What is Lungo Coffee? What's the Difference Between Lungo and Americano Coffee? How Does Lungo Differ from Americano? What is Lungo Coffee?

Recently, many specialty coffee shops have started selling a "niche" coffee known as "long extraction" (changcui). For those new to coffee, that name might seem quite unfamiliar, which is why FrontStreet Coffee has received many inquiries lately asking, "What is long extraction?"

Frankly, FrontStreet Coffee believes the unfamiliarity stems mainly from the Chinese name. Use its other names, "Lungo" or "Longge," and FrontStreet Coffee is confident it would no longer seem unfamiliar to most people.

What is long extraction, or Lungo?

In the article "How to Perfectly Extract the Three Titans of Espresso," FrontStreet Coffee shared that espresso pulled from an espresso machine is not limited to a single version. Besides the common espresso we know, there are also Ristretto (short extraction) and Lungo (long extraction). The main difference among them lies in the extraction volume and the resulting concentration and extraction rate that the liquid volume produces. From left to right come Ristretto, Normale (regular espresso), and Lungo.

A 1:2 ratio is the most commonly used coffee-to-water ratio for regular espresso extraction. With 20g of coffee grounds, for instance, you would extract 40ml of coffee liquid. Espresso pulled at this ratio has relatively high concentration and extraction rate, giving a flavor that is both rich and balanced. Reduce the output volume from the regular standard and you get Ristretto. With its higher concentration but relatively lower extraction rate, Ristretto tastes rich without being overly bitter and carries a high sweetness. Increase the output volume from the regular standard and you get Lungo. Compared with the other two, Lungo has a much lower concentration, so it does not taste as intense. It is relatively smoother, and the coffee's flavors can shine through more easily because of the lower concentration, making them easier to detect.

The history of Lungo

Lungo actually appeared much earlier than most people imagine. Before the current version of espresso became widespread, Lungo already existed. In the early 20th century, the world's first truly meaningful espresso machine was invented. Shortly afterward, the term "espresso" entered Italian dictionaries, defined as "concentrated coffee made using pressurized machines or filters." Coffee machines at that time, however, were not as advanced. Although they already had pressurization capability, the pressure was only 1.5-3 bar, similar to a Moka pot. Anyone who has used a Moka pot knows that such pressure obviously cannot produce the high-concentration espresso common today. So if coffee was to have enough rich flavor, it could only be achieved by increasing the liquid volume to raise the extraction rate. That is what we now know as Lungo, or long extraction.

It was not until the mid-20th century that the advent of lever espresso machines allowed pressure to rise to 9 bar. That 9 bar not only made espresso extraction faster and more concentrated but also created a layer of golden, rich crema on the surface. From then on, the system of espresso gradually established itself. Various espresso drinks took espresso as their base, leading to the definition and standards for different espresso beverages. Lungo and Ristretto were defined during this period.

Lungo never went away

Even in the era when standard espresso became mainstream, Lungo did not disappear. In Italian, "lungo" means "long" or "extended," so we can understand it as an extended version of espresso, hence long extraction. If you ask why long extraction was kept rather than simply diluting espresso with water, the answer is, of course, that Europeans have their own consistent ways.

As FrontStreet Coffee mentioned earlier, Lungo has more liquid volume than espresso, typically using a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:4, 1:5, or even more. Its advantages, as FrontStreet Coffee has explained, are that because the concentration is not as high, the flavor is not too concentrated, making it smoother to drink and easier to detect.

The art of making Lungo

We need to understand, though, that Lungo is not simply made by increasing the extraction liquid volume from espresso. That approach obviously leads to excessive extraction because of the significant increase in liquid volume and time, pulling out undesirable substances and producing prominent bitterness. So if you want to make a good Lungo, you need to readjust the coffee parameters, especially the grind size. Generally, the grind used for Lungo is coarser, to increase the gaps between coffee particles so water flows through faster, reducing extraction time and helping the coffee avoid the risk of over-extraction.

Things are not that simple, however. After the grind is made coarser, the larger gaps between particles make channeling more likely. So after extracting a Lungo, we often see coffee liquid splattered around, as well as "under-extracted" pucks with parts still dry, and the flavor suffers from uneven extraction. For a long time, Lungo was not very popular. It was not until the popularization of variable-pressure extraction that Lungo returned to people's attention. By adjusting pressure during extraction, channeling is greatly reduced and extraction becomes more stable, so Lungo's flavor is no longer unpredictable.

The advantages of Lungo in modern coffee culture

Most importantly, Lungo made this way tolerates a wider range of grind sizes. Unlike regular espresso or Ristretto, which demand extremely precise grind settings, with each bean needing its own specific grind, Lungo only needs to fall within a general range. Because of this, even when different beans are used for Lungo, there is no need for a dedicated grinder for each; one grinder can handle them all. This shortens coffee preparation time and offers customers more varied choices. Lungo's flavor performance is not inferior to other black coffees, which is why more and more coffee shops have started making long extraction coffee.

It is worth mentioning that making this type of Lungo requires considerable skill. A shop needs a solid understanding of beans and extraction. Without it, the resulting Lungo easily lacks flavor, tastes watery, or suffers from uneven extraction, so it remains a test of a barista's skill.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A Lungo stretches the shot to a 1:4 or 1:5 ratio, so the bean has to be flavorful enough to stay clear and balanced at low concentration. FrontStreet's Classic Blend is a strong choice for a machine-pulled espresso: it combines Indonesian Mandheling, Brazilian Red Bourbon, and washed Vietnamese beans in a traditional Italian-style recipe, keeping the low-acid, full body and herbal, woody tones of Asian coffee while retaining the balanced, smooth, creamy character of the Americas. It extracts with butter, nut, spice, and dark chocolate aromas, and its wild profile and generous crema make it excel as an Americano or a latte.

If you prefer a medium roast with more fruit and sweetness, the FrontStreet Strawberry Candy espresso blend brings together single-origin Arabicas from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia, using washed, sun-dried, and honey processing to lift the aroma. Besides a rose note, it is low in bitterness and gently acidic, with grape, dried blueberry, sweet orange, and fruit-candy flavors in both Americano and latte, plus a distinctive almond finish. For a single-origin option, the FrontStreet Ethiopia Huakui SOE, a sun-dried Sidamo Hambela lot, pours into an Americano that is free of bitterness, bright and refreshing, with rich tropical-fruit aroma.