Reference · espresso

Espresso ratio: dose, yield and time

An espresso recipe is three numbers: grams of dry coffee in, grams of liquid espresso out, and seconds on the clock. The ratio between the first two is what names a shot ristretto, normale or lungo.

Updated 2026-10-14 · sources listed at the end

Unlike the filter coffee ratio, which is measured on the water you pour, the espresso ratio is measured on the drink that lands in the cup. That is why espresso ratios look so small (1:2) next to filter ratios (1:16).

The four numbers, defined

• Dose — the dry ground coffee in the basket, in grams. Wikipedia’s Espresso article gives roughly 7, 14 and 21 g for a single, double and triple shot. In a 2017 survey of baristas reported in the SCA’s 25 Magazine, most said their lowest dose was 18 g and their highest 20 g, and 93% considered the espresso they pull to be a double.
• Yield (beverage weight) — the liquid espresso in the cup, weighed. In the same survey 82% measured yield by weight; the average was 36.5 g. Those measuring by volume averaged 74.2 ml, because crema adds volume without adding much weight — so a milliliter figure cannot be turned straight into a gram ratio.
• Brew ratio — dose to yield, by mass. The survey average was 1:2 (for example 20 g in, 40 g out), and all answers fell between 1:1.5 and 1:2.5.
• Shot time — how long the shot runs. Wikipedia’s Espresso article says usually 25–30 s; half of the surveyed baristas averaged between 25 and 30 s.

“Yield” has two meanings. On this page it is the weight of the drink. Extraction yield is something else: the percentage of the dry coffee that dissolved into it. Wikipedia’s Coffee extraction article puts espresso extraction yield at generally 15–25%. With a refractometer reading you can work it out in the extraction yield calculator.

Ristretto, normale, lungo

The names are relative. Wikipedia’s Lungo article states that ristretto, normale and lungo are “relative terms without exact measurements”, then gives a grounds-to-liquid ratio of 1:1, 1:2 and 1:4. Its Coffee preparation article agrees on the first two but describes a lungo as typically anything above 1:3. Both are shown below.

A ristretto is not simply a double-strength normale, and a lungo is not half-strength: because coffee compounds dissolve at different rates, short and long shots end up with a different balance of compounds, not just a different concentration (Lungo). The Ristretto article describes the short shot as bolder and less bitter, since the first part of any extraction is the most concentrated.

Published espresso definitions

There is no single standard. Wikipedia’s Espresso article says plainly that “there is no universal standard defining the process of extracting espresso.” The best-known definitions measure by volume, not weight:

Wide table — scroll sideways on a phone.

The WBC rules define espresso as poured from one side of a double portafilter in one continuous extraction, and say espresso “may be prepared with various amounts of coffee” — the rulebook sets no dose or ratio. Wikipedia’s Coffee preparation article gives water at 91–95 °C (196–203 °F) and 8–18 bar for espresso in general.

How to measure a shot

1. Weigh the dose. Tare the empty basket or portafilter on a scale and grind into it; a 0.1 g display helps with small doses.
2. Set the target. Multiply the dose by your ratio (or use the calculator above): 18 g at 1:2 means stopping at 36 g.
3. Tare the cup. Put the cup on the scale under the spouts and zero it.
4. Time it the same way every shot. Start the timer at the same moment each time, so times are comparable from shot to shot.
5. Stop at the target weight. Note dose, yield and time together.
6. Change one thing. Keep the ratio fixed and adjust grind, or keep the grind and move the ratio — not both at once.

What the research adds

Wikipedia’s Coffee extraction article notes that espresso strength depends on grind rather than dose, and that a finer grind gives a “shorter” shot. Finer is not automatically better, though. In a 2020 paper in Matter, Cameron, Hendon, Foster and colleagues modeled and measured espresso extraction and found that extraction yield peaked between the coarsest and finest settings, falling off at very fine grinds, which they attributed to uneven flow through the coffee bed — a cause of poor reproducibility and wasted coffee. The University of Oregon’s summary gives the practical version: use less coffee, for example 15 g instead of 20 g, and grind coarser. It reports shots that could run in 7 to 14 seconds instead of the traditional 25, and extraction yields above the 18–22% usually targeted.

Common questions

What ratio should I start with?

1:2 is the “typical” ratio in Wikipedia’s Coffee preparation article and the average in the SCA’s barista survey — 18 g in, 36 g out is a central starting point. Shorten toward 1:1.5 or lengthen toward 1:2.5 to taste.

Is a double shot always 1:2?

No. “Double” describes the dose (about 14 g in Wikipedia; 14–18 g in the historic SCAA definition and the Ristretto article), not the ratio. A double can be pulled as a ristretto, normale or lungo.

How is this different from a moka pot or AeroPress?

Moka pot and AeroPress recipes are written like filter recipes, on the water poured rather than the drink out — see the moka pot and AeroPress guides. For filter-style ratios, see the coffee-to-water ratio guide and the printable ratio chart.