Coffee Drink
Allongé Coffee: Meaning, Rao-Style Recipe and Lungo Differences
Allongé means lengthened coffee, but cafés use the name for both longer extraction and espresso with added water. This Rao-inspired home version passes the brewing water through 18 g coffee to collect 90 g beverage, a 1:5 ratio by mass.
Drink Snapshot
- Caffeine
- Recipe unmeasuredLong-extraction home recipeBeans, dry dose and extraction determine caffeine.
- Calories
- About 8 kcal proxyRough generic espresso energy estimateRough estimate for the plain serving, before milk or sweeteners.
Serving, sugar and sources
- Serving
- 1 plain 90 g beverage from 18 g dry coffee
- Made with
- 18 g coffee → 90 g collected beverage
- Sugar
- About 0 g total. Generic plain-coffee reference; no added sugar. Milk, cream and sweeteners are outside the core recipe.
- Preparation
- About 3 minutes; machine warm-up is additional
The nutrition section explains the generic espresso energy estimate and why a longer yield needs separate caffeine evidence. See the full calculation or label comparison.
Key Takeaways
- 1Home starting point: 18 g coffee → 90 g beverage; coarser than regular espresso, roughly 30–35 seconds.
- 2Ask whether the café pulls a longer shot or adds water afterward. Allongé and lungo names can overlap.
- 3The plain recipe adds no sugar. About 8 kcal is a rough espresso-database estimate.
On This Page12 Sections
What Is an Allongé Coffee?
Allongé means “lengthened,” but the preparation depends on the café. It may be a longer espresso extraction or espresso with hot water added afterward. The Rao Allongé is a more specific approach: a relatively coarse grind and fast flow produce a longer extraction, often using light-roasted coffee.
For that direct-extraction style, this page gives a Rao-inspired home starting point: 18 g dry coffee to 90 g beverage. All the brewing water passes through the coffee bed.
How to Make Allongé Coffee
Ratio: 1:5, written as dry coffee : finished beverage mass.
Use an adjustable grinder and a 150 ml (5.1 US fl oz) cup with room above the coffee. If using a Decent machine, start with its Rao Allongé profile and set the beverage target to 90 g.
Use the espresso brewing method for machine setup, distribution and tamping; use the longer yield and coarser grind specified here.
Recipe
Rao-inspired allongé
- Makes:
- 1 plain 90 g coffee
- Time:
- About 3 minutes; machine already hot
Ingredients
- 18 g coffee, preferably light to medium-light roast
- Drinking water suitable for your espresso machine, as required
Equipment
- Espresso machine, 18 g basket, grinder, tamper, scale, timer, 150 ml (5.1 US fl oz) heatproof cup
Method
- Preheat. With the espresso machine ready, warm a 150 ml (5.1 US fl oz) heatproof cup, then empty it.
- Grind. Weigh 18 g coffee and grind coarser than your regular espresso setting.
- Prepare the basket. Use a basket suited to 18 g, distribute evenly, tamp level and lock it in.
- Weigh the cup. Place the empty cup on the scale under the spouts and tare it.
- Extract. Brew to 90 g beverage, collecting both streams if present. Aim around 30–35 seconds; adjust the grind on subsequent attempts.
- Serve. Stir and let the coffee cool enough to sip. Record yield and time; no water is added afterward in this recipe.
Recipe notes
Starting point; adjust grind to suit the coffee and machine. About 8 kcal is a rough espresso-database proxy without additions.
Stop by beverage mass, not by filling the glass. Crema changes apparent volume. The machine needs more water than ends up in the cup because the grounds retain some; 90 g is the collected beverage, not reservoir input.
The chosen yield matches the 18 g to 90 g example in Decent's quickstart guide. Its profile guide describes a coarser grind, a 1:5 ratio and roughly 30–35 seconds. Adjust those starting settings for your machine and beans.
Allongé vs. Lungo, Americano and Espresso
Swipe to see all columnsScroll to see all columns
| Drink or method | What happens to the water? | Useful ordering question |
|---|---|---|
| Rao-inspired allongé here | Water passes through 18 g coffee to collect 90 g | Can you make a fast-flowing longer extraction? |
| Lungo | A longer espresso extraction; recipes vary | What dose and yield do you use? |
| Americano | Water is added to brewed espresso | How many espresso portions and how much water? |
| Espresso | A shorter, more concentrated extraction | Is that a single or a full double-basket serving? |
Allongé and lungo can overlap in everyday language. The name alone does not establish which is larger. Our separate lungo recipe uses 18 g to 54 g.
Adding water to espresso lowers its concentration without extracting more from the grounds. Extending the extraction changes what is collected from the coffee bed as well as the beverage mass.
Plan Your Allongé Yield
For this starting profile, beverage target = coffee dose × 5. With a suitable basket, 16 g would give an 80 g target, and 18 g gives 90 g. Adjust the grind after changing dose, since puck depth and flow also change.
Use the espresso ratio guide and calculator for the calculation. Be careful about ratio direction: 1:5 dose-to-beverage is the same arithmetic as 5:1 beverage-to-dose, not a different coffee.
Allongé Troubleshooting
| What you notice | A useful next adjustment |
|---|---|
| The 90 g target takes much longer and tastes dry | Coarsen a little, keeping dose and target fixed |
| Coffee rushes unevenly and tastes hollow | Check distribution first; then try slightly finer grinding |
| Time looks right but the finish is unpleasant | Try a shorter yield or another coffee; time is a diagnostic, not a quality score |
| Your machine cannot sustain the higher flow | Brew an espresso you enjoy and add water; describe it as the added-water version |
| Little crema, but pleasant flavor | Do not chase a thicker foam layer as proof of quality |
A faster stream is intentional in this style. Check for uneven flow as well as grind and roast when adjusting a bitter cup.
Do You Need a Decent Machine?
No machine brand is required to try a longer direct extraction. Precisely reproducing a particular flow profile is a different task. Decent's Rao Allongé discussion explains both the value of pressure/flow feedback and a traditional-machine adaptation. Without that feedback, adjust the home recipe by taste.
Do not alter the machine's safety limits or chase an arbitrary high pressure. Follow its operating instructions. A capsule's lungo button is a separate capsule-and-machine recipe, not a way to reproduce an 18 g basket profile.
Flavor and Tasting Notes
Expect less concentration per sip than a shorter extraction from the same dose, with coffee oils and some crema still present. Light-roast coffees may show fruit or floral aromas; the beans and extraction decide whether those appear.
Stir before assessing the cup. A little milk is optional; a large milk portion may obscure the coffee more than it would in a concentrated espresso-based latte.
Allongé Caffeine, Calories and Sugar
The caffeine in this 18 g / 90 g recipe is unmeasured. Beans, dry dose and extraction determine the amount; a lighter taste does not establish less caffeine.
About 8 kcal and 0 g total sugar are rough estimates for the plain serving, based on generic espresso data. No sugar is added; milk and sweeteners change the total.
How the estimates were chosen
A 2023 espresso-extraction study measured successive extraction fractions while varying grind, flow and temperature. It supports treating extraction as a changing process, rather than assuming each extra gram has the same caffeine concentration as an earlier short shot.
USDA's generic restaurant espresso record, FDC 171891, lists 9 kcal per 100 g and 0 g total sugar. Applying that energy value to 90 g gives 8.1 kcal, rounded to 8. This gives a rough energy estimate for plain coffee.
We deliberately do not scale the same database's caffeine concentration to this longer yield: that would imply an unsupported dose estimate.
History and Culture
Published naming practices help explain the confusion. NESCAFÉ France treats café allongé as a French name for lungo. Nespresso France describes allongé as coffee extended with unbrewed hot water. Decent documents the Montréal-associated high-flow approach linked to Scott Rao.
Those records support a practical conclusion: ask about the method, not just the word.
Practical Detail
When ordering, try “Do you pull it longer, or add water after the espresso?” Then ask about the coffee portion and cup size. Say ah-lon-ZHAY as an approximate English pronunciation; the French nasal vowel is only approximate in that spelling.
For a straightforward larger black coffee at home, an Americano is a useful alternative. Choose the allongé method when you want to explore the extraction itself, rather than only increase the drink's volume.
Common Questions
Is allongé the same as lungo?
Is allongé an Americano?
Does allongé have more caffeine than espresso?
Can I make allongé without an espresso machine?
Can I use dark-roasted coffee?
Is 1:5 water to coffee?
Editor's Take
Sources and Further Reading
7 references
External links open in a new tab
Recipe and method
- Decent EspressoRao Allongé profile parametersCoarser grinding, a 1:5 ratio and roughly 30–35 seconds inform our chosen starting profile.(opens in a new tab)
- Decent Espresso18 g to 90 g quickstart exampleThe Rao Allongé entry gives an 18 g dose and 90 g beverage; it is one machine-profile example.(opens in a new tab)
- Decent EspressoRao Allongé: machinery and regional contextManufacturer discussion of the Montréal-associated high-flow method and traditional-machine adaptation.(opens in a new tab)
Names and ordering
Nutrition and evidence limits
- USDA FoodData CentralGeneric espresso, FDC 1718919 kcal per 100 g and 0 g sugar provide the rough energy estimate.(opens in a new tab)
- Schmieder and colleagues · TUMEspresso extraction kinetics,2023Primary study of component extraction at different flow, grind and temperature settings.(opens in a new tab)