Let’s talk about coffee, coffee types and flavors. Flat White : The two most Kiwi coffees available are the long black and the flat white – as both originated in New Zealand and Australia. For a flat white, the steamed milk from the bottom of the jug (which is usually not so frothy, but rather creamy) is poured over a shot of espresso. It is now popular among mums and dads at school fetes who are desperately trying to stay awake. Long Black : Hot water is poured into a cup, and then two shots of espresso are poured into the water. If you do the inverse of this, it will result in an Americano. Long blacks can be quite strong, and have more crema (a creamy foam that tops espresso shots) than an Americano.
Two less common types are Liberica and Excelsa, which are rarely seen, especially in the United States. The former is grown exclusively in the Phillipines and is not imported at all into the States. On the other hand, the latter (which is often considered a genus of Liberica beans) only makes up about 7% of the world’s consumption and are grown in Southeast Asia.
Gesha/Geisha: This is an original variety of Arabica. It is named for the Ethiopian village that it originated from and wasn’t actually planted/harvested commercialy until the 1950s. It is resistant to coffee rust and is now primarily grown in Panama.The trees are rather tall with notably long leaves that mimic the shape of the beans. Obviously, these aren’t nearly all of the coffee varieties that are out there, but we figured it might help to get an idea of how they are all interconnected. For further reading, Medium has a helpful “periodic table” to help demonstrate the connections. And the World Coffee Research catalog is a great research if you want to more specifically explore individual Arabica varieties. Now let’s more on to the simultaneously less and more complex world of coffee drinks, shall we? Cold Brew Coffee – A method of brewing that doesn’t use hot water. Instead, cold water and a longer period of time is used to create the finished cold coffee beverage. Filtered or Drip Coffee – A method of brewing where coffee is placed into a paper filter and hot water is poured onto it allowing it to drip into the carafe below.
Lungo – Lungo is often confused with Americano, but it’s not at all the same. Lungo is a long shot prepared by extracting double the amount of water with same amount of coffee grounds. In figures, it means, 50 ml of water is extracted with 7 grams of coffee. This results in extraction of more caffeine, but with dissolved off-notes of coffee. It’s a less popular drink but it’s a preferred drink for people who demand more caffeine. Caffe Crema – An extra long espresso drink served in Northern Italy, Germany, Switzerland and Austria. It has different flavor profile than related drinks like Lungo and Americano due to different extraction process. Rough brewing ratios of ristretto, normale, lungo, and caffè crema are 1:2:3:6 and the average water part per shot is 6 oz (180ml). Cafe Zorro – This is a double shot of espresso that is added to water in a 1:1 ratio. See more info on The Best Coffee.