The lungo recipe
for your table
Grind nine grams of beans, just slightly coarser than you would for an espresso, and rinse the cup with hot water. A cold cup draws the heat out of so little coffee in a few seconds, and with a lungo you notice that sooner than with a large cup.
Distribute the coffee evenly in the portafilter and tamp it with even pressure. An uneven or too loose coffee puck lets the water run through on one side, and especially with a lungo, so much water runs through that you can taste it immediately.
Let approximately seventy millilitres run through in thirty-five to forty-five seconds. Watch the stream: as long as it is dark and syrupy, it is bringing flavour with it, and as soon as it becomes light and watery, switch off the machine, because after that it mainly adds bitterness.
Pour the water out of the preheated cup and pour in the lungo. Serve sugar on the side instead of stirring it in by default, and only add a splash of grappa or amaretto after the coffee. Drink it while the crema is still on top.
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The story
Lungo means long, referring to the time the water takes to run through the coffee. It is therefore not a different type of coffee or a different bean, but the same espresso allowed to run longer. In Italy, you order it at the bar as a caffè lungo, as opposed to the ristretto, which is pulled shorter and therefore turns out more syrupy and sweeter. With capsule machines, lungo has become a preset button, usually around eleven centilitres, which is well above the Italian measure. What remains the same in every case: no more coffee goes in, only more water.
The right glass
A lungo calls for a cup of ten to fifteen centilitres: larger than an espresso cup of six to nine centilitres, smaller than a cappuccino cup. Seventy millilitres fills an espresso cup to the brim and cools down in a few minutes; in a twelve-centilitre cup, you have room to spare and the crema stays intact. Thick-walled earthenware or double-walled glass keeps the heat in, and rinsing a cup with hot water first makes more difference than any bean. Double-walled models can be found among the double-walled coffee glasses.
Cosy & Trendy Isabeau Coffee Cup 12 cl Blue (6 pieces)
Luigi Bormioli Thermic Glass Coffee Glass 11.5 cl Ametista (2 pieces)
Both sets together € 44,90.
The right tools
For a lungo, you need little besides the cup: a jigger to measure the shot precisely for a corretto, and a nutmeg grater to grate some dark chocolate over the crema. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 54,85.
How much of a shot goes into a lungo?
Without alcohol, a lungo is simply coffee. Stir in a splash of liqueur or spirits and in Italy it is called a caffè corretto. Traditionally, it is made with grappa, though at the bar it is just as often made with sambuca or amaretto. On every drinks page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it pairs with and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
If you let less water run through than for an espresso, you get a ristretto: shorter, syrupier and sweeter. If you add hot water to a regular espresso instead of letting more water run through it, it is called a caffè americano and the bitterness stays away. Add a splash of grappa or amaretto and it is called corretto, while topping it with warm milk brings you to cappuccino. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Serve the lungo on a saucer with a glass of cold water beside it, as they do in Italy: first a sip of water, then the coffee. Serve the sugar separately and pass the cup over immediately after brewing, because a five-minute-old lungo is a cup of lukewarm coffee.
Good to know
What lungo means exactly
Lungo is Italian for long and refers to the extraction time, not the bean or the roast. It uses the same nine grams of coffee, but you let two to three times as much water run through it. An espresso of 2.5 centiliters thus becomes a cup of 6 to 7 centiliters.
Why a lungo can become more bitter
The flavor compounds are not all released at once. First come the acidity and sweetness, followed only later by the bitter and dry compounds. If the water runs through for longer, that final part also ends up in the cup, which is called over-extraction. Stop as soon as the stream turns light and watery; that makes the biggest difference.
The difference from a caffè americano
With an Americano, you make a regular espresso and then add hot water to the cup. The coffee bed is therefore not extracted for longer: you get the same cup, just diluted. With a lungo, the water does run through the coffee for longer, which is why it tastes fuller but also more bitter.
The difference from filter coffee
Filter coffee flows through much coarser grounds and a paper filter without pressure, in four to six minutes and with ten times as much water. This produces a clear, light cup without crema. A lungo is extracted under pressure through fine grounds in forty seconds, with crema and much more body.
Grinding slightly coarser helps
If you use your espresso grind setting for a lungo, extraction takes too long and you draw out precisely those bitter compounds. A few settings coarser lets the water flow through faster, so you get more in the cup in the same amount of time without exhausting the coffee. Try it one setting at a time and taste the difference.
Why you preheat the cup
Seventy milliliters of coffee is little liquid compared with a cup weighing one hundred grams. A cold cup can take around ten degrees out of it, and you can taste that as a flat, sour cup. Rinse the cup with hot water or place it on the machine, and discard that water just before pouring.
Frequently asked questions
What is a lungo?
A lungo is an espresso with more water passing through it: the same nine grams of coffee, but 6 to 7 centiliters in the cup instead of 2.5. Lungo means long and refers to the extraction time. It tastes fuller and less concentrated than an espresso.
Why is a lungo more bitter than an espresso?
Because the water flows through the coffee bed for longer and also carries along the bitter and dry compounds left behind in an espresso. This is called over-extraction. Grinding slightly coarser and stopping as soon as the stream turns pale keeps the bitterness in check.
What is the difference between a lungo and an americano?
With a lungo, the extra water passes through the coffee; with a caffè americano, you add hot water to an espresso that has already been brewed. An americano is therefore milder and less bitter, while a lungo has a fuller flavor but is more prone to over-extraction.
Which cup do you serve a lungo in?
In a cup of ten to fifteen centiliters, so larger than an espresso cup. This keeps the coffee from reaching the rim and preserves the crema. Preheat the cup with hot water; thick-walled earthenware or double-walled glass retains heat the longest.
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