How do I make a long black coffee?

A long black in our opinion is a bit of an art form. If done well it can leave a prefect mouthfeel that lasts till lunchtime, though if done poorly it can scald your mouth so you don’t taste anything till lunchtime! Black Market Roasters looks at the ultimate long black making process and what slight deviations you can make to tailor it to your tastes! In WWII the Italians would offer amazing espresso’s to their American allies. Not really appreciating the new custom and longing for the habits of their homeland, they would pour hot water in the espresso…thus the invention of the Cafe Americano! Fast forward a few years and Aussie and NZ barista’s realised that this isn’t the best way to enjoy hot water and espresso together. A large part of the flavour or mouthfeel of the espresso is the oils that come into contact with your palate. In an Americano all the oils are churned up as you would put the espresso in first, then the water on top. How to Make a Long Black:

1. Prepare your cups, by preheating with boiling water and letting them sit
2. Start your espresso, prepare a double shot from fresh coffee beans
3. Now, top up your ceramic cup with hot water, you are looking for almost a full cup, remembering you need to place a dbl shot of coffee on top of this, so adjust the water to suit (Of course the amount of water will also affect perceived strength
4. Place portafilter into the group head and put the cup with water in it under the spouts
5. Hit the manual pour button or dbl shot button, pouring directly on top of the water
6. Your aim here is collect as much of the golden oil as possible, this is going to be your flavour/strength

You can play with variations in coffee shot size and water levels. A popular drink in Oz is a piccolo black, which is a short black ceramic cup, ¾ filled with hot water, then a single shot on top of that (like a mini long black). At Black Market Roasters we are an online coffee bean shop who roasts freshly to order here in Sydney. We have a range of great blends and exotic single origin beans from our online shop. Black Market Roasters uses Arabica coffee beans for its coffee beans, freshly roasts them to order and delivers FREE to your door. We specialize in single origin coffee beans, coffee bean blends, best coffee beans, premium coffee beans, decaffeinated beans and filter coffee beans. Head over to our Beans Page to get started.