Skip to main content
  1. Home
  2. Food & Drink
  3. Evergreens

What is lungo? Here’s how it compares to your regular espresso shot

Lungo means long in Italian

By
espresso shot
Lina Kivaka / Pexels

You might come across a “caffè lungo” around Italy or a “long shot” in cafes around the U.S. I only recently learned the difference between a short espresso, known as a ristretto, and the opposite order: a lungo. The difference between variations of an espresso shot depends on the water-to-coffee ground ratio, leaving each shot of espresso with a different volume and taste. Now that I know the difference between these espresso shots, it makes ordering espresso even more fun. If you’ve also wondered: “What is lungo?” when reading a coffee shop menu, here’s what you should know.

What is lungo?

lungo coffee
Pixabay / ivoxis

A lungo is a shot of espresso that contains more water than a standard espresso shot. Its name is derived from the Italian word “long” (which seems fitting if you ask me). Lungo espresso shots use the same amount of ground coffee beans as traditional espresso shots. However, twice as much hot water is used.

Recommended Videos

The process of coffee extraction first extracts fruit acids, followed by sugars, and lastly, the bittering components. As a result of a more prolonged extraction and more water used, the final product is a higher-volume drink milder than a regular shot of espresso. Although the taste of a lungo shot is milder, the flavor also tends to be more bitter. The increased bitterness comes from the longer extraction time. Lungo shots also have less crema than a standard shot of espresso.

Origins of the lungo

While you might come across a “lungo” at some specialty coffee shops in the US, you’re more likely to hear this shot described as a “long shot.” As Italian coffee shops experimented with new ways to brew espresso, many tried pulling longer shots and using more water than used in traditional espresso shots.

The exact origins of the lungo are not entirely known, but somewhere along the way, someone attempted a “long pull,” which began the lungo. Some coffee enthusiasts believe that the Lungo emerged in the mid-20th century as a way to stretch out the limited supply of coffee during times of scarcity.

Double espresso shot vs. lungo

espresso shot
Chevanon Photography / Pexels
A standard shot of espresso is about one ounce, but a lungo shot is two ounces due to the higher amount of water used. The larger size of a lungo can cause many coffee lovers to confuse a lungo with a double shot of espresso. From an appearance standpoint, I can see why these two espresso drinks are easy to mix up. However, these two drinks are not the same and will have an entirely different flavor.
As I mentioned, a lungo has a milder, slightly more bitter taste than espresso, as it is made with a longer extraction time that allows more water to pull through. Alternatively, a double espresso is simply two shots of regularly-brewed espresso. As such, you can expect a double espresso to have a stronger, bolder taste.
The lungo might also be confused with an Americano, another drink containing water and espresso. An Americano, however, is made with regular espresso shots and then diluted with water. A lungo has a much more bitter taste and is a much smaller drink than an Americano, usually served in a cup between 8 and 12 ounces.

What’s the difference between lungo, ristretto, and espresso?

Image used with permission by copyright holder

Part of understanding “What is lungo?” is understanding its “opposite” order: the ristretto. A ristretto is the opposite of the lungo, made with less water than a traditional shot of espresso. The water-to-coffee ratio in a lungo is 1:3 or 1:4, whereas a ristretto is made with a 1:1 water ratio. Tomo Laca of European Coffee Trip does an excellent job explaining and depicting the visual differences between these different-sized espresso shots.

“When you think about the main differences between ristretto, espresso, and lungo, it is the drinks’ volume and strength. They range from very strong and small, like ristretto, to weaker and larger, lungo and espresso are somewhere in the middle. The easiest way to define the strength is by brew ratio, which is the correlation between how much coffee grounds we use and how much liquid we get in the cup,” explained Laca. If you want to understand what a lungo is, I recommend watching the entire video. It’s helped me better understand the value of ordering each of these shots.

Do you add milk to a lungo?

espresso press
charlesdeluvio / Unsplash

A lungo does not come with milk, but it can be enhanced. While a lungo shot is traditionally enjoyed black, adding milk can enhance it’s flavor and create a smoother, creamier drink. Lungo shots can be used in some espresso drinks. However, they’re often not the best choice for creamy espresso drinks like lattes or cappuccinos. The diluted and milder taste of lungo shots is not strong enough to pull through large amounts of milk or cream. For this reason, traditional or ristretto shots are used in espresso drinks that use milk.

Emily Caldwell
Emily Caldwell
Contributor
Emily is a Features Writer at The Manual, where she specializes in food, beverage, and travel content. She focuses on weaving… Read Full Bio
Topics
Food & Drink
Four Roses’ 2026 Limited Edition Small Batch is its oldest blend yet
Bottle, Whiskey, Glass

Four Roses has announced the release of its 2026 Limited Edition Small Batch Bourbon next month — and this year’s batch reaches back further than any prior release, blending bourbons aged 14 to 23 years.

The new blend from the Lawrenceburg-based distillery combines four hand-selected batches across three of the distillery’s ten recipes: 14-year-old OBSK, 14-year-old OESK, 15-year-old OESV, and a 23-year-old OESK. It’s non-chill filtered and bottled at barrel strength, 109.2 proof.

Read more
Food & Drink
The Gold Room Is Peak Gilded Age New York Glamour
Altar, Architecture, Building

As a New England WASP, I probably have a hereditary fondness for grand old rooms. My Boston Brahmin forebears, after trading religious zeal for mercantile ambition, liked nothing better than sipping claret, playing whist, and smoking cigars in their clubhouses on Beacon Hill. In private quarters adorned with mahogany paneling, maritime paintings, and marble fireplaces, my flinty ancestors chortled deep into the night—safely removed from wives, papists, and, God forbid, Yale men.

Since moving to New York City, I’ve delighted in finding bars that feel like clubhouses frozen in the Gilded Age. The Campbell in Grand Central comes to mind. The Rose Club at the Plaza. Although much newer, the Polo Bar gussies up the blue-blood clubhouse aesthetic with fabulous fare, a trophy-laden wine cellar, and an ultra-exclusive mystique. But the apotheosis of robber-baron extravagance is The Gold Room at Lotte New York Palace.

Read more
Food & Drink
Classic lagers to drink if you want your beer to “taste like beer”
Pilsner Urquell

When you think about the flavor of beer, what do you imagine? To me, it’s a crisp, refreshing, no-frills lager. The type of beer you’d just as likely crack open on an unseasonably warm spring day while grilling as you would after an afternoon of mowing the lawn on a hot, hazy, humid summer day. It’s light, refreshing, and tastes like beer.

That’s not to say that there isn’t a place for chocolate- and coffee-centric porters or boozy, barrel-aged stouts, or even tart, lip-smacking sour beers. There is a time and place for those and many other styles. It’s just that sometimes I want to crack open a beer and not taste an explosion of tropical fruit juices or get bashed in the head with malts or oaky wood. I want a beer that tastes the way I imagine it should. Specifically, I’m thinking about a balanced, thirst-quenching lager.

Read more