How Does a Lungo Differ From a Long Black?

A Lungo is a longer espresso pull, and a Long Black is hot water poured first with espresso added on top, so the crema survives. Both belong to the espresso family, along with Ristretto and standard Espresso, and the main difference between them is how much liquid is extracted. More water through the same dose gives a lighter, more bitter cup.

For espresso-based black coffee, medium-dark roasted espresso beans are a practical starting point. A blend with a small share of Robusta builds crema and body, while a medium roast blend of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rican honey process and Colombian Huila brings floral and berry notes to an Americano. A moka pot can produce a similar strong, concentrated cup at home.

In recent years, many specialty coffee shops have started offering a coffee called "Long Extraction." For those not very familiar with the espresso system, this term might seem quite unfamiliar. But if we use its original Italian name, Lungo, many people probably won't find it surprising. Lungo is actually a member of the espresso family, standing alongside Ristretto and regular Espresso, with the main difference being the amount of extracted liquid. So where did Lungo come from? How is it different from hot Americano and Long Black? What details should be noted when making a delicious Lungo? This article will start from the evolution history of espresso, answer these questions one by one, and share Front Street Coffee's suggestions on bean selection.

In recent years, more and more specialty coffee shops have started selling a relatively niche coffee category—"Long Extraction." For people who have just started drinking coffee, the name Long Extraction is indeed quite unfamiliar, so Front Street often receives inquiries from friends: What exactly is Long Extraction?

To be honest, Front Street thinks the reason everyone finds it unfamiliar is largely due to the Chinese name "Long Extraction." If we use its other name "Lungo," surely everyone would not find it unfamiliar.

No matter which type of espresso-based black coffee you make, Front Street recommends prioritizing medium-dark roasted espresso beans. If you want a rich mouthfeel with crema aroma, you can use Front Street Classic Blend. This bean is composed of three origins and is a medium-dark roast espresso recipe. Its design inspiration comes from the popular "Manba" combination from earlier years, which is Mandheling plus Brazil. To enhance aroma and crema, Front Street Classic Blend also incorporates a certain proportion of Robusta, further boosting the intensity of flavor, allowing beginners to easily extract espresso with golden crema at home.

If you prefer to make a cup of black coffee that isn't bitter, then you must choose Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso Blend. It combines the flavors of Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, Costa Rican honey process, and Colombian Huila. When used for Americano, it can present floral notes like rose and jasmine, as well as berry tones like blueberry and grape, with a refreshing sweet-and-sour profile.

What is Long Extraction/Lungo?

In Front Street's article "How to Extract the Three Giants of Espresso Well," it was shared that espresso made by an espresso machine is not just one version. Besides the common standard espresso, there is also the short-extraction Ristretto and the long-extraction Lungo. The differences among the three are mainly reflected in the amount of extracted liquid, as well as the differences in concentration and extraction yield brought about by changes in liquid volume.

From left to right are Ristretto, Normale (regular espresso), Lungo

1:2 is the most commonly used coffee-to-water ratio when we extract espresso normally. For example, using 20 grams of coffee grounds to extract 40 milliliters of coffee liquid. The espresso obtained at this ratio has relatively high concentration and extraction yield, tasting both rich and balanced. If you reduce the output volume on the regular basis, what you get is "Ristretto." Because the concentration is higher and the extraction yield is relatively lower, Ristretto tastes strong but not bitter, with a more prominent sweetness.

And if you increase the output volume on the regular basis, what you get is "Lungo." Compared with the previous two, Lungo's concentration is much lower, so it doesn't taste as intense, and the mouthfeel is softer. At the same time, because the concentration is lower, the coffee's flavors are actually easier for us to perceive.

The appearance of Lungo actually dates back much earlier than many people imagine. Before the current version of espresso became widespread, Lungo already existed. At the beginning of the 20th century, the world's first truly meaningful espresso machine was invented. Not long after, the word "Espresso" was included in the Italian dictionary, translated as "coffee made by a pressurized machine or filter."

But coffee machines at that time were far less powerful than they are now. Although they already had a pressurizing function, the pressure was only 1.5 to 3 bar, similar to a moka pot. Friends who have used a moka pot should know that such pressure obviously cannot produce the high-concentration espresso commonly seen today. So if you wanted the coffee to have a sufficiently rich taste, the only way was to increase the liquid weight to raise the extraction yield. This is the Lungo we know today.

It was not until the mid-20th century that the appearance of lever coffee machines raised the pressure to 9 bar. The 9 bar pressure not only made espresso extraction faster and more concentrated, but also gave it a thick layer of golden crema on the surface. From then on, the espresso system was gradually established. Various espresso drinks all use Espresso as their base link, and definitions and standards for various espresso drinks subsequently appeared. Lungo and Ristretto were formally defined at this time.

Even after entering the orthodox era of espresso, Lungo did not disappear. In Italian, Lungo means "long" or "extended," so we can understand it as an extended version of Espresso, that is, Long Extraction. If you ask why they kept Long Extraction instead of simply diluting espresso with water, the answer is probably that Europeans have their own consistent insistence.

As Front Street mentioned earlier, Lungo has more liquid volume than Espresso, and the coffee-to-water ratio used is generally 1:4, 1:5, or even more. Its advantage, as Front Street introduced, is that because the concentration is not so high, the taste is not overly concentrated, it drinks softer, and the flavors are easier to perceive.

But it should be noted that Lungo is not simply about increasing the amount of extracted liquid on top of espresso. If done that way, the coffee will suffer from excessively high extraction efficiency due to the large increase in liquid volume and time. The undesirable substances in the coffee will be extracted, and the bitterness will become very prominent.

So if you want to make a good Lungo, you need to readjust the coffee parameters, especially the grind size. Generally speaking, the grind size used for extracting Lungo is relatively coarse. The purpose is to increase the gaps between coffee particles, speed up the flow rate, thereby shortening the extraction time and allowing the coffee to avoid the risk of over-extraction.

However, things are not that simple. After the grind is made coarser, the gaps between particles increase, and the coffee is more prone to channeling. So after extracting a Lungo, you can often see coffee liquid splattering everywhere, as well as a "half-raw" puck (half of it not wetted), and the coffee's taste is greatly reduced because of uneven extraction. Therefore, for a long time, Lungo was not very popular. It was not until pressure profiling became widespread that Lungo returned to people's view.

By adjusting pressure during the extraction process, the occurrence of channeling is greatly reduced, extraction becomes more stable, and Lungo's taste is no longer erratic.

Most importantly, when making Lungo this way, the grind size of the coffee grounds has a relatively high tolerance. It does not require an extremely specific grind size like regular espresso or Ristretto, where each bean needs its own dedicated grind size. Instead, it only needs to fall within a general range.

Because of this, even when using different coffee beans to make Lungo, there is no need to equip each bean with its own grinder; one grinder can handle everything. This can shorten coffee preparation time and provide customers with more diverse choices. Moreover, Lungo's flavor performance is not inferior to other black coffees, so more and more coffee shops have started making Long Extraction coffee.

It is worth mentioning that making Long Extraction/Lungo is somewhat difficult, and the shop needs to have sufficient understanding of the beans and extraction. If the understanding is not deep enough, the resulting Lungo can easily turn out flavorless, weak, or unevenly extracted. So it is also a test of a barista's ability.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.