I hope this is the right forum for this. If not, please let me know.

Here's my challenge/problem/question:

One of the absolute greatest things that I make on my espresso machine is an espresso martini. I prefer not to add hot espresso to the shaker as it's going to melt the ice and add water to the shaker. This is going to affect the viscosity of the cocktail.

I've been putting my espresso shots in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 minutes or so. My wife thinks that we should simply add the hot shot to the shaker as she's worried about the shot turning bitter.

Would you have a recommendation for this scenario? What would be the best way to cool the shot? Throw it into the shaker with the ice, or cool it first? Any issues letting a shot sit around for 5-15 min or cooling over a 5 min period vs rapidly cooling in a shaker full of ice?

Thanks!

Assuming its a cobbler shaker, you can run the espresso into the lid's cap with the strainer still attached.

Place it so that it acts like a Demi and proceed to immerse the outside through ice water. This cools it down from 88C to 40C in less than 45 seconds provided that you agitate the mixture. No dilution AND the crema stays immersed in the coffee.

(Personally, this method's too work intensive for me. I hope it works for you.)

As Rainier suggests, an ice water bath will be much more effective than the freezer. Pull the shot into a vessel that transfers heat well, then surround the exterior with your ice water bath.

Could also pour it into a pre-cooled heavy glass or metal pitcher. Anything that conducts and has some mass.

From the freezer might be too cold (could freeze the espresso), but I'd bet a heavy bottomed rocks glass from the fridge would cool it quickly with a quick swirl without having to use a water bath or spend time stirring.

I agree with the ease of the above approach, but wonder what effect shock cooling has on espresso. Would this increase bitterness, etc. I'm sure this list or similar website could shed light on taste. Actually doing your own taste test along with the wifey could prove or disprove that hot espresso into a chilled vessel changes the flavor profile. I say go for it.

You can use stainless steel ice cubes, cool it right down and no dilution. Works for pour overs also. There are plenty to choose from on Amazon.

Similarly, you can pick up a set of whisky chilling cubes, sometimes called scotch rocks, without too much fuss. They'll cool without diluting as well, and because of the relatively small volume of your espresso, it shouldn't take very long.

@bob Im not too familiar with iced drinks, however, It's well known that as a drink gets colder the crema's bubbles decrease in size due to the Ideal Gas Law. The rate of reaction also slows down (a lot). This may cause it to become more bitter...

There's also heat which affects the perception of taste. Hotter temps tend to favor sweet & bitter tastes while colder ones favor sour & salty for the tactile feeling, the espresso may come of as denser & oilier then while hot.

So as a generalization, the espresso tends to come off just as, or more bitter, and slightly more sour which is normally counterbalanced by the added water from ice.

There's also the Japanese Pour-Over method too which basically shocks 90C+ coffee into ice thus creating a cold drink with the same strength so I would not think too much of it.

dgia wrote:I hope this is the right forum for this. If not, please let me know.

Here's my challenge/problem/question:

One of the absolute greatest things that I make on my espresso machine is an espresso martini. I prefer not to add hot espresso to the shaker as it's going to melt the ice and add water to the shaker. This is going to affect the viscosity of the cocktail.

I've been putting my espresso shots in the refrigerator or freezer for 5 minutes or so. My wife thinks that we should simply add the hot shot to the shaker as she's worried about the shot turning bitter.

Would you have a recommendation for this scenario? What would be the best way to cool the shot? Throw it into the shaker with the ice, or cool it first? Any issues letting a shot sit around for 5-15 min or cooling over a 5 min period vs rapidly cooling in a shaker full of ice?

Thanks!

It takes like 5 minutes for the shot to reach room temp. Why not just wait for it to cool then add it? The freezer or fridge might add strange flavor to it.

Try doing some experimentation to see if you can taste the difference between the various cooling methods. I suspect that the cooling method won't impact the taste as long as there is no difference in the total dilution. But the results of comparison is what will answer your questions.