Doppio
Two shots worth of coffee pulled through one basket as a single drink. Almost everything sold as an espresso outside Italy is actually this.
At a glance
- Dose : yield
- 1:2
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 3 min
- Makes
- 1 double
- Serve
- Immediately
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: A doppio is not two separate shots poured together. It is one extraction through twice as much coffee.
Method
-
Use a double basket
Check which basket is in your portafilter. A double holds 16 to 20 g and is noticeably deeper than a single, which holds 7 to 10 g.
Most machines ship with a double fitted, which is why most home espresso is already a doppio.
-
Dose 18 g and pull to 36 g
The same method as any shot: distribute, tamp level, lock in, start immediately.
Stop at 36 g, around 25 to 30 seconds.
25 to 30 seconds -
Serve in one cup
A doppio goes in a single cup of about 90 ml, not split between two. Split into two demitasse, it becomes two singles, and they will not taste the same as each other.
Why this works
The doppio exists because a double basket is easier to brew well than a single, and the reason is geometry. A basket holding 7 g of coffee has a very shallow bed, maybe five millimetres, and water finds a path through a shallow bed far more easily than a deep one. Small inconsistencies in distribution that a double would absorb become channels in a single.
That is why specialty cafes almost universally pull doubles and split them if they need two drinks, and why the 18-in, 36-out double has become the de facto global standard. When a menu outside Italy says espresso, it is nearly always this.
It also explains the ratio notation. A doppio is not twice as strong as a single, because it uses twice the coffee and produces twice the liquid. Both are 1:2. What changes is the volume in the cup, not the concentration.
In Italy the single is still the default, served short and dark in a small cup, and ordering un caffè gets you one. A doppio is a specific request there rather than the assumption.
Variations
- Doppio ristretto: 18 g in, 27 g out. The base for a traditional flat white.
- Doppio lungo: 18 g in, 54 g out.
- Single: 9 g to 18 g, harder to pull consistently.
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Questions
Is a doppio the same as a double espresso?
Yes. Doppio is simply Italian for double. It means one extraction through a double basket, not two singles poured into the same cup.
How much caffeine is in a doppio?
Roughly 120 to 130 mg for 18 g of arabica, though it varies a lot with the bean. Robusta can push that past 200 mg.
Is a doppio stronger than a single?
Not in concentration, which is the same 1:2. There is simply twice as much of it, so twice the caffeine and twice the volume.
Why do cafes not pull singles?
A single basket has a very shallow coffee bed, which channels easily and is much harder to pull consistently. Pulling a double and splitting it is more reliable, so most cafes do that.