Coffee Drinks · Espresso drinks
Espresso shots
Every espresso drink starts as a shot, and the shots themselves come in more sizes and styles than a cafe menu lets on. These guides cover the doppio, the lungo, the gran lungo, the Portuguese bica and blonde espresso: how much water each uses, how long it runs and what that does to the taste.
What Is a Doppio Espresso?Two shots pulled as one, in a bigger basket. It is the default in most cafes now, and the reason has more to do with the grinder than with strength.
What Is a Lungo Coffee?An espresso pulled long: the same coffee, roughly twice the water, and a cup that trades intensity for length.
What Is Blonde Espresso?A lighter-roasted espresso made popular by one coffee chain. What changes in the cup, what happens to the caffeine, and how to get the same thing elsewhere.
What Is a Bica? Portugal's EspressoOrder a bica in Lisbon and you get an espresso. Order one in Porto and you may get a blank look. The word, the cup, and how Portugal drinks it.
What Is a Gran Lungo?A Nespresso cup size rather than a coffee tradition. What the 150ml button actually does, and why longer is not the same as bigger.
Turkish Coffee vs EspressoBoth are small, dark and strong, and almost nothing else about them is the same. One is filtered by pressure, the other is not filtered at all.