Sabrina Carpenter reveals what kind of espresso she likes on “Chicken Shop Date”

Whether you like pop music or not, it’s hard to deny that this was the summer of espresso.

Since Pennsylvania-born pop singer Sabrina Carpenter released “Espresso,” the first single from her sixth studio album Short and sweeton April 11, the song topped the charts in 18 countries and amassed over a billion streams on Spotify. Whether it was the “summer of ‘espresso'” as you blasted the disco-inspired and catchy hit poolside, or if you took the “summer of espresso” quite literally like me and drank at least two iced coffees a day in hot weather, it’s safe to say that this season was caffeine’s heyday.

I’m an avid espresso fanatic—both Carpenter’s version and the one I drink from my Nespresso machine at the office—and a recent interview with the pop sensation got me wondering if espresso has taken on a different meaning after a summer of singing about the drink, sipping, and savoring it.

Last Friday, August 23, the same day her new album came out, Sabrina Carpenter appeared on “Chicken Shop Date,” an intentionally quirky and awkward YouTube interview show hosted by comedian Amelia Dimoldenberg.

As the name suggests, Chicken Shop Date is designed to mimic a date, with Dimoldenberg using her trademark dry and sarcastic sense of humor to ask celebrities unexpected questions ranging from “If you were an ice cream cone, would you rather be licked or bitten?” to “Who do you think would win a fight, me or a chicken?” The light-hearted interviews take place in various chicken restaurants across London, and for the latest episode, Sabrina and Amelia meet up for a chat at Sam’s Chicken on Watford Way in Hendon.

In this episode, Dimoldenberg naturally starts by offering Carpenter a cup of espresso, and later asks, “Do I exude decaf energy?” Carpenter instinctively replies, “Yes,” and the two begin a discussion about what it means to be a type of espresso. They discuss whether it’s too much to date someone who’s a double shot – Sabrina says no, not if you’re a decaf – and Carpenter explains that she thinks she’s a single shot.

I don’t believe in astrology, but I do believe in coffee, and when I get the chance to arbitrarily assign personality traits to different types of espresso, I jump at it. What does it actually mean to be a decaf, single, or double espresso? Amelia and Sabrina don’t say exactly, but they both seem to implicitly understand what they’re talking about. The obvious comparison might be to say that these three levels of caffeine correlate with different levels of energy in a person, but I don’t think it needs to be interpreted so simply.

As an incredibly coffee-dependent person who listened to Sabrina Carpenter on the way to work all summer, I am completely qualified to tell you what type of person suits what type of espresso. And if you don’t agree, just make up your own descriptions! That’s your espresso.

If Amelia Dimoldenberg is decaf—an assessment I wholeheartedly agree with—then a person who is decaf must be defined by dry humor, awkwardness without a hint of self-awareness, hopeless romance, and self-confidence. Shifting to a single-shot personality is not necessarily a sliding scale with lower proportions of these traits; instead, a single-shot person is likely to be an outgoing introvert (talkative with other people but needs time to recover), flirtatious, creative, and somewhat emotionally reserved. A double-shot, on the other hand, is someone who is organized, fearless, interested in learning new skills and hobbies, silly and talkative, but able to make others feel instantly comfortable.

Don’t feel like these interpretations apply to you? That’s okay, maybe my cup of espresso isn’t your cup of espresso. And finally, as Sabrina and Amelia point out in their interview, you could also be a chai or Earl Grey tea lover.