Pull a shot

Ristretto | We Are the 5 Percent

"If you want to order the most unconventional, unexpected drink at an espresso bar, ask for an espresso."

"Not many do. Americans might drink espresso drinks, but we rarely drink straight espresso — usually that 1.5-ounce shot of coffee is just the ballast that anchors the 4, or 7, or 18 ounces of steamed milk that tops up the rest of the cup. In an anecdotal survey of the owners of a dozen of my favorite coffee spots in New York, shops with gifted baristas and finely tuned machines, most report that straight espresso accounts for maybe 5 percent of the coffees they sell."

"And today there’s more variety throughout the city. Part of the sport of drinking espresso is appreciating the different interpretations you find at coffee shops worth the detour."

"Sometimes, the composition of an espresso changes with the season. It’s by design, the shifting flavors one of the defining characteristics of what you’ll find at Café Grumpy, Joe and Ninth Street Espresso (which recently developed an entirely new espresso)."

"...He’s in command of his craft, and can make an espresso sit, stay, beg and roll over."

"He began with a shot of the Konga Yirgacheffe that tasted like roasted almonds, then made a second that was like flowers and cocoa, and a third that was like Mast Brothers Chocolate. Next coffee: Fisticuffs, which he described with admiration as “aggressive.” He made the Fisticuffs taste like lemon rind, then like lemon and honey, then he said he wanted it “softer,” and made it taste like caramel pushed to its darkest limit and doused with cream. It was a good show, a parade of flavors and textures that could convert some of those in the 95 percent."