ive been rolling this idea around in my head for a while
i think a return to the ristretto is long overdue
i doubt it will happen down at your local cafe, however good, as the punters get grumpy if they dont get ‘a cupful’
no, the ristretto is for those of you who understand that less can be more, and im guessing thats most people who elected to buy a LONDINIUM lever espresso machine – less variables, less dials, less maintenance, less trouble in getting a great shot
unfortunately a lot of things are passed off as ristretto these days, but personally ive never been served an authentic ristretto outside of italy
fortunately as the owner of LONDINIUM espresso machine you have the original, authentic tool for real ristretto production
i suspect all you need to know, if you dont already, is the traditional italian definition of a ristretto
from my experience in italy a ristretto means a single basket and a resultant brew weight of around 10g to 12g
you also need a really hot cup – run water from the L1 water port until it starts to hiss at you, then sit your espresso cup on the drip tray and fill it and leave it there for a good 40 seconds to heat up while you prep your basket
the taste of a traditional ristretto is the pinnacle of espresso i think
my personal view, and it is only that, is that high dosing (i have been running 21g doses these last few days) for a brew weight of 25-30g is a bit uncouth, a bit too much, a bit like the over liberal use of cologne in au perfum strength, or drinking scotch from a pint glass, or champagne from a bucket – a bit too much of a good thing
it sounds daft, but in my view when you drop down to a single basket and dose around 10g and pull the cup from the stream when the brew weight is in the 10-12g range you produce something that is very elegant and refined. in essence its a 100% dose to brew weight ratio
you also want to pull the lever down slowly so the water trickles into the brew chamber – a violent rush of water down from the inlet ports can disturb a small 10g dose in the basket
i strongly recommend the IMS the single basket as you can use our normal sized tamper with it and it works nicely
please post your thoughts in the owners forum
see you over there
reiss.