You will never see a barista order any kind of espresso drink as a triple, or with, as it has been unfortunately branded, "an extra shot."
I'm sticking with my declaration that as far as espresso is concerned double is standard. The single shot is fine when needed, but the triple is generally unacceptable. I believe the biggest reason people must be ordering espresso this way is the fact that the drink they are consuming isn't strong enough. Fair enough, but I also believe that if the Modern Espresso Customer in America knew more about what they were being served they may reconsider. They would reconsider, and realize they need to downsize rather than upsize.
Indicative of this is the woman who looks at our menu, sees "espresso" as the first listing and the cheapest, and wonders aloud, "Espresso? No, I don't need that much caffeine.... I'll have a large latte." The logic is stupifying for a barista, but for the woman, she has no idea. She doesn't know that what she has ordered is in fact the very espresso she passed over, drowned in a sea of frothed milk. She doesn't know that making that latte as large as she wants it to be, there is only additional milk, and no additional coffee. To be fair, with the volume of that latte, her caffeine intake will be much slower than if she had ordered the espresso proper, but, honey, it's all in the delivery.
So for the customer who fancies him or herself a little more savvy, a little more hip to what's going on in the latte world, he or she may order an "extra shot" in their latte. Fine, I'll take it over death by milk, but ordering a three-shot latte or cappuccino does a few things, mainly for me it will increase the possibility of your espresso losing its freshness. I've heard that espresso has a half-life of something like 30 seconds. If your barista is letting the espresso sit out while pulling that extra shot, the crema is dissapating and the freshness (raison d'etre for espresso) is exiting.
Better is to downsize the drink altogether. Add less milk, try the latte shorter, the cappuccino drier, until you can actually taste the coffee. A double shot is a fine dose of caffeine. (If more caffeine is needed, order another one.)
