How does a long black differ from a lungo and an americano?

A long black is an Australian and New Zealand black coffee made by pouring espresso over hot water. It carries no milk, tastes milder than straight espresso, and delivers less caffeine than an americano. The crema stays largely intact because the water goes into the cup first and the shot is added on top rather than diluted afterward.

Lungo follows a different logic: it extends the extraction time on a normal espresso pull to yield more liquid, so volume rises and concentration drops. A cafe americano coffee is espresso plus hot water, giving a larger, softer cup. Comparing the three comes down to flavor, crema and concentration rather than bean choice.

In Australia and New Zealand, besides the Flat White, there is another equally beloved black coffee — the Long Black. It contains no milk, yet is milder than Espresso and carries less of a caffeine burden than Americano, which is why it is so popular locally. Many enthusiasts easily confuse it with Lungo, as the two look similar but actually follow different extraction logic. In this article, Front Street Coffee will sort out the relationship between Lungo, Espresso, and Ristretto, explain Lungo's preparation method and reference parameters, and compare Long Black, Lungo, and Americano in terms of flavor, crema, and concentration, to help readers more clearly understand the essential differences among these black coffees.

In Australia and New Zealand, there is a coffee that is quite favored by locals. Some coffee enthusiasts might guess it is the "Flat White" from Front Street Coffee's hidden menu — the Australian White. Actually, that is not the case. This coffee goes in exactly the opposite direction from the Australian White — it is the Long Black. It adds no milk, yet is not as fierce as Espresso. According to Front Street Coffee, it became popular because its taste is not as intense as Espresso, and its caffeine content is lower than that of an Americano. Simply put, it preserves as much of the flavor that espresso should have as possible, while keeping caffeine intake extremely low, which is why it is very popular abroad.

Those familiar with espresso know that the concentrated coffee extracted by a semi-automatic espresso machine can be divided into three types: Espresso, Ristretto, and Lungo (extended). So in this article, Front Street Coffee will explain what Lungo coffee is.

What is Lungo coffee?

As Front Street Coffee mentioned above, Lungo, like Ristretto, is a derivative of Espresso, meaning it is made by adjusting the espresso. Lungo means "long, extended" in Italian. Its principle is to extend the extraction time on the basis of normal Espresso extraction to obtain more coffee liquid.

We know that when extracting Espresso, the front part is usually richer, and the later the extraction goes, the weaker the coffee liquid becomes. Therefore, Lungo coffee has a larger volume than Espresso, and its concentration is also lower than Espresso.

How to make Lungo coffee?

Precisely because Lungo is a derivative of Espresso, Lungo is defined relative to Espresso, and there is no precise data (every cafe's Espresso parameters differ slightly). Abroad, Lungo also has no clear ratio definition; it merely represents a synonym for extended Espresso extraction. As for how much to extend it, every cafe has different views as well.

Take the Espresso produced by Front Street Coffee as an example: using Front Street Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans, 20 grams of grounds are used to extract 40 grams of espresso liquid, with an extraction time of 28 seconds.

So to make Lungo coffee, also use 20 grams of coffee grounds, and use double the time (56 seconds) to extract 100 grams of coffee liquid (ratio 1:5).

Lungo VS Americano / Long Black

The Lungo coffee obtained after extraction by Front Street Coffee looks similar to Americano and Long Black. As we mentioned before, the basic difference between Americano and Long Black lies in the amount of water added; Long Black uses less water, resulting in a richer mouthfeel. Long Black and Lungo have similar volumes, and both are covered with a rich layer of crema on the surface. However, because Long Black pours espresso on top of water, and espresso has richer crema than Lungo, the crema shown on Long Black is darker.

Left: Lungo Middle: Americano Right: Long Black

In terms of taste, Long Black offers clear flavors of caramel, chocolate, and vanilla cream, with high cleanliness. Lungo, on the other hand, tastes quite bitter, with a distinct vinous note, but other flavors are somewhat lacking. Testing the concentration confirmed an extraction yield of 23.12%.

From the extraction yield, it appears to be over-extracted in the Gold Cup sense. But we should know that when the traditional method of making Lungo appeared, there was no concept of the Gold Cup. Still, we know that coffee with an extraction yield over 22% has a very high chance of developing unpleasant flavors. Therefore, to avoid over-extraction, you can coarsen the coffee grind to prevent an excessively high extraction yield.

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