Extracting a cup of coffee from an espresso machine?

A customer wants to use his espresso machine to pull (make) a 12oz coffee
 The customer does not want to make americano's 
 They want to run the shot till they get a cup (12oz) of coffee.

They have travelled to Europe and tell me this is how everybody is doing it.

My questions 
Is this true?
how would this method affect the espresso machine? pumps etc?
If this is true what type of grind would they be using?

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Because in the mysterious country that is Europe they have magical coffee that taste better.

Not saying there isn't great coffee over there. It just seems like tourist have it in their head the coffee is better. Therefor creating an illusion for themselves.

I've had plenty experience with customers trying to tell me how to make their drinks.

But aren't we the experts? aren't we the ones constantly tasting coffee to finely tune our taste palette?

You don't tell the head chef at a restaurant how to make your meals.

Sorry..I'm ranting.
Matthew,
It's ok to rant on occasion. Especially when it comes to this topic. I hope some of the people you refer to get a chance to read your rant to help bring some perspective together for them. I so agree with you on the common illusions out there. It is so prevalent.
Joe



Matthew Gasaway said:
Because in the mysterious country that is Europe they have magical coffee that taste better.

Not saying there isn't great coffee over there. It just seems like tourist have it in their head the coffee is better. Therefor creating an illusion for themselves.

I've had plenty experience with customers trying to tell me how to make their drinks.

But aren't we the experts? aren't we the ones constantly tasting coffee to finely tune our taste palette?

You don't tell the head chef at a restaurant how to make your meals.

Sorry..I'm ranting.
Well look i am the head chef of restaurant for about 6 years and no matters how hard you i try i will always have some custumer asking for there 7 oz angus reserve filet mignon well done ( wath a waste of meat ) but that the way they like it. am i really going to say no to a 30 $ sell just because of that ? they are alway happy with there dry steak! and they always leave happy!and like i said a happy customer are important.
So the point is no matter how much you thinks that this is a wast of coffee? well a shot of espresso cost what 30 cents . Are you really going to turn away a custumer for 30 cents??How many of you eat there steak well done and how would you feel about a place that would refuse to serve yours like that?

Matthew Gasaway said:
Because in the mysterious country that is Europe they have magical coffee that taste better.

Not saying there isn't great coffee over there. It just seems like tourist have it in their head the coffee is better. Therefor creating an illusion for themselves.

I've had plenty experience with customers trying to tell me how to make their drinks.

But aren't we the experts? aren't we the ones constantly tasting coffee to finely tune our taste palette?

You don't tell the head chef at a restaurant how to make your meals.

Sorry..I'm ranting.


Matthew Gasaway said:
Because in the mysterious country that is Europe they have magical coffee that taste better.

I love this.

If "you eat first with your eyes", maybe "you drink first with your brain"?

BTW, pulling an 8oz shot in 30 seconds shouldn't "break" your machine. It may crash your boiler temp, but you aren't going to burn out anything.
messed around and made a few 6- 8 oz of these beasts tonight, I have some pics and a short vid ill toss up. All in all it tastes just fine, its not like an americano, its not quite espresso, its not like a black cup of coffee...its somewhere in between espresso and americano

it lacks all the sweetness that an espresso shot has (or can have), but its still sweet...I have a hard time describing this one honestly.
I have a home semi-automatic machine (Delonghi Magnifica ESAM3300) and it seems like that's how it makes full cups of coffee.

The pump is at 15 bar and makes espresso but the machine just keeps pumping hot water through the grinds as high up the cup as you want.

The end result is a full cup, sort of tasting like an americano but not a real "americano"
I believe the term is lungo. or long shot. Yes it is done in Europe. If I find any information on how it's done I'll pass it on...
I have this issue with my coffee shop in Spain. Its called a "Cafe solo largo". Basically a very long pour espresso (i've never done 12oz). When a customer asks for this kind of drink, i make an americano unless they specifically ask for a single pour through the head. The reason they ask for coffee like this is not because it is better tasting (try one - i dare you) it is down to lack on education. If a cafeteria owner doesn't understand that an espresso is 30ml then they just pour until the cup is full. People then get used to that method and assume its correct. If your doing cafe solo largo's all day then yes, your machine will suffer.
What you chose to make is up to you, but i know customers make a conscious effort to come to my shop for their cafe solo largo because it tastes better than bobs down the street. - Why? because they get an americano - the correct way to make the drink.
Thanks
Kim xx
p.s Europe is a big place, with a lot of different countries, cultures and influences. When you say "this is what they do in europe" your probably mean "this is what they to in this town or in this country that happens to be in europe"
Thank you for the PS at the end of your post.

Sometimes it seems that the only people who know less about Europe than North Americans are other Europeans. Hey, I don't mean that in any nasty way at all, but as you just said, Europe is a very very big place.
Honestly...I have had luck before doing this with a home machine (can't remember the make...sorry!) But trying it on our shop's Nuova Simonelli Aurelia...GROSS. Allonge=No good, man. Bitter as hell. Well, some people are into it...I guess it really depends on the machine. You would have to tinker around with the grind/pressure a lot to get a good cup going. But, as was mentioned, you don't want to leave a puck in the group head that long on most machines.
****It was a "Cafe Roma" machine

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