🏆 2026 Best Bean-to-Cup Machine winner
Jura Z10
Bean-to-Cup · Automatic milk
$4,199.00Live Amazon price · as of 09/11/2026 5:46 PM
Buy on Amazon →A single espresso shot is roughly 1 fluid ounce (25–30 ml) and a double is roughly 2 oz (50–60 ml). A ristretto is a “restricted” shot — the same coffee with about half the water — and a lungo is a “long” one, commonly 50–70 ml from a machine (pod systems programme theirs closer to 110 ml). Exact volumes vary by machine, recipe and country, which is why every row in the table below carries its source.
Single (solo)~1 fl oz · 25–30 ml
Double (doppio)~2 fl oz · 50–60 ml
Ristretto“Restricted” — same dose, roughly half the water
Lungo“Long” — commonly 50–70 ml; pod machines ~110 ml
Certified Italian espresso25 ml, per the Italian Espresso National Institute
The table, with sources
Espresso volumes are conventions, not laws — so instead of pretending one number is universal, here is who says what:
| Shot | Volume | Ounces | Who says so |
|---|---|---|---|
| Certified Italian espresso | 25 ml | ~0.85 oz | Italian Espresso National Institute (INEI) certification standard |
| Single, home machine | ~30 ml | ~1 oz | Breville's BES870 manual: extract approx. 1 oz / 30 ml with the 1-cup basket |
| Double, home machine | ~60 ml | ~2 oz | Same manual: approx. 2 oz / 60 ml with the 2-cup basket |
| Ristretto | ~15–20 ml | ~0.5–0.7 oz | Conventionally the same ground dose with about half the water |
| Lungo (machine) | ~50–70 ml | ~1.7–2.4 oz | Commonly cited range for a lengthened machine shot |
| Lungo (pod systems) | ~110–140 ml | ~3.7–4.7 oz | Nespresso programmes its lungo pours in this range |
Two things follow from the table. First, a café “shot” and a pod-machine “lungo” can differ by a factor of four while both being legitimately named. Second, when a recipe says “a shot”, it almost always means the ~1 oz single unless it says otherwise.
Ristretto and lungo: same dose, different water
All three classic shots start from the same ground coffee dose. What changes is how much water passes through it: ristretto (“restricted”) stops early, espresso is the standard pour, and lungo (“long”) lets more water through. A lungo is not an americano — the extra water in a lungo passes through the coffee, while an americano adds hot water after the shot. Our americano guide covers that difference.
What your machine actually pours
Home machines pour by time, volume or programme, so the honest way to know your shot size is to weigh or measure it once. Machines with programmable volumes — the Breville Barista Express, for instance, documents re-programmable 1-cup and 2-cup presets — let you set the pour rather than guess it. Shot time is a separate variable from shot volume: the same manual frames 25–30 seconds as its in-range extraction, and our troubleshooting guide covers what to do when time and volume disagree.
And if the sizes raise the next natural question — how much caffeine each shot actually carries — our espresso caffeine guide answers it with USDA figures per single, double and triple.
Machines that make it, from our reviews
Every machine below pulls the shots in this table and has a full published review; bean-to-cup machines pour programmed volumes at a button press.
🏆 2026 Best Overall Espresso Machine winner
Breville Bambino Plus
Semi-Automatic · Automatic milk
$490.00Live Amazon price · as of 09/11/2026 5:46 PM
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⭐ Honorable mention
Breville Bambino
Semi-Automatic · Manual milk
$299.95Live Amazon price · as of 09/11/2026 5:46 PM
Buy on Amazon →
⭐ Honorable mention
Breville Barista Pro
Semi-Automatic · Manual milk
$849.95Live Amazon price · as of 09/11/2026 5:46 PM
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Frequently asked questions
How big is an espresso shot?
Small: a single is about 1 fl oz, roughly 30 ml, and a double about 2 fl oz or 60 ml. That is the liquid in the cup rather than the coffee used — a double is pulled from about twice the dry coffee as well. Cafes vary, and a lungo runs longer on purpose, so treat these as the standard rather than a rule every bar follows.
How many ounces is a single shot of espresso?
About 1 fluid ounce (25–30 ml). The certified Italian standard is 25 ml; Breville's own manual programmes roughly 1 oz / 30 ml for a 1-cup basket. Individual cafés and recipes vary around that figure.
How many ounces is a double shot of espresso?
About 2 fluid ounces (50–60 ml), pulled from a larger dose in a 2-cup basket. It is the default at most speciality cafés.
How many ml is an espresso shot?
25–30 ml for a single and 50–60 ml for a double, with the certified Italian single defined at 25 ml.
What is a lungo?
Italian for “long”: an espresso pulled with more water through the same grounds, commonly 50–70 ml from a machine. Pod systems use the word for a larger programmed pour of roughly 110 ml. It is not an americano, where water is added after the shot.
What is a ristretto?
Italian for “restricted”: the same ground dose stopped at roughly half the water — a shorter, more concentrated pour of about 15–20 ml.
Is a shot of espresso the same as a shot of liquor?
No. A US liquor shot is commonly 1.5 fl oz; a single espresso is about 1 fl oz. The word is shared, the measure is not.
Sources for this page: Certified Italian espresso at 25 ml: the Italian Espresso National Institute's published certification standard (iei.coffee), read 2026-09-01 · 1 oz / 30 ml single and 2 oz / 60 ml double: the Breville BES870 instruction manual we hold (112pp trilingual, PDF created 2022-07-25) — “you should extract approx. 1oz / 30ml” (1 cup) and “approx. 2oz / 60ml” (2 cup) · Ristretto and lungo definitions and ranges: Wikipedia's Ristretto and Lungo entries (lungo 50–70 ml; ristretto as half-water shot), with Nespresso's larger programmed lungo corroborated across pod-system documentation, read 2026-09-01 We have not measured drinks in a lab; where volumes differ between authorities, the page names each authority rather than averaging them, and machine capabilities come from our own published review records.