Café Serré

Also serré

A tight, short espresso, the French name for a ristretto.

EspressoServed hotFrom France

Volume
20ml0.7 US fl oz
Espresso
1shot
Caffeine
64mgderived, USDA FDC
Glass
Demitasse70 ml
Demitasse, 70 ml. Layers in pouring order from the bottom, drawn by volume.
  1. Espresso20 ml100%
Volume
20ml
Caffeine
64mg
Espresso
1shot

Scales every component together, so the ratio holds; caffeine scales with the coffee.

The French ristretto: same dose, less water.

Caffeine

Derived
64mg

in a 20 ml café serré

Derived per shot: USDA FoodData Central FDC 171891 (espresso, restaurant-prepared) lists 212 mg per 100 g; a standard 30 g shot is about 63.6 mg, times 1 shot(s). Real values vary with dose, roast and species (robusta roughly doubles it).

USDA FoodData Central record 171891 · read 2026-10-26

A derived figure: the reference food's caffeine per 100 g scaled to the coffee in this build. Real cups vary with the coffee, the dose and the shot.

Variants by country

1
NameCountryHow it differs
ristrettoItalyItalian equivalent.

History

Popular account

French café vocabulary; no primary source documents its origin.

French: 'tight'.

Popular account

Parts of this story are repeated widely but were not confirmed against a source this atlas accepts. They are kept as the story people tell, not as fact.

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