Caffè Lungo
Caffè lungo (French: café allongé) Say LOON-goh (Italian: kahf-FEH LOON-goh)
An espresso extracted with roughly double the water – about 50–70 ml from a single dose – over up to a minute. Bigger and thinner than an espresso, with more bitterness and a drier finish; different from an americano because all the water runs through the coffee.
- ServedHot
- In EnglishLong espresso
- TastesBalanced, Bitter, Bold
About Caffè Lungo
A caffè lungo – “long coffee” – is made on an espresso machine with the same dose as a normal shot, but the barista lets roughly twice as much water run through the coffee. A single lungo ends up at about 50–70 ml rather than 25–30 ml, and the shot takes longer, up to about a minute.
Because extra water passes through the grounds, a lungo pulls out more of the slow-dissolving compounds. It tastes lighter in body than an espresso but more bitter and roasty, with a drier finish. It is not simply a weaker espresso, and it is not an americano either: in an americano or long black the extra water is added afterwards, while in a lungo it all goes through the coffee.
In Italy it is an ordinary bar request for people who want a slightly larger cup. It is also common in France, Switzerland and Québec, where it is called café allongé, and it is a standard setting on many home capsule machines.
In the cup
- Thin crema 15%
- Lungo 85%
Ingredients
- Freshly ground espresso coffee7 g (single) or 14 g (double)
- Filtered water≈ 50–70 ml in the cup per single
- Sugar (optional)to taste
How to make it
You needEspresso machine with portafilter, burr grinder, tamper, pre-warmed cup
RatioRoughly 1:3 to 1:4 coffee to liquid (e.g. 7 g to ≈ 50–60 ml), against about 1:2 for an espresso
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Warm the machine and the cup.
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Grind the coffee slightly coarser than for a normal espresso.
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Dose, level and tamp as usual, then lock in the portafilter.
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Let the shot run until you have about twice the usual volume – ≈ 50–70 ml for a single.
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Serve straight away, with sugar on the side if wanted.
Origin & history
Like the ristretto, the lungo is a variation that grew naturally out of Italian espresso bars rather than a dated invention. Once 20th-century espresso machines made the standard short shot common, customers could ask the barista to make it shorter or longer to taste, and lungo became the everyday word for the longer version. No inventor or date is recorded.
The long espresso became especially popular in French-speaking countries as the café allongé, and in recent decades capsule and bean-to-cup machines have helped spread it, often offering a dedicated “lungo” button next to the espresso.
Variations
- Café allongéthe French-speaking version of a long espresso (France / Switzerland / Québec)
- Caffè americanoespresso topped up with hot water after brewing (Italy / worldwide)
- Long blacka double espresso poured on top of hot water (Australia / New Zealand)
- Caffè cremaa much longer, ≈ 120–180 ml espresso-machine coffee (Switzerland / Germany / Austria)
Good to know
In Italy a lungo is still small – about double an espresso, not a mug of coffee. For something bigger, ask for a caffè americano.
A lungo and a long black are not the same: the long black adds the espresso to hot water; the lungo runs all the water through the coffee.
If a lungo tastes very harsh, the beans may be roasted too dark for a long extraction – try a lighter roast.
In French-speaking countries “allongé” sometimes means an espresso topped up with hot water, so ask if you prefer one style.
