretto is extracted in reduced ratio because water has short contact with the grids.
Benefits of Ristretto coffee
The Ristretto shot is less bitter than Espresso. Actually, modern machines uses less water (45 ml instead of 60 ml) to make a simple shot of Ristretto.
How to make Ristretto coffee?
Do not know how to make a Ristretto coffee? Actually, there are a few methods. First, is to grid the coffee finer as for normal Espresso and simply make a shot. Smaller spaces between ground coffee allow less water to pass through. But this method can lead to a gritty taste as well.
Second method is just to stop the extraction early – less water will pass through the coffee. Probably this method is the simplest and produces a slightly different taste than the fine-grinding, equal-time method.
A third method to prepare a Ristretto is to use the tamp more firmly. The firmer tamp will compact the grinds in the filter basket allowing for a shot time comparable to a regular espresso.
Long or short shot will not contain the same ratio of components as a normal shot because not all components of coffee dissolve at the same rate then the different amount of water is used. Because of this reason a Ristretto is not simply twice “strong” as a regular Espresso shot.