Mazagran Coffee: Lemon Recipe, Calories and History

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What Mazagran Means

This lemon Mazagran is a long iced coffee mixed with lemon juice and sugar syrup. It is a modern Portuguese-inspired interpretation of a name with older Algerian and French connections, not the only recipe that has carried the name.

A useful current example comes from Cascais Food Lab, whose two-serving recipe combines two long coffees, 50 ml lemon juice, 50 ml brown-sugar syrup and 200 g ice. Our home recipe below uses its own measured espresso, water and equal-mass syrup quantities.

The Académie française records an older meaning: coffee served in a glass, and also a particular coffee vessel. Littré's dictionary describes black coffee with water and sugar, sometimes with eau-de-vie. Those entries explain why historical Mazagran and a contemporary lemon recipe should not be treated as identical.

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How to Make Lemon Mazagran Coffee

This is a citrus-forward, non-alcoholic home adaptation for one 350 ml (11.8 US fl oz) hot/cold-safe glass. The ingredients total 295 g (10.4 oz) including the ice. The five-minute timing assumes your espresso equipment and syrup are ready.

Make the syrup by weight: dissolve equal masses of granulated sugar and water without boiling away water. For example, mix 20 g (1 US tbsp + 1¾ US tsp) sugar with 20 g (4 US tsp) warm water, let it cool, then weigh out 30 g (1.1 oz) syrup. That portion contains 15 g sugar and 15 g water. A richer bottled syrup is not interchangeable in the nutrition calculation.

For the coffee base, follow the espresso brewing guide.

Recipe

Lemon Mazagran coffee

Makes:

1 serving

Time:

5 minutes; syrup and espresso equipment ready

Print recipe

Ingredients

• 18 g finely ground coffee, brewed to 40 g espresso
• 80 g (2.7 US fl oz) cold water
• 25 g (0.9 oz) fresh lemon juice
• 30 g (1.1 oz) equal-mass sugar-and-water syrup, prepared and cooled
• 120 g (4.2 oz) ice cubes

Equipment

• Espresso brewer, scale, spoon, 350 ml (11.8 US fl oz) hot/cold-safe glass

Method

1. Brew 18 g coffee to collect 40 g prepared espresso.
2. Stir 30 g (1.1 oz) equal-mass sugar syrup and 80 g (2.7 US fl oz) cold water into the espresso.
3. Put 120 g (4.2 oz) ice in a 350 ml (11.8 US fl oz) hot/cold-safe glass.
4. Add 25 g (0.9 oz) fresh lemon juice, then pour in the coffee mixture.
5. Stir well and serve promptly.

Estimated nutrition per serving: 65 calories; total sugar 15.6 g. Serving: 1 drink; 295 g (10.4 oz) ingredients including ice, before garnish.

Recipe notes

Syrup is equal sugar and water by weight: 30 g contains 15 g sugar. About 65 kcal, 15.6 g sugar; 85 mg espresso caffeine reference.

Optional lemon peel or mint can garnish the glass. The base recipe contains no alcohol.

How to Balance Coffee, Lemon and Sugar

Adjust one ingredient at a time: lemon for acidity, syrup for sweetness and water for coffee concentration.

I add lemon gradually in this Portuguese-inspired mazagran. Some coffee-and-juice pairings feel sharper to me than others, so I use the measured recipe to begin and taste before committing to the final citrus level.

Taste the espresso before mixing so you can correct a bitter extraction separately.

For a less-sweet version, 20 g (0.7 oz) of this syrup contains 10 g sugar. The defined glass then provides about 50 kcal and 10.6 g total sugar, with the same coffee caffeine reference. Reducing syrup also removes 5 g water, so the change is not sweetness alone.

Mazagran Calories and Caffeine

This recipe's estimate is about 65 kcal and 15.6 g total sugar. It covers the home ingredients listed above. The 15 g granulated sugar in the syrup supplies most of the calories. The 40 g espresso supplies an 85 mg caffeine reference.

Serving calculation and source assumptions

Mazagran Calories and Caffeine

Mazagran Calories and Caffeine

Component	Reference contribution
40 g prepared espresso	4 kcal; 0 g sugar
25 g raw lemon juice	6 kcal; 0.6 g sugar
15 g sugar within 30 g (1.1 oz) syrup	58 kcal; 15 g sugar
Water and ice	0 kcal; 0 g sugar

The unrounded energy sum is 40 × 9/100 + 25 × 22/100 + 15 × 387/100 = 67.15 kcal, rounded to the nearest five for the headline estimate. Total sugar is 25 × 2.52/100 + 15 × 99.8/100 = 15.6 g. 15 g is added sugar; the lemon contributes the remainder. Optional garnish is excluded.

USDA FDC 171891 gives generic prepared espresso 212 mg caffeine per 100 g. For the 40 g finished espresso, that is 84.8 mg, shown as about 85 mg reference. Actual caffeine depends on the coffee and extraction; dilution leaves the coffee’s caffeine in the glass.

Mazagran History and Colonial Context

The Académie française links the name to Mazagran, Algeria, and a French garrison's 1840 siege. That military setting belongs to the history of French colonial presence in Algeria, rather than a simple café invention anecdote. Its dictionary entry is evidence about the word's history, not an eyewitness recipe for today's lemon drink.

Littré's older preparation includes water, sugar and optional spirits; the current Cascais recipe adds lemon and ice. Comparing those records shows that usage changed. It does not establish the first iced coffee, a precise inventor, or the date lemon entered Portuguese versions.

Mazagran Compared with Other Black Cold Drinks

Questions About Mazagran Coffee

Is Mazagran Always Made with Lemon?

No. Historical dictionary entries do not define one mandatory lemon formula. Cascais Food Lab and Nespresso's modern recipe provide concrete lemon versions. Their amounts differ, so use the quantities for the version you are making.

Is Mazagran the First Iced Coffee?

The cited evidence does not establish that ranking. The name has a nineteenth-century historical connection, but a place-name story is not proof that no earlier coffee was served cold.

Can I Use Filter Coffee Instead of Espresso?

Yes. For a home variation, replace the 40 g espresso and 80 g (2.7 US fl oz) water with 120 g (4.2 oz) prepared filter coffee, then start with the same lemon and syrup. Taste before making further changes. It will have a different concentration and caffeine basis; the espresso reference no longer applies.

Does Mazagran Contain Alcohol?

Some historical definitions include optional spirits. This recipe contains none. Rum, brandy, liqueur or a sweetened mixer changes the ingredients and nutrition and should be named as a separate variation.

Can I Use Bottled Lemonade or Sparkling Water?

Bottled lemonade combines sugar, acidity and water in a product-specific ratio; it is not a direct replacement for both the syrup and lemon juice here. You can use sparkling water for the separate 80 g (2.7 US fl oz) water as a home variation, adding it gently near the end to preserve more carbonation.

Editor's Take

Sources and Further Reading

7 references

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Recipe and history

• Cascais Food LabMazagran recipeMunicipal two-serving lemon recipe; context for this independently measured home adaptation, not identical quantities.(opens in a new tab)
• Académie françaiseMazagran dictionary entryRecords the place-name connection, nineteenth-century usage and coffee vessel; not proof of a first lemon recipe.(opens in a new tab)
• Émile LittréMazagran historical definitionHistorical black-coffee description with sugar, water and sometimes spirits; accessible indexed entry reviewed.(opens in a new tab)
• NespressoMazagran recipe PDFA separate modern lemon version with different quantities; demonstrates recipe variation.(opens in a new tab)

Serving calculations

• USDA SR28Prepared espresso, FDC 171891Generic per 100 g: 9 kcal, 0 g sugar and 212 mg caffeine; reference for 40 g prepared espresso.(opens in a new tab)
• USDA SR28Raw lemon juice, FDC 167747Per 100 g: 22 kcal and 2.52 g total sugar; used for 25 g juice.(opens in a new tab)
• USDA SR28Granulated sugar, FDC 169655Per 100 g: 387 kcal and 99.8 g total sugar; used for 15 g sugar within the syrup.(opens in a new tab)