An affogato is one of the great summer treats, but if you pour a long shot over the ice cream you end up with a gloopy puddle of sweet melted coffee mush that is more reminiscent of the spring thaw

Pull an 18g ristreeto of perhaps just 12-15g brew weight directly onto the ice cream and i think you will be pleasantly surprised

Because you have a pile of ice cream you dont have to worry about the short shot being too intense, instead it prevents the ice cream from melting and keeps the espresso as a short dense flavour that balances and compliments the creamy sweetness of the ice cream

In this image i have pulled a shot of 18g over a medium sized ball of ice cream and that is too much, or at least an absolute upper limit; i think 12g would be ideal

use a high quality freshly purchased vanilla ice cream, or possibly one with walnuts or pecans also works well with the espresso