Know your Coffee Drinks!
Part 1: Black Coffee

Black coffee drinks contain no added milk. Ristretto, espresso and lungo differ mainly in the length of extraction. An Americano is commonly made by adding hot water to espresso; a long black pours espresso over hot water.

What is the difference between these black coffees?

Drink	How it is made
Ristretto	A shorter espresso extraction.
Espresso	Water passes through finely ground coffee under pressure.
Lungo	A longer extraction through the coffee grounds.
Americano	Hot water is added to espresso.
Long black	Espresso is poured over hot water.

So you’re at the counter of your favourite coffee shop ordering a “to-go” coffee because you’re running late (again!) and the person in front of you just ordered a “long black”. “What the heck is a long black?” you ask yourself… surely that’s an americano? Surrounded by people in the queue who are caffeine deprived, a bit edgy and who look like they know their coffee, you’re not about to ask it out aloud. Well you don’t have to because we’re going to make this all very clear right here! The most “common” drink names that you’ll hear in restaurants and coffee shops would be: Coffee Drinks Without Milk

• Ristretto
• Espresso
• Lungo
• Café Americano
• Long Black

Coffee Drinks With Milk

• Café Macchiato
• Flat White
• Cortado
• Cappuccino
• Café Latte

We’ll bring you up to speed on each one and you’ll soon be ordering like a pro! We’ll look here in Part 1 at the drinks that do not have added milk (black). Part 2 will then focus on the drinks that do have added milk. The final words of this introduction are reserved for describing why the taste of “espresso-based coffee” differs from “filter coffee”, which is also known as drip coffee. While many cafes and restaurants serve filter, most have moved to espresso-based drinks as their major focus. Espresso based coffee, unlike filter, which relies on gravity, is made using pressure to force the hot water through the ground coffee, which by the way, requires the coffee beans to be ground finer than you would find in a filter blend (it can be because pressure forces the water through the finer, more tightly packed coffee granules that might clog and prevent gravity from doing its job!). The result is a very different flavour profile because the soluble compounds that each method extracts, and their relative concentrations, differ as you can imagine. Having hot water gently seep through grounds in a filter basket, means that the water is in contact with the coffee for longer than it would be in an espresso machine where 25 seconds is required to extract 25 to 40 ml of the black gold. Also, given the grind in a filter blend is coarser, to allow gravity to pull water through the grounds, the surface area in contact with the water is much reduced. The flavour difference is therefore not surprising. We’ll focus here on espresso-based coffee favourites!

How do ristretto, espresso and lungo differ?

We’ll look at these together given they are variations on the same theme – namely an espresso shot with different amount of water to extract the  solubles. A ristretto, which is derived from the Italian word for “restricted” uses the same amount of ground coffee as an espresso, but only half the water. Many baristas will use a finer grind that that used for an espresso and so, it is technically incorrect to call it a concentrated espresso shot. The flavour profile also differs because the amount of water moving through the grounds is less and so extraction of compounds that might occur with 60 ml of water through 14g of ground coffee for a double espresso, does not occur with 30ml of water through the same coffee grammage. One of the more interesting compounds that is not extracted to the same extent in a ristretto when compared to an espresso, is caffeine. Espresso is typically made with 7g of ground coffee with 30ml of water and a double espresso requires 14g of ground coffee with about 60ml of water passing through the grounds under pressure. A characteristic of good espresso blends is the formation of “crema” on the surface. This is formed by tiny bubbles of CO2 that are released into the extracted liquid through the use of heat and pressure in the process that characterises espresso extraction. The lungo is a “longer” drink and is typically around 3 times the volume of the espresso. When made with 14g of ground coffee, a lungo would then offer around 120ml of extracted coffee (with thanks to coffeeatthree.com for the photo above).

What is the difference between an Americano and a long black?

An Americano adds hot water to an espresso shot. A long black starts with hot water in the cup, then adds espresso. This order usually helps preserve more of the crema in a long black. A lungo differs from both because its extra water passes through the grounds during extraction.

Recipes and serving sizes vary between cafés. The preparation order above follows De’Longhi’s coffee-delivery instructions.

So now you know your black coffee choices and what makes them unique. You can purchase your espresso beans on our coffee page.It’s time to move on to Part 2 to look at the coffee varieties that have added milk.

Choose beans for black coffee at home

Shop coffee beans or view the Mugg & Bean Espresso Blend. Check current price and availability, then adjust your grind and recipe for your machine. Free delivery applies to orders over R450.