Allongé Espresso - What is it and how to make it?

If you enjoy intense, full-flavoured coffee in its simplest form, espresso, ristretto and allongé are coffees you will almost certainly enjoy. While espresso is quite common on coffee shop menus, the allongé might just be the most misunderstood recipe in specialty coffee. 

Here we explain: what is an allongé?  How is an allongé different to a lungo?  And how do you make the perfect allongé?

What is an allongé?

An allongé is a small, espresso drink: coffee in its purest form.  Differing only from espresso in its ratio, the allongé can be characterized as a more nuanced espresso presenting juicy fruitiness if made correctly.

The allongé is often confused with a lungo, since both words mean ‘long.’  However, the allongé, popularized by coffee guru Scott Rao is a world away from the typical lungo’s bitter heaviness. This is while some people call it the Rao Allonge.

While a lungo simply uses extra time to elongate the coffee recipe, an allongé relies on coarser grind size to allow more water through in the roughly the same amount of time as a standard espresso.

Allongé recipe

Achieving the perfect allongé hinges on ratio so precise weights and measures are crucial. An allongé’s ideal ratio is 1:5 so if you’re using 18g of ground coffee, around 90g of liquid espresso output is required. You’re aiming for a shot time of around 30 seconds so in order to achieve this, you will need to make your grind coarser than for a straight espresso.

How to make an allongé

• Grind enough coffee for a double espresso and accurately weigh it.

• Place your cup or glass on top of your barista scales and tare.

• Using your machine’s manual setting, begin to extract the allongé, keeping a close eye on the weight output and the time elapsed.

• Stop the water flow when the output weight reaches exactly 5x your input weight.

Points to note:

• Creating the allongé doesn’t look pretty by the standards of a ‘normal’ pour. Don’t be put off if you see what looks like channelling or blonding, especially if you are using a naked porter filter.

• Having said that, excellent puck prep is vital!  Make sure to distribute and tamp as evenly as possible since the coarser grind makes to coffee bed a little more volatile and prone to uneven extraction. 

FAQs

What’s the difference between an allongé and a lungo?

With a lungo, extra volume is created by extending the extraction time (up to 60 seconds) but keeping the grind size the same as a standard espresso.  An allongé sticks to a 30 second shot time but relies on a coarser grind to allow more water through.

What’s the best coffee to make an allongé?

The specific brewing conditions of an allongé allow a coffee’s fruit and floral notes to shine through, but there is a danger of an overly acidic profile due to the coarseness of the grind.  Well-balanced, fruit-forward coffees in a light/medium roast tend to perform well as an allongé.

Looking for other recipes? Read our article about coffee drinks explained.