# How concentrated is espresso?

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concentrated-is-espresso/743752>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [January 21, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concentrated-is-espresso/743752 "2016-01-21T03:04:59Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 3\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Frylock](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/ce7236/32.png) [@Frylock](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Frylock)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concentrated-is-espresso/743752/1 "2016-01-21T03:04:59Z")

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I know espresso is a way of preparing coffee, and that it is not constituted just by a concentration level. But on preparing an espresso, your finished product is in fact a type of concentrated coffee. I’m wondering how concentrated.

For example, if I prepare an ounce of instant coffee, and an ounce of espresso, what would the ratio of their respective non-water contents be?

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**Author:** ![Ethilrist](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ethilrist/32/4604_2.png) [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concentrated-is-espresso/743752/2 "2016-01-21T03:24:17Z")

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When I make a pot of coffee, I use 1/2 a cup of beans and get 48 ounces of coffee.  
When I make a pot of espresso, I use 1/3 a cup of beans and get 24 ounces of espresso.

So, let’s see, math…  
3/6 cup of beans makes 48 ounces of coffee. 1/6 cup of beans would make 16 ounces.  
2/6 cup makes 24 ounces. 1/6 cup of beans would make 12 ounces.

So, espresso is 1.333 etc. times as strong. In my kitchen, anyway.

not really sure about that math… it’s stronger, but not insanely stronger.

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**Author:** ![Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/qadgop_the_mercotan/32/83_2.png) [@Qadgop\_the\_Mercotan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Qadgop_the_Mercotan)\
**Post date:** [January 21, 2016, 3:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/how-concentrated-is-espresso/743752/3 "2016-01-21T15:22:12Z")

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My espresso machine uses 1/4 cup of beans per double shot, or 2 oz. That is the standard recipe for espresso. 128 mg of caffeine, on average. Amounts will vary by degree of roast. Lighter roasts will have more caffeine, but espresso calls for a darker roast.

Of course sometimes I’ll make a ristretto instead, which uses 1/4 cup of beans for 1 oz. Yum!

Coffee, on average, has 95 mg per 8 oz cup.

So, more caffeine per volume, to be sure. But serving sizes are smaller so overall, it’s not like you’re getting 10 times the caffeine. What you get is a much richer flavor (if you’ve got a decent espresso maker).