One lungo, please...

There are times and people who like to savor their coffee for a long time. And for them, of course, a small espresso can't be enough. 

Anyway, if they're serious about the taste and strength of their coffee, even Americano - adding hot water to the finished espresso - won't satisfy them. The ideal solution for them, then, is the so-called espresso lungo. Literally translated as "extended espresso". 

Holy (coffee) Trinity

If a coffee fan had to list the three basic coffee drinks, he would definitely start with espresso and mention lungo and ristretto in the next two positions. If we take espresso as the foundation of coffee culture, then ristretto would be the smaller and weaker member of the family, while lungo would be the bigger and stronger. 

Making lungo coffee

Based on traditional espresso preparation, you will use the same amount of coffee but double the amount of water (50-70 ml) and thus you will also need more time (45-60 seconds) for the machine to prepare the drink. The result will be a stronger and more flavourful coffee served in a larger cup. Expect an average caffeine content of 70-100 mg. The classic lungo is served without milk or cream.  

Details that decide

When choosing a coffee suitable for lungo, be sure to look for Arabica. Robusta is not suitable for this type of drink.

When it comes to roasting level, you should take into account the preparation time and reach for a medium roast. The dark one is more suitable for coffee drinks where the so-called extraction time (i.e. the time when hot water under pressure flows through the ground coffee) does not exceed 30 seconds. If you do want to try dark coffee, lower the water temperature from the original approx. 92 °C to 88-90 °C.

cartChoose a quality coffee, grinder, coffee maker, french press, moka pot, dripper, cezve and more.

Grinding coarseness is recommended to be set to medium or fine.

And one final piece of advice...DON'T WATCH THE TIME FOR COFFEE - MAKE IT - just long enough for that great espresso lungo.