Espresso Romano
A shot served with a strip of lemon peel. It is worth trying and worth knowing that despite the name, there is very little evidence Rome ever drank it.
At a glance
- Dose : yield
- 1:2
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 3 min
- Makes
- 1 small cup
- Serve
- Immediately
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: Unwaxed lemons if you can get them. Wax carries a dull taste that comes straight through in a drink this small.
Method
-
Cut a clean strip of peel
Take a strip about four centimetres long with a peeler, then scrape off any white pith with a knife.
Pith is bitter in a way that does not complement coffee. The yellow zest is where the oil is.
-
Twist it over the cup
Pull the shot, then hold the peel skin-side down over the crema and twist it sharply. You should see a fine mist of oil hit the surface.
That spray is most of the effect. Rub the peel around the rim afterwards.
-
Serve with the peel on the side
Drop the twist onto the saucer rather than into the cup. Left in the coffee it keeps giving and the drink turns sharp and perfumed within a minute.
Why this works
Citrus oil and coffee share a surprising amount of chemistry. Limonene, the dominant aromatic in lemon peel, sits alongside compounds that coffee produces naturally, especially in washed African coffees with citric acidity. Twisting the peel over the cup releases that oil as an aerosol that lands on the crema, and because aroma drives most of what we read as taste, the shot reads brighter and more lifted without actually becoming sour.
It also suppresses bitterness. Strong aromatics occupy attention that would otherwise go to the bitter compounds, which is why the trick works best on a darker, heavier shot and can overwhelm a delicate light roast.
The origin is the interesting part. The name suggests a Roman tradition, but the drink is essentially unknown in Italian bars and there is no solid documentary trail for it there. The most credible accounts place it as a mid-twentieth-century American invention, possibly by way of Italian-American restaurants, with the Roman name attached for atmosphere. A related but separate story has it emerging in wartime or post-war Europe, where lemon was said to mask poor coffee, though that version is also thinly evidenced.
So it is worth trying and not worth repeating the history as fact. Order one in Rome and you are likely to be met with a blank look.
Variations
- With sugar: a teaspoon stirred in, which is how it is usually served where it appears.
- Orange peel: softer and sweeter, and it suits a chocolatey coffee.
- Over ice: the oils carry well in a cold drink.
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Questions
Do Italians actually drink espresso with lemon?
Very rarely. The drink is essentially absent from Italian bars and the documentary evidence for a Roman origin is thin. It is most likely an American invention with an Italian name.
Do I put the lemon in the coffee?
Twist it over the cup to spray the oil, rub the rim, then leave it on the saucer. Dropped in, it keeps infusing and the drink turns sharp and perfumed quickly.
Does lemon make coffee less bitter?
It makes it taste less bitter. The aromatics are strong enough to occupy your attention, which reduces how much bitterness you register. The coffee itself is unchanged.
What coffee suits it?
A darker, heavier shot. The citrus lifts a chocolatey or nutty coffee nicely. On a bright, delicate light roast it tends to bulldoze what is already there.