Many friends are very curious about long black coffee. On the surface, it doesn't seem very different from Americano, which leaves many people confused about the distinction between long black and Americano.

Long black is a black coffee that originated in Australia. In Australia, people generally use Black Coffee to refer to black coffee and White Coffee to refer to coffee with milk added. Espresso is called Short Black, and Short Black with an appropriate amount of water added is called Long Black, which is generally translated in China as 长黑 or 澳黑.

Doesn't it look like there's no difference from Americano? So some people force a distinction between the two — Americano is made by pouring espresso first, then adding water to dilute it; while long black is made by adding water to the cup first, then pouring in the espresso.

What's the basis for this? It turns out the biggest difference between these two methods is how well the Crema (coffee crema) is preserved. If you pour the espresso first and then add water, the Crema gets broken up; but if you add water first and then pour in the espresso, the Crema is completely preserved on the surface. This layer of Crema gives the coffee a full-bodied mouthfeel.

This sounds very reasonable, but it's not actually the difference between Americano and long black. Because the Americano method doesn't specify whether to pour water first and then coffee, or coffee first and then water. So Americano can be made either way. But long black has a specific requirement for the order of water and coffee — water is placed in the cup first, then the espresso is extracted into the water. Front Street suspects this rumor about the pouring order difference came about just to find a distinguishing point.

The most obvious difference between Americano and long black is the amount of water added. Americano generally uses more water, with a coffee-to-water ratio typically between 1:5 and 1:8. This is because Americans are used to drinking drip coffee, which is very mild — just a hint of coffee flavor is enough. So after espresso became popular, Americano made with espresso as the base also needs a lot of water to recreate that light coffee taste.

Australians have higher standards for coffee flavor. As Front Street shared before, the difference between Flat White and latte in taste is that Flat White has a richer, more intense coffee flavor. Long Black has a more intense coffee flavor compared to Americano, with a smaller cup size. Long Black is typically made by extracting two shots of espresso (40g) into a cup containing 100-120ml of water, with a rich layer of Crema remaining on the surface.

Adding water at a 1:3 ratio dilutes the concentration of the espresso — on one hand reducing the harshness of the espresso, and on the other hand making the coffee flavors after dilution easier to perceive. Keeping the oils on the surface allows the coffee to maintain a mellow mouthfeel, offering a unique experience.

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