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Americano vs Long Black vs Lungo: Differences and Best Coffee Beans for Americano

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, Today we'll discuss Americano, Long Black, and Lungo. For many people, an Americano is simply a mixture of espresso and water. That's correct, but what you likely don't know is that there are actually three different brewing methods for what we call Americano. Some baristas and consumers debate whether to add water first or espresso first...

Understanding the Differences Between Americano, Long Black, and Lungo

Americano is a coffee beverage that many people frequently encounter. We all know that the English name for Americano is "Americano," but there are two other beverages that are often confused with Americano and difficult to distinguish. These are Long Black and Lungo. To help everyone distinguish between them, FrontStreet Coffee will provide a simple introduction.

Americano Coffee

Americano is a name familiar to both English speakers and coffee enthusiasts, known in Chinese as "美式咖啡" (American-style coffee). It originated during World War II when American soldiers stationed in Europe found the extremely concentrated Espresso (popular in America as drip black coffee) too strong, so they added water to dilute it. Therefore, Americano is essentially about diluting coffee concentration to a level suitable for Americans at that time. Later, when Italian immigrants came to America and Italian-style cafes became popular, Americano based on espresso flourished, with the order of pouring coffee first then water expressing the concept of diluting concentrated coffee. Until now, Americano preparation doesn't have strict order requirements - it's merely a matter of whether to preserve crema or disperse it.

Long Black Coffee

Long Black (translated as 长黑咖啡 - Long Black Coffee) is a characteristic coffee native to Australia, also composed of espresso and water. After the Australian version of latte, Flat White, became hugely popular in China, some cafes directly introduced Australia's Italian-style coffee products entirely, incorporating them into existing Italian coffee menus. Thus, for a period, we could see both Americano and Long Black coexisting on menus.

FrontStreet Coffee will first briefly explain what Long Black is. In Australia, people generally use Black Coffee to refer to black coffee and White Coffee for coffee with milk added. Espresso is called Short Black, and when Short Black is mixed with an appropriate amount of water, it becomes Long Black, generally translated in China as 长黑 or 澳黑.

Although both Americano and Long Black are composed of water and espresso, given the distinctive Australian character, there must be differences between them. FrontStreet Coffee learned that a widely circulated explanation online suggests the difference lies in preparation order: Americano involves adding espresso first, then diluting with water, while Long Black involves adding water to the cup first, then pouring espresso.

What's the basis for this? The biggest difference between these two preparation methods is the degree of crema preservation. If you add espresso first then pour water, the crema gets dispersed, whereas if you add water first then pour espresso, the crema remains completely intact on the surface. This layer of crema provides a rich mouthfeel for the coffee.

This sounds very reasonable, but it's not actually the difference between Americano and Long Black. Americano preparation doesn't specify whether to pour water first or coffee first - both methods are acceptable. However, Long Black does have specific requirements for the order of water and coffee: water is added to the cup first, then espresso is extracted directly into the water. FrontStreet Coffee suspects this explanation about order differences became popularized simply to create distinguishing points.

The most obvious difference between Americano and Long Black is the amount of water added. Americano typically uses more water, with coffee-to-water ratios usually between 1:5 and 1:8. This is because Americans are accustomed to drinking drip coffee, which has very low concentration - just having some coffee flavor is sufficient. Therefore, after the rise of Italian-style coffee, Americano made with espresso as base also needs plenty of water to recreate that light coffee flavor.

Australians are more particular about coffee flavor. As FrontStreet Coffee previously shared, the difference in flavor between Flat White and latte is that Flat White has a more intense and rich coffee flavor. Compared to Americano, Long Black has a more concentrated coffee flavor and smaller serving size. Long Black is typically made by extracting two shots of espresso (40g) into a cup containing 100-120ml of water, preserving abundant crema on the surface.

Adding a 1:3 ratio of water not only dilutes the espresso concentration to reduce its stimulating sensation but also makes the diluted coffee flavors more easily perceptible. The preserved surface crema helps maintain a rich mouthfeel, creating a unique experience.

Lungo Coffee

After understanding the differences between Americano and Long Black, let's look at Lungo, also known as 隆戈咖啡. Although its appearance resembles Long Black, its preparation method differs from both Long Black and Americano. It doesn't require adding water - it's entirely coffee liquid.

"Lungo" means "long" or "extended" in Italian, clearly defined as an extended version of espresso. In fact, discussing flavor in espresso is a relatively recent development. Previously, coffee beans were typically roasted so dark that finding flavors in them was like searching for vibrant colors in darkness. A good espresso was about satisfying mouthfeel, stimulating concentration, and leaving a lingering burnt aroma without residual bitterness - that was all.

Because Lungo has a longer extraction time, its caffeine content is higher. For those who drink coffee purely for caffeine intake, it's more effective. Additionally, since it extends the time and water flow based on espresso formula, its concentration isn't as high as espresso, making it correspondingly milder. Importantly, its serving size is larger, making it more substantial to drink. As for flavor, it's bitter regardless. If you ask why not drink Americano instead, it's because traditional Europeans looked down on the dietary habits of the emerging American nouveau riche.

How can we discuss Lungo using modern extraction rate theory? Its preparation method undoubtedly represents over-extracted espresso, but espresso extraction theory is constantly evolving, so naturally, we should update our understanding of Lungo as well.

Using FrontStreet Coffee's espresso extraction method with a 1:2 ratio and 25-28 seconds, the tested concentration was 9.8% with an extraction rate of 20.3%. According to Golden Cup theory, there's still 2% of positive flavor compounds that can be extracted. Using FrontStreet Coffee's 1:5 ratio to extract Lungo for 56 seconds, unsurprisingly, the measured concentration was 4.45% with an extraction rate of 23.06%, exceeding the Golden Cup range. During tasting, bitterness indeed lingered persistently on the tongue. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee adjusted by coarsening the grind size to control extraction rate and conducted taste tests for each attempt. Finally, we established a 1:5 ratio with 42-second extraction time. The measured concentration was 4.22% with an extraction rate of 21.87%. During tasting, the flavor was slightly more burnt and bitter than espresso but didn't linger long. Thanks to FrontStreet Coffee's Warm Sun Blend, it still maintained rich crema and overall became much smoother.

Espresso Bean Selection

Making Americano, Long Black, and Lungo all requires espresso beans. Espresso beans are typically based on blends. Why blend? There are three reasons: price, stability, and flavor. These three form an "impossible triangle" - you cannot have all three simultaneously, you can only sacrifice one to pursue the other two.

Take FrontStreet Coffee's four espresso beans as examples. Blended coffee beans were initially created to stabilize and balance coffee flavor. For instance, FrontStreet Coffee's specialty blend uses Colombian and Brazilian coffee beans. Both Brazil and Colombia are major coffee-producing countries with stable annual quality. The balance of Brazilian beans and the richness of Colombian beans give this blend excellent performance, prioritizing both stability and flavor. With rich mouthfeel and nutty主导 flavor with subtle fruit notes, it's suitable for specialty coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee's basic blend is developed primarily with cost-effectiveness in mind, using Yunnan and Brazilian coffee beans. It ensures the flavor and stability of extracted espresso while maintaining price advantages. This espresso bean is suitable for personal daily consumption or small-budget coffee shops.

FrontStreet Coffee's commercial blend uses coffee beans from Colombia, Brazil, and Vietnam, with Vietnamese Robusta accounting for 10%. Italian cafes like to add Robusta beans to their blend recipes because Robusta provides richer crema and higher caffeine content. Adding a small amount of Robusta beans makes espresso more mellow and rich. The extracted espresso paired with milk displays more intense caramel and chocolate flavors. This espresso bean is suitable for richness enthusiasts or businesses specializing in Italian-style coffee.

The last blend is developed with flavor as the priority - also the bean used at FrontStreet Coffee stores: the Sunflower Warm Sun Blend. It combines Yirgacheffe Red Cherry and Honduras Sherry Cask coffee beans. With sherry aroma, chocolate, vanilla cream, and sherry flavors, it performs excellently whether as espresso alone, in Americano, or in milk coffee. It's suitable for friends who pursue coffee flavor excellence.

In simple terms, when choosing espresso beans, mainly consider your positioning needs - whether to prioritize cost-effectiveness, overall balance, or distinctive flavor characteristics.