How many ml are in 1 shot of espresso? What does a double shot of espresso mean?

Understanding "Shot" in Coffee Culture

In a coffee shop, you might hear someone order, "Can I get a shot, please?"

Shot? Is that some kind of new product?

In bars, "shot" refers to a small glass of spirits. The term caught on in the mid-20th century, when a "shot" meant the bartender filling a one-ounce glass (a shot glass) with spirits that customers would knock back quickly before heading out. In essence, these were drunk for faster, cheaper alcohol consumption.

When "shot" appears in a coffee shop, it refers to espresso in much the same spirit. "A shot" means precisely one serving of espresso. Espresso's original positioning was likewise about fast, affordable caffeine.

How Much Is a Shot?

As mentioned, a shot glass holds roughly one ounce, or about 30ml. So one shot refers to approximately 30ml of espresso liquid.

In coffee, though, a "shot" isn't as simple as the liquid capacity alone. For a long time, one shot referred to the standard extraction formula of its era: 7g of coffee grounds extracted into 30ml of espresso. Another term you'll often hear in coffee shops is "double shot," meaning double espresso, or 14g of grounds extracted into 60ml.

To make a double shot, a double basket (the kind we commonly use today) was used, then a split portafilter divided the liquid into two portions collected in two shot glasses. Back then there were no small scales to weigh the liquid; everything was judged by volume, or more simply, by eye.

Looking back, that method carries significant error, because the volume and weight of crema aren't equal. So if volume is the standard, an espresso with rich crema will hold relatively less liquid than one with thin crema. That's why modern espresso extraction now uses liquid weight as the standard.

What Is a Shot Today?

FrontStreet Coffee has found that most coffee shops today use double baskets as the standard for their drinks; single baskets have all but disappeared. The extraction ratio for espresso has also kept shrinking. For example, whereas one unit of espresso was once 7g of grounds extracted into 30ml of liquid, today one unit is 16g of grounds extracted into 32g (roughly 45ml) of liquid.

When FrontStreet Coffee makes standard lattes in our stores using the everyday FrontStreet Coffee Sunflower Warm Blend, we use 20g of grounds at a 1:2 grounds-to-liquid ratio, extracting a double shot in 30 seconds, meaning 40g of liquid goes into the cup as the base.

This creates an awkward situation. If we treat a single-basket extraction as "1 shot," then the double-basket extraction used today would be a double shot. But if we measure by liquid volume and treat the double-basket extraction as a double shot, then a customer ordering 1 shot would get only about 22ml of espresso, which looks even smaller in an already small cup.

Faced with this, coffee shops treat a double-basket extraction as one shot, and when a customer orders a double shot, they get two double-basket extractions of espresso.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If you're working out what a "shot" means for your own home setup, the beans matter as much as the numbers. FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend is designed for espresso and moka pot brewing, and its biggest strength is an outstanding crema. Even a beginner on a non-professional home machine can pull a dense, fine crema from it, the kind that everyday lattes, cappuccinos, and Dirty drinks depend on. Built on a traditional Mamba-style recipe, it has a rich, warm body that both veterans and beginners find easy to accept.

For those who prefer a nuttier, dessert-like shot, FrontStreet Coffee's Signature Blend and Black Cocoa Blend are worth trying. Both lean heavily on Brazilian beans, bringing a comfortable bittersweet note and creamy peanut aroma with a remarkably smooth entry. The Signature Blend adds the nut, chocolate, and caramel notes and gentle acidity of Colombian coffee, while FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend layers in the ripe-plum acidity of Yunnan small-bean coffee, releasing a creamy chocolate aroma when ground. Balanced and versatile, FrontStreet Coffee's Black Cocoa Blend works for lattes, Americanos, and all kinds of specialty drinks.