Lungo shots are an alternative to the Americano, which is a shot of espresso topped up with hot water. The Lungo is a long full cup extraction through the ground coffee and can taste quite bitter and contains lots of caffeine.
Without realising it many beginners use their pod machines at home and pull a full cup from one pod creating a Lungo shot.
Here are the methods and tips on making a good Lungo shot
Use 7-10 grams of ground coffee per shot.
Grind: Course to Medium
Method: Extraction with hot water under moderate pressure. The key here is to emulate a brewed coffee, lots of water and long extraction time.
Duration: Extract 5-7 ounces per shot relatively slowly – around 60 seconds on most machines (around 10 bar pressure).
Crema should be very thick and a light brown colour but will manifest a slightly sour taste. The shot produced has much more caffeine than other shots and more compounds from the beans are extracted through the longer shot.
Serve: In a regular cup and apply a dash of milk to taste. This coffee can border somewhere between bitter and sour so sugar or sweet condensed milk is added to take off the sharp edge.