Lungo
More water through the same coffee, rather than more water added to it. That distinction is the whole difference between a lungo and an americano, and it is audible in the cup.
At a glance
- Dose : yield
- 1:3
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 3 min
- Makes
- 1 long double
- Serve
- Immediately
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: A lungo pushes further into the extraction than most coffees enjoy. A darker roast or a lower-acidity coffee takes it better than a bright light roast.
Method
-
Grind a step coarser
At your normal espresso setting, pulling 54 g will take well over 45 seconds and the last of it will be thin and bitter.
One step coarser keeps the whole shot inside about 35 seconds.
-
Pull to 54 g
Dose, tamp and start as normal. Watch the stream go from dark to tan to pale straw.
Stop at 54 g. If the last third is running clear and fast, go coarser still next time.
30 to 35 seconds -
Taste before you judge the grind
A good lungo is light and tea-like with real sweetness. A bad one is thin and drying at the back of the throat.
If it is drying, the coffee is over-extracted: grind coarser or stop at 45 g instead.
Why this works
A lungo and an americano arrive at about the same volume by opposite routes, and they do not taste alike.
An americano is a normal shot plus water added afterwards. The coffee was extracted to the usual point and then diluted, so it tastes like a weaker version of that shot. A lungo pushes all of that extra water through the coffee bed, which means the coffee itself is extracted further.
That extra extraction is the point and the risk. Pushing past about 22 percent extraction pulls out the compounds that taste bitter and leave a drying, astringent feeling at the back of the mouth, and a 1:3 shot at an espresso grind goes well past that. Grinding coarser slows the extraction per gram of water so the longer shot lands in a sensible place.
Capsule machines muddy this considerably. A pod machine's lungo button simply runs more water through the same five grams of coffee, with no grind adjustment available, which is exactly the over-extraction described above. That is why the lungo setting on a capsule machine usually tastes worse than the espresso setting, and why the better move there is to pull short and add water yourself.
Variations
- Shorter long: 45 g out, a gentler version that most coffees handle better.
- Lungo in milk: it disappears. Use a ristretto instead.
- Americano: a normal shot with hot water added, which is the cleaner way to get a long black coffee.
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Questions
Lungo vs americano: which is better?
An americano is more reliable, because the coffee is extracted to its best point and then diluted. A lungo extracts the coffee further, which some coffees take well and many do not. If a long black coffee is what you want, start with the americano.
Does a lungo have more caffeine?
Slightly, yes. More water through the same dose extracts a little more of the caffeine the coffee holds, though the difference against a normal double is small, perhaps ten percent.
Why does my lungo taste bitter?
Over-extraction. Grind a step coarser, or stop at 45 g instead of 54 g. If you are on a capsule machine, use the espresso setting and add hot water instead.
Is a lungo the same as a long black?
No. A long black is hot water in the cup first, then a shot poured on top of it, which keeps the crema. A lungo is one long extraction with no water added.