Njion the Cofftea Dragon ☕ on Nostr: 1. SINGLE SHOT ESPRESSO Right off the bat let's begin with one of the most confusing ...

1. SINGLE SHOT ESPRESSO
Right off the bat let's begin with one of the most confusing drinks, the humble single shot. The misconception here is that it's, you know, one espresso shot and that a doppio/doubleshot is a drink consisting of two separately prepared and extracted single shots of espresso poured into one cup. This is not the case. Single and double shots of espresso are both made in one go with the main difference being that they use differently sized baskets that fit different amounts of coffee grounds. For a single shot you'd usually use 7-9g of grounds fitted into a tiny conical basket whereas a double shot uses a cylindrical basket that usually fits 14-18g (although larger baskets are not uncommon these days). In terms of volume, espresso is typically made at a ratio of grounds:liquid of about 1:2 meaning that a single shot would be about 16g and a double shot would be 34g.
The main issue with single shot espresso is the conical basket. It is very difficult to make good espresso consistently using one of those so most cafes don't bother and will instead pull a double shot for you and split it in half, usually pouring out the half they don't serve you. This is dumb and wasteful as you might imagine. This means if you order a single shot you're either getting bad coffee from a conical basket or a bunch of coffee goes to waste. Specialty cafes often do not offer single shots for that reason. If you like espresso, order a double shot. It's genuinely the "default" espresso at most non-italian establishments, it's gonna taste better and you'll usually get more coffee for your money.