An americano and a long black: the difference

What's the difference between an americano and a long black coffee? I'd often wondered. Both seemed to be espresso and water.

Not everyone will give you the same answer in a coffee shop if you ask them. But my understanding is the difference between an americano and a long black comes down to the order of adding your water to your espresso — an americano — or adding your espresso to your water — a long black one.

If you’re making your own americanos or long black at home, you may notice that a long black seems to make a more satisfyingly luxurious-looking coffee as it does a better job of preserving the crema on top.

Other coffee-related sketchplanations:

• Make Vietnamese coffee
• How to make Irish coffee
• Half-caff coffee
• Espresso, filter, americano and the redeye.

Perhaps I should speak to someone about this.

More what's the difference sketches