What is Espresso Romano? How to Enjoy Espresso with Lemon

Espresso is a magical thing - add water and it becomes Americano, add milk and it becomes latte, add ice cream and it becomes affogato. When espresso is mixed with lemon, it becomes Espresso Romano. Have you ever heard of it?

Lemon, a fruit commonly used in our daily cooking to enhance flavor, is familiar to everyone. Before the combination of lemon and tea became popular nationwide, the pairing of lemon and coffee was once fashionable in Italy, the birthplace of espresso.

The preparation method of Espresso Romano is quite simple. Baristas typically place lemon slices or squeeze lemon juice into an espresso cup first, then pour the extracted espresso liquid. Finally, they add a small spoonful of sugar and stir evenly before tasting. Some baristas also wipe the rim of the cup with a lemon slice first, then place another slice inside the cup.

Why Add Lemon to Espresso?

The espresso machine was invented in the early 20th century, and the moka pot was invented in the 1930s, both Italian inventions. For several decades thereafter, Italians一直饮用摩卡壶或浓缩咖啡机加压制作的浓缩咖啡。Unlike today's single-origin coffees that highlight regional flavor characteristics, the coffee beans used at that time were dark-roasted coffee beans that emphasized rich, bitter flavors. When made into concentrate through pressure extraction, they became even more bitter.

When time came to the early 20th century after World War II, Italy's coffee bean imports were restricted, coupled with post-war economic depression, Italians were forced to accept instant coffee and poor-quality coffee beans. Faced with hard-to-swallow bitter coffee, it happened that southern Italy was rich in lemon production (the famous Sorrento lemons fall within this range), so people began to mix coffee with fresh lemon to make it more acceptable and palatable.

Even today, places like Naples, Capri Island, and Sicily in Italy still preserve this way of drinking espresso with fresh lemon. Locals call it caffè canarino or caffè allimone, translated into English as Espresso Romano, which is Roman espresso.

Using the strong and bright acidity of lemon to balance with the rich burnt bitterness of coffee has made FrontStreet Coffee very curious about this Roman espresso. Without further ado, let's try it immediately!

Attempt 1: Espresso + Lemon Slice + Spoonful of Sugar = Roman Espresso

FrontStreet Coffee used Sunflower Warm Sun Blend beans, extracting 38g of espresso liquid from 20g of coffee powder in 28 seconds. Because the blend includes 30% Yirgacheffe, the beans originally have a slight berry acidity. The incorporation of lemon juice didn't make the Espresso more impressive, but rather intensified the astringency in the coffee. After adding sugar and stirring, the layers of sweet, sour, and bitter were full, with each flavor clearly distinguishable.

Attempt 2: Moka Pot Strong Coffee + Lemon Slice + Spoonful of Sugar

Because this coffee was originally created when the moka pot was the standard for Italians to brew coffee at home, many Italians would also add lemon to the strong coffee brewed in moka pots. So FrontStreet Coffee planned to make a cup of moka pot coffee with lemon slices to try it out. Learning from the previous espresso's bean selection lesson, FrontStreet Coffee planned to use medium-dark roasted Brazil Queen Estate beans for production.

Moka pot extraction plan: 20g, Ek43s 3.5 grid grind size, 120g water, to extract 80g of coffee liquid.

The coffee brewed with the moka pot was smooth to drink, with some nutty and caramel aromas, moderate bitterness, and sugarcane-like sweet aftertaste. After mixing in a little lemon juice, the strong acidity took over the entire palate. After adapting to this acid concentration, the bitterness of the coffee followed, and the overall experience deviated greatly from expectations - simply put, it was another "failure."

Conclusion

Summarizing the experiences of two failures, perhaps the coffee beans were not chosen correctly, or perhaps too much lemon juice was squeezed, failing to find the balance point between lemon and coffee. So if everyone wants to try replicating this Roman espresso, you might as well try several kinds of beans, and control the amount of lemon juice to find their balance point and make a delicious Roman espresso.

FrontStreet Coffee once tasted a very memorable Dirty at a café, and learned that it was made by adding a trace amount of lemon juice to the espresso, which served as a flavor accent, making the entire coffee more layered. This shows that when modern professional baristas inherit ancient techniques and add more novel elements, they can also create a coffee drink that impacts the taste buds!

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FrontStreet Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)
No. 10, Bao'an Front Street, Yuexiu District, Guangzhou, Guangdong Province

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473