A long coffee from the espresso machine? The answer is a second grinder or Caffè Americano.

In Switzerland, many people like to know and drink Café Crème. But what do I do if I want to enjoy a large cup of coffee from a typical Italian portafilter machine?

A portafilter machine is basically an espresso machine. So you can use it to produce pure espresso. If the machine has a steam wand, you can also make cappuccino and latte or espresso macchiato. The espresso is also the basis for these drinks, depending on the drink we use 1 to 2 shots.

Second coffee grinder
In order to be able to enjoy a long coffee from an espresso machine, the coffee bar of your choice usually has a second coffee grinder. Lighter coffee roasts are usually used here, and the beans are also ground coarser than for espresso. As a result, the water flows faster through the powder and the large cup is filled in about the same time as the espresso cup. The result is a «Café Crème».

Caffè Americano
If you don't want to or can't place a second grinder in your home, the answer is the «Caffè Americano». According to the stories, a drink that was created after the Second World War because of the American soldiers stationed in Italy. The Italian espresso was too strong for them, so they diluted it down to the desired strength with hot water.

Depending on the size of the cup and your personal taste, this means that you first fill the cup up to half or 2/3 with hot water and fill up small cups with an espresso single shot or larger cups with a double shot. You can adjust the recipe according to the desired intensity. It is important to always follow the order of hot water before espresso, otherwise the beautiful crema will disappear. When preparing the espressi, it is best to let the coffee jet run into the water close to the cup wall, then the crema is all the more consistent.

Long coffee (e.g. 100ml)	Café Crème	Caffè Americano
Mill	Second mill	Same as for espresso
Grinding	Medium	Fine, same as for espresso
Roasting	Medium	Rather dark, same as for espresso
Powder quantity	8-9g per cup	8-9g per cup
Outlet quantity coffee	100ml	1-2 Espressi at 25ml
Lead time	30 seconds	25 seconds
Add hot water	No	55-75ml

Café Crème

Caffè Americano

By the way, a complete no-go for all baristas and baristi!
Although the grind for the espresso extraction is perfectly adjusted to fill a large cup and thereby completely leach out the coffee powder. Here we speak of a so-called over-extraction. The result in the cup has a lot of bitter substances, i.e. also more caffeine, and is no longer a pleasure.

Have fun trying!