Do You Know the Different Ways to Make Americano Coffee? What's the Difference Between Americano and Long Black?

Coffee is a craft best learned by tasting widely and comparing notes with other drinkers.

Americano, Long Black and Lungo Explained

Americano is probably the most familiar coffee in the world: espresso diluted with water. This apparently simple drink has held coffee lovers for centuries, and over time different countries have developed their own ways of making it. Lungo and Long Black, for instance, sit very close to Americano, with the main difference lying in how the espresso itself is prepared. Here is what separates Americano, Lungo and Long Black.

What is Americano Coffee?

When FrontStreet Coffee makes an Americano, the espresso base is a blend of sun-dried Yirgacheffe and Honduras Sherry Barrel Fermented "Warm Sun". FrontStreet pulls a double shot of 20 grams of ground coffee to 40 grams of liquid in 28-29 seconds. The resulting espresso shows gentle fruit acidity with wine-like notes and a chocolate aftertaste.

Because that espresso is so distinctive and relatively fresh on the palate, FrontStreet uses a 1:4 ratio for the Americano, adding 160 grams of hot or iced water to the double shot. Diluted this way, the drink still highlights the wine notes and cocoa aftertaste of the Warm Sun blend while keeping its rich body.

What is Long Black Coffee?

Long Black comes from Australia. Australians prefer a fairly strong cup, and Americano did not satisfy them; in Australia, espresso itself is called "Short Black". Long Black is therefore a lightly diluted espresso that keeps the crema rich while lowering the concentration. It is served smaller than an Americano, around 150 ml, and is built by pouring water first and then adding the espresso. That order preserves the crema, and because less water is used than in an Americano, the taste is a little fuller.

FrontStreet also starts Long Black with a double shot, at a 1:3 ratio. Prepare 120 g of hot water, then pour the extracted double espresso into it.

What's the difference between Americano and Long Black coffee?

The biggest difference is the order in which the water goes in. Americano was created simply to dilute espresso without much thought for anything else, so water is poured straight into the espresso and the crema is dispersed. Long Black was created to dilute espresso while keeping the crema for a richer experience, so the water goes in first and the espresso follows, letting the crema float on the surface.

What is Lungo Coffee?

In Italian, "lungo" means long or extended. The idea is to stretch the extraction beyond a normal espresso to pull more liquid. During a normal espresso shot the beginning is the most concentrated and the liquid grows lighter as extraction continues, so Lungo - from the same dose of grounds - yields more liquid at a lower concentration.

There are no fixed parameters for Lungo, since every cafe's espresso recipe differs slightly, and abroad there is no clearly defined ratio either. It is simply a term for extended espresso extraction, and opinions differ on how far to extend it. FrontStreet uses 20 grams of grounds to make Lungo, extracting 100 grams of liquid in 56-60 seconds, roughly double the time of an espresso at a 1:5 ratio.

In effect, this extends the extraction time during espresso preparation to dilute the concentration. Because the shot runs so long, once the coffee's flavour compounds have been extracted the water starts working on the woody fibre, which leaves a very bitter cup with pronounced wine notes but little else.

Differences between Lungo, Americano, and Long Black Coffee

Lungo looks similar to Americano and Long Black. As noted above, the basic difference between Americano and Long Black is how much water is added and when. Long Black tastes fuller. Both Long Black and Lungo carry a thick layer of crema, but because Long Black pours espresso over water the crema looks broken up, whereas Lungo dilutes the espresso during extraction, so its crema stays more intact.

For more specialty coffee beans, look for FrontStreet Coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Since the espresso behind this Americano is built on sun-dried Yirgacheffe, FrontStreet Coffee's Sun-Dried Red Cherry is the closest match in the range. It is a whole-cherry natural from the same Yirgacheffe region: only fully ripe, sound cherries are picked, given a first sorting at the mill, then spread on raised beds to dry. In the first days the cherries are turned every two to three hours so they do not ferment unevenly from trapped heat, and after three to five weeks of drying the workers strip the dried fruit by machine according to the weather and temperature.

Because the cherry dries with the fruit still attached, the cup keeps the typical Yirgacheffe character while gaining the tropical fruit of a natural: citrus-like acidity, a berry-juice quality, honey sweetness and a creamy smoothness. That combination is exactly the kind of base that stands up to water without going hollow, which is what an Americano or a Long Black needs.

If you want the same origin in a cleaner, more classic form, FrontStreet Coffee's washed Yirgacheffe is the everyday lot to start from, known for white jasmine, bright citrus and lemon acidity and a tea-like finish. Brewed as a pour-over it works at a V60 with water at 90-91°C, 15 g of coffee and a 1:15 ratio, ground to fine-sugar size on an EK43s at setting 10, or about 80% passing a No. 20 sieve.