What Are Soup Shots?
Soup shots are low-pressure, tea-like espresso brewed at under 2 bars with coarse grounds, delivering bright clarity that highlights light roasts.
- Soup shots use minimal pressure (under 2 bars) and coarser grinds to create a tea-like espresso with exceptional clarity and sweetness
- Originally designed for manual lever machines like the Flair Pro 2, soup shots can be pulled on machines with flow control using puck screens and shot mirrors
- This forgiving method resists channeling and makes light-roasted coffees shine with balanced, aromatic profiles that sit between espresso and pour-over
Be honest, when you first came across this article, you thought you were about to read about soup. While we love accessing our inner George Costanza by shifting into soup mode this winter, we're talking about soup shots—something entirely different. At first glance, soup shots sounds like the kind of concept you'd find in a gentrified downtown café that also sells hand-thrown ceramics and $15 bisque cups. But no, this trend has nothing to do with soup. It's a new brewing style that's been quite divisive thus far.
If you've heard of turbo shots, the faster, lower-pressure take on espresso, then soup shots are their more unhinged cousin. Think: coarser grounds, almost no pressure, and a cup that might make you question whether it's espresso at all. But stay with us, because once you taste one, it starts to make a surprising kind of sense.
What Is a Soup Shot?
The method was born on manual lever machines, and it's as much an experiment in restraint as it is in extraction. Recipes vary, but most fall around a 1:3 ratio or higher, pulled in 25 seconds or less, at no more than 2 bars of pressure.
Pulling one on a manual brewer like the Flair Pro 2 feels wrong at first. There's no resistance, no pressure spike, no familiar ritual of a slow ramp-up and a thick syrupy flow of crema.
Soup shots are characterized by their soupy nature; they have a thin body, almost tea-like, compared to a classic espresso, but they're also bright, aromatic, and well-balanced. The mouthfeel sits somewhere between espresso and pour-over, with clarity and sweetness that flatter lighter roasts. Because the method is so forgiving and resists channeling, it's also remarkably consistent as well.
Can You Pull One on an Espresso Machine?
Soup shots were designed for manual levers, but that doesn't mean your dual-boiler setup is out of the game. If your machine has flow control, you can get remarkably close. There are, of course, challenges. You lose the tactile feedback of a lever, and you're mostly flying blind while the group head fills. But with a few clever tweaks, it's doable.
A puck screen helps minimize headspace and keep the puck tidy during the slow fill. A shot mirror is equally handy, allowing you to keep an eye on both the bottom of the basket and your pressure gauge, thereby sparing you the espresso squat workout of early attempts.
Using a Lelit Bianca paired with a Mazzer Philos, a 20-gram dose and a 60-gram yield in 25 seconds yielded exactly what we were after: a silky, expressive cup that allowed a light-roasted Geisha from Wallflower Coffee to shine.
Should You Try It?
Yes! If you're someone who can't resist a new espresso rabbit hole, absolutely. Could you make a pour-over instead? Sure. But there's something deeply satisfying about using your espresso machine to create something so un-espresso-like, and still delicious.
Soup shots won't replace your morning cappuccino, but they might expand your idea of what espresso can be. They're easy to dial in, forgiving with grind size, and they make light roasted coffees sing. And if nothing else, they'll make you raise an eyebrow, take a sip, and say, huh.
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Frequently Asked Questions
What is a soup shot and how does it differ from regular espresso?
A soup shot is an ultra-low-pressure espresso extraction (under 2 bars) using coarser grounds and a 1:3+ ratio, pulled in under 25 seconds. Unlike traditional espresso's thick, syrupy body, soup shots have a tea-like clarity with bright aromatics. They sit between espresso and pour-over in mouthfeel while delivering exceptional sweetness that flatters lighter roasts.
Can I make soup shots on my espresso machine or do I need a manual lever?
While soup shots were designed for manual lever machines like the Flair Pro 2, you can pull them on any espresso machine with flow control capability. Machines like the Lelit Bianca work well with this technique. Using a puck screen to minimize headspace and a shot mirror to monitor extraction helps achieve the low-pressure profile needed for soup shots.
What coffee roast level works best for soup shots?
Light roasts excel with the soup shot method. The low-pressure, high-clarity extraction highlights the nuanced aromatics and natural sweetness in lighter-roasted beans like Geisha varieties. Because soup shots resist channeling and extract more evenly than traditional espresso, they allow delicate flavor notes to shine without the bitterness or over-extraction common in high-pressure pulls.
Are soup shots just a trend or worth trying seriously?
Soup shots are worth experimenting with if you enjoy exploring brewing methods. They're remarkably forgiving, easy to dial in, and expand what's possible with your espresso equipment. While they won't replace traditional espresso drinks, they offer a unique way to experience coffee—especially light roasts—with clarity and balance that rivals pour-over while using your existing espresso machine.