- Origin: Italian
- Availability: Common
Ristretto means "restricted" in Italian. The barista stops the shot earlier than a normal espresso, capturing only the first, sweetest, most-soluble compounds before the more bitter and astringent ones extract. The result is a thicker, sweeter, more syrupy shot. Some Brooklyn baristas pull ristrettos as the espresso base for milk drinks because the concentrated sweetness cuts through milk better than a longer shot.