Whats the difference between a short black and a long black coffee?

Espresso shot

Are you sometimes questioning the difference between a latte and a flat white? Are you unsure of the difference between a short black, an espresso shot, and a long black coffee? Its not just you, some of the confusion comes from different countries in the world referring to the same coffee by a different name. 

I was surprised to learn that;

• A Latte, ordered in Ital will get you a glass of steamed milk, and no coffee! You need to ask for a 'Caffe Latte' if you want your regular Latte coffee.  

So, here is a description of each of the popular coffees that you would see on a blackboard at a cafe in Australia. These descriptions are my survival guide only, and are open to interpretation depending on the cafe etc. 

• Espresso Shot - a 30ml shot of espresso coffee. made from 7grams of coffee, straight from the machine served in a 60ml porcelain cup
• Short black - exactly the same as a Espresso Shot
• Double shot Espresso - exactly the same as an Espresso shot, but two shots are made into the one cup - doubling the size to 60ml
• Long black - 120 to 180mls of water with an espresso (or double espresso) shot poured on top of the water. Its incorrect to add the water to the espresso shot for risk of dissipating the crema.
• Caffe Americano - same as a long black, but the espresso shot is added first, and the water on top to intentionally disipate and disturb the crema 
• Flat white - start with an espresso base, in a 250ml porcelain cup, add steamed frothed milk, but hold back the froth.
• Latte - same as a flat white, but more milky (ie: less coffee). served in a tall glass (not ceramic) and topped with a small amount of foam
• Cappuccino -  as for a Flat White, but introduce some extra froth and dust chocolate powder on top for presentation and flavour. 

A few that you might not see too often;

• Single Origin espresso - same as an espresso shot, but using a single coffee bean origin, rather than a expertly blended coffee from various regions. (can also be ordered as a double shot machiato)
• Picollo Latte - an espresso shot with 90ml of steamed milk (can also be ordered as a double shot machiato)
  
• Machiatto - an espresso shot with a teaspoon of milk froth to 'stain' the espresso. (can also be ordered as a double shot machiato). Some people refer to this as simply a 'mach'
• Ristretto - same as a espresso shot, but only using the first half of the espresso shot (15ml) which is sweeter. Can be ordered as a double ristretto totaling 30ml. 

NOTE: A single shot is 30ml of espresso coffee extracted from a single basket of coffee holding 7g and etracted in 30 seconds. A double shot can be acheived by repeating the single shot, or using a double basket (holding 14grams of coffee) but extracting in the same timeframe (30 seconds) and producing 60ml of coffee. Same with a tripple shot - repeat a single again, or use a tripple basket (21grams of coffee). Generally, I never ever use the single shot basket and standardise on the double shot basket. 

A great choice of coffee bean for black coffees is Coffee Bean Shop Crema - There is a trick to getting maximum crema on top of your coffee espresso - its only part technique! Get the edge with this delicious full flavour coffee bean using a base of the Monsoon Malabar, its a bold coffee bean just oozing thick strong crema. Served black, this is an impressive coffee. Served as an espresso, it is fabulous! This coffee bean is never acidic or bitter and if you are making this coffee as a milk based drink like a flat white or cappuccino, wow, it is just delicious. One of my all time favorite coffees. 

Get the edge with this delicious full flavour coffee bean