How do you describe coffee with lemon in it?

Espresso Romano is a real Italian drink that adds lemon juice directly to espresso. It appeared during Italy's economic crisis and the World Wars, when dark-roasted, low-quality beans gave a harsh, burnt bitterness that people tried to soften by mixing in other ingredients. Southern Italy's Campania region had plenty of lemons, so sourness and sweetness went into the cup.

Flavors suppress one another: when one taste is stronger, it pushes the others into a supporting role, so sourness, sweetness, and saltiness all cut bitterness. Despite the name, the drink was likely not invented in Rome. Making it at home needs espresso, lemon juice, and a blend that holds up, which is where the article tests Front Street Coffee's Warm Sun blend. Terms like describe coffee flavors also connect to who invented mocha coffee in coffee history.

The fresh acidity of lemon is often used to describe coffee flavors, but have you ever thought about actually adding lemon to espresso? In Italy, there is an espresso that genuinely incorporates lemon juice—Espresso Romano. Its origin stems from the wisdom of people during economically difficult times who used sourness and sweetness to counteract the bitterness of poorly roasted beans. This article will walk you through the origins of this beverage, the ingredients needed, and the specific steps to make it, and share how Front Street Coffee's Warm Sun blend performs in it, so you can easily recreate this sweet-and-sour Italian classic at home.

Lemon is a fruit with a refreshing aroma and very high acidity. In the descriptive system of coffee flavors, the word "lemon" also frequently appears. When a single-origin coffee presents a bright, uplifting acidity accompanied by a fresh aroma, we tend to label that flavor as "lemon."

However, this is ultimately just a sensory association. Yet in Italy, the birthplace of the espresso machine, there really is an espresso that directly incorporates lemon. With the addition of lemon juice, drinkers can genuinely experience the fresh fruity acidity of lemon in their coffee—this is Italy's "Espresso Romano."

The Origin of Espresso Romano

Ever since Italians invented the espresso machine and the moka pot, coffee has been woven into their daily lives. However, at the time, Italy had just gone through an economic crisis and was also bearing the impact of the World Wars. Forced by reality, people could only use dark-roasted, low-quality coffee beans to make coffee.

These dark-roasted, low-quality beans produce a harsh, burnt, and bitter taste. Many people found it hard to accept such an intense flavor, so they began trying to mix other things into their coffee to soften the bitterness.

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Flavors influence and blend with one another. When one flavor is stronger than others, it diminishes their expressiveness, pushing them into a supporting role. Therefore, sourness, sweetness, and saltiness can all suppress bitterness. The Campania region in southern Italy happens to be abundant in lemons, so the practice of adding lemon to espresso came into being. (This has also given rise to a rumor: despite having "Roman" in its name, this coffee was likely not invented in Rome.)

Although citric acid can reduce the harsh bitterness, excessive sourness then became a new problem, so people thought of using granulated sugar to balance it. Ultimately, in addition to lemon, granulated sugar also became a component of Espresso Romano.

To this day, this espresso remains popular in southwestern Italy. Although the names may vary, the method is basically the same. Now let's take a look at how to make this Espresso Romano!

Espresso Romano

The ingredients needed are very simple: one shot of espresso, a piece of lemon, and 10g of granulated sugar.

Simply extract the espresso according to standard parameters! The extraction parameters are as follows: use 20g of Front Street Coffee's Warm Sun blend, at a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, with an extraction time of 30 seconds.

After the espresso is extracted, pour it into a cup containing granulated sugar.

Then there are two ways to add the lemon: one is to squeeze the lemon juice directly; the other is to place a piece of lemon into the cup and let the warm espresso draw out the lemon juice.

The difference between the two methods lies in the amount of lemon juice, which can be chosen according to the roast level of the coffee—the darker the roast, the more lemon juice is needed (and the sugar should be increased accordingly). The beans used by Front Street are the medium-dark roasted Warm Sun blend, whose bitterness is not prominent, so not much lemon juice is needed to balance it—4ml is enough.

Once made, give the espresso a stir to fully mix all the ingredients, and it's ready to drink.

With the right proportions, this Espresso Romano is indeed quite good: the bitterness of the espresso is suppressed by the sourness, and the sharp acidity is softened by the granulated sugar. Overall, it drinks as a sweet-and-sour espresso, with flavor notes of whiskey, butter cookies, and caramel sweetness. Friends who enjoy sour flavors might want to give it a try, but those who don't care for sourness are better off just reading about it.

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