Long macchiatos are stupid. There, I said it.
What is a Long Mach? Good question! Ask five people and you will likely get five different answers. Why? Well, because there is no such thing. A long mach is an invention of some clown who wanted a cool sounding drink but was too much of a wuss to drink a regular macchiato, then, like a game of Chinese whispers, it got passed around and changed and now it has gotten way out of hand. I wrote about this topic back in 2007 on my other blog but the problem is still here four years later!
Now my boss Alex has agreed that it has to go and we are planning to start a “Ban the Long Mach” campaign to convert all long mach drinkers to what they really want. All versions of Long Macchiatos are really a variation of another coffee, let me explain.
Long Mach A or “Traditional” Long Mach – double shot espresso with a dash of foam is really a double shot macchiato
Long Mach B – double shot espresso topped up with milk small glass is a double shot piccolo latte
Long Mach C – double shot espresso topped up with milk tall glass is a double shot latte
Long Mach D – double shot espresso topped with hot water with a dash of foam is a long black with a dash of foam
Long Mach E – double shot espresso topped with hot water and then topped with milk is a double shot latte 3/4 hot water.
Do you understand the problem now? The problem isn’t making any of these coffees. Physically making a long mach is not hard, we get way more annoying coffees all the time. The problem is that every time someone asks for a “long mach” we have to figure out which of these five versions (and there are probably other ones too) they actually want and people generally get annoyed that we can’t instantly read their mind regarding their pretend coffee. One customer sent one back that I made saying that “it’s not like the one I have at Dome” – I secretly took that as a compliment…
How do you feel about Long Macchiatos? Take the poll!
Do you work in a cafe? What other versions have you seen? What coffee do you hate?? Leave it in the comments!
Love Carrie xoxo xxxx
In Australia I was always more perplexed by Long Blacks and Flat Whites … what makes them long and flat respectively (given the size is the same)? Also IMO they are equally as ill-defined as a Long Mach: Is a Long Black filter coffee or an Americano? Is a Flat White filter coffee and a dash of cold milk or is it a Latte with no foam or an Americano with a dash of milk?
Comment by Steven McG — November 13, 2011 @ 7:28 pm |
Well according to what wikipedia tells me, an Americano is a Long Black.
Short Black – an espresso shot
Long Black – a double espresso poured over hot water
Flat White – an espresso shot topped up with hot milk and a small layer of foam
Latte – is short for Cafe Latte, Latte meaning milk (in Italian) cafe meaning coffee (in French) it is an espresso shot topped up with milk in a taller glass. so a weaker, milkier version of a flat white.
We use espresso for everything. I don’t know much about filter coffee because we don’t use it!
Comment by Carrie-Anne — November 13, 2011 @ 8:08 pm |
I wonder if adding espresso to water is even _slightly_ different from adding water to espresso? ;-)
Comment by Steven McG — November 13, 2011 @ 8:27 pm |
Do you mean in regards to Americano vs Long Black? Adding water second makes the espresso lose its crema. I’ll make it both ways at work today then post a pic for you! Taste wise I am not sure, I guess I will have to find that out today too!
Comment by Carrie-Anne — November 15, 2011 @ 7:18 am |