I have my mother-in-law and her partner coming over from Spain for Christmas - the partner has lived in Spain (Catalonia) for 50 odd years and the coffee he drinks is Americano (well at least the Catalonian interpretation of Americano). He often educates baristas in the UK on how to make an Americano, which is not adding hot water to the espresso in his mind. He says it is too watery so he asks them to pull a second shot through the puck as this is the closest he gets to ‘Americano’ at home. I think what he actually likes is probably more a lungo.

This will be new territory for me as I have not had an espresso machine when he has been over in the past. Any tips / advice on how to make a lungo - I am thinking literally just pulling the shot and letting it run until he says “when” in terms of volume, keeping dose at 18g and at the same grind setting I would use for my own drinks. A further complication is I have a flow control on my Minima - I am thinking just leaving that alone for these ones.

Would this be correct, or should I be looking to loosen the grind a tad and run the longer shot in the same time as I would a double espresso?

  • Rob1 replied to this.

    If he knows what he likes and is already well practiced in educating UK baristas on how to make what he likes, I’d be tempted to simply let him tell you what to do. This is likely to end better than taking advice from third parties.

    Very true - the issue is he’s never really happy with the coffee he gets here. I’m hoping to deliver the goods, but might have to be a process of trail and error. I’ve just consulted Hoffman’s Coffee Atlas, which suggests loosening the grind a little to prevent over extraction on a lungo - I’ll give it a go when they arrive.

      dutchy101 Sounds as if he likes what I’ve always known as a café crema. Perhaps it’s better to just expansively wave your hand towards the machine, and let him get on with it. 😉

      Contact me

        Perhaps he’ll have an epiphany when he tries some decent coffee…..

          dutchy101

          A good light or medium roast should work. You may not need to loosen the grind. Use a low flow to wet the puck and as pressure rises usr the paddle to stop all flow between 4-6 bar. Let it sit for about 25 seconds or so then ramp up to full flow for the next 5 or so seconds and aim for 100g out from 18g. The shot might take a minute or so in total. You may need to go coarser if you’re getting over extraction rather than drop the yield as he wants volume. Tweak around a bit, by the sounds of it just keep extracting more volume and stop before horrible tongue scraping bitterness and you might give him what he wants. Don’t worry if the shot runs fast as you’re going for a ridiculously high yield, a faster flow can be beneficial.

              I’ve not been to Spain but assuming this ‘Americano…’ is similar to the kind of café noir served in Parisian cafes I’d guess the type of beans used is playing a big part. It has a kind of sweet robusta taste that’s not as intense an espresso but not as diluted as an actual Americano.

              The closest thing in flavour I think would possibly be an undiluted long shot from a Bialetti using an Italian or French style roast. M&S do a French roast bean, I wonder if that through a Bialetti might work.

              It won’t be ‘good’ coffee, but it might be close to what he’s hoping for.

              I would try two things

              1. Grind a little coarser so the volume is increased.

              2. As you suggested, use the same grind as for yours and let it run until he says stop. I suspect this will get him closest to his now well-educated UK baristas shot.