Espresso drinks

Espresso

Espresso is a small, strong shot of coffee made by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee under pressure. The base of most cafe drinks.

  • Ratio About 1 part coffee to 2 parts liquid espresso by weight (for example 18 g in, 36 g out)
  • Serve 30 to 60 ml, hot, in a small warmed cup
  • Grind Fine

Written by the KAIVO team, Mumbai. Last updated 4 November 2026. Cite as: KAIVO, "Espresso", kaivo.in/pages/drink-espresso

Espresso is about 30 ml of concentrated coffee pushed through a tightly packed puck of fine grounds by hot water at around 9 bar of pressure. A good shot has a golden brown layer of foam on top called crema, a thick body and a sweet, bitter and sour balance. Nearly every cafe milk drink starts with it.

How it is made

  1. 01

    Grind fresh, fine, and weigh about 18 g of coffee into the basket.

  2. 02

    Level and tamp the grounds evenly and firmly.

  3. 03

    Lock the handle into the machine and start the shot straight away.

  4. 04

    Aim for about 36 g of coffee in the cup in 25 to 30 seconds.

  5. 05

    Taste it. Sour means grind finer or run longer. Bitter and dry means grind coarser or stop earlier.

Brew it with Espresso machine

A KAIVO blend for this

The Daily Swing

The Daily Swing is a medium roast with hazelnut, milk chocolate and nutmeg notes, and KAIVO lists espresso machine as one of the ways to brew it.

Medium roast, tasting of hazelnut, milk chocolate, nutmeg.

See The Daily Swing

Questions

How much caffeine is in a shot of espresso?

A single shot of about 30 ml usually has roughly 60 to 80 mg of caffeine, depending on the coffee and the dose. A large mug of filter coffee often has more caffeine in total, because there is more liquid.

Is espresso a type of bean or a roast?

Neither. Espresso is a way of brewing. Any coffee bean can be brewed as espresso, although many people prefer medium to dark roasts for it.

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