Affogato

Section: Hot · espresso · dairy

Applies to: a scoop of vanilla ice cream with a fresh double espresso poured over it at the pass; served immediately.

Target: espresso poured and served within 10 seconds of the shot finishing.

Operating procedure

Hold the vanilla ice cream at scooping temperature and portion with a sized scoop, not by eye.
Chill the serving cup or coupe so the ice cream holds its shape longer.
Have the guest ready to receive it — affogato is a to-order, serve-at-once drink, not a hold item.
Be ready to pull the espresso fresh per the espresso-extraction SOP only once the ice cream is scooped.

Place one measured scoop of vanilla ice cream into the chilled serving cup.
Portion with a sized scoop so the ice-cream-to-espresso balance is the same every time.
Scoop first, then pull — never let the shot wait for the ice cream.
A shot left idle beyond about 10 seconds is dead; scoop before you start the pull.
Pull a fresh double espresso directly at the pass.
About 18 g in / ~36 g out / 25–30 s; hazelnut-gold crema.
Pour the hot espresso over the ice cream immediately, in front of the guest where possible.
Serve at once with a spoon — the drink is meant to be eaten and drunk as the ice cream melts.

The espresso hits the ice cream within about 10 seconds of the shot finishing — never a rested or reheated shot.
Ice cream is a clean, measured scoop and still holding its shape when it reaches the guest.
Fresh crema visible on the surface where the hot shot meets the cold ice cream.

Affogato lives or dies on timing and contrast — a fresh hot shot on cold ice cream, served the instant it is poured; there is no holding this drink.

No caffeine figure is published for this drink: its record carries no tokenised ingredient list to derive from.