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Permalink Reply by Phil Proteau on February 24, 2010 at 4:45am

I don't know about the long black, but Latte Macchiato is the reason Starbucks calls their big vanilla concoction a Caramel Macchiato. The latte macchiato is when you fill the cup with the steamed milk first, then mark it by pouring the espresso in it after. You have marked the white foam with the brown crema. So if you mark a latte with caramel..., viola, Caramel Macchiato. So that is a legit name for a latte, even while the latte itself is not a truly traditional Italian drink.

Anyway, Wikipedia is only as accurate as the last person to edit the info. Anyone can add info to Wikipedia, but anyone can change it too.

I don't know where the most accurate, or "authentic" recipes will be found, sorry. Check old public domain literature, there are a variety of online sources like google docs and internetarchives.org.

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Permalink Reply by Bryan Wray on February 24, 2010 at 8:16am

Long black= Aussie term for Americano.

-bry

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Zimmerman on February 24, 2010 at 3:18pm

the difference is in the preparation...
long black is water then espresso on top
americano is espresso then water
we serve a long black but call it an americano...
the biggest difference I find is that one preserves the crema of the shot and the other doesn't... this alters the taste slightly... I prefer the long black as I like the complexity given by preserving the crema...
Cheers

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Permalink Reply by Brady on February 24, 2010 at 6:14pm

Hey maybe WE should make a list of official drink definitions! Wouldn't THAT be lots of fun! I'm sure there'd be complete agreement with little debate.

You think?

Seriously though... about the best you'll do is to ask and see the 5+ different definitions that people have. Some will even be able to support their beliefs with respected references. You'll find that there are a couple of perfectly legitimate definitions that you can pick from based on your own preferences. Realistically, that's about as good as you're gong to find.

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Permalink Reply by Christopher Zimmerman on February 24, 2010 at 6:29pm

I love that idea... It would make the discussions so much easier to follow if there was a clear definition...

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Permalink Reply by Bean Drinking on February 24, 2010 at 6:55pm

Long Black is typically credited with originating in Australia (as was the Flat White)...

To make Long Black, fill small tulip style cup (looking at 6-8oz) to approximately 1.5cm or 3/4 inch from top of the cup with hot water. Pack a double basket as normal, and extract BOTH shots into the top of the water.

Appearance wise, the long black should have a distinct crema layer which persists for at least a couple of mins after serving. You are looking for an extraction where the colour of the crema is fairly even (ie, no over extracted dark spots).

Drink is taken directly out to customer (in the same way you would 'rush' an espresso out so that the crema is intact when it is presented), but customers typically allow the drink to sit for a minute or so to cool before drinking.

It is common place for customers to request either hot or cold milk 'on the side'.

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