Café crème is a coffee drink you mainly come across in Germany, Switzerland, and Austria.
Read on to find out what a café crème is and how to make one.
What is café crème?
Café crème is a coffee drink that is similar to a lungo. In some coffee bars, it is what you get when you order a regular coffee.
A café crème has a volume of 250 ml. That means it fits perfectly in our latte cups. In terms of taste, it is more diluted and milder than an espresso and is similar to an americano.
How to make a café crème
You make a café crème in the same way as a lungo, but with much more water.
A lungo has a ratio of 1 part ground coffee to 2.5 parts liquid coffee. A café crème has a ratio of almost 1:14.
Here is how to make it:
- Grind 18 grams of your favorite specialty coffee beans. Make sure you grind much coarser than you would for espresso.
- Go through your puck prep. That means tamping and distributing if you are using an espresso machine.
- Lock your portafilter into the machine and place your coffee scale underneath. This is how you time your shot.
- Let the coffee run until you have about 250 grams of coffee in your cup. If this takes between 25 and 30 seconds, your grinder is set correctly.
- Is it running too fast? Grind finer.
- Is it running too slow? Grind coarser.
Remember this formula for a tasty café crème: 18 grams of ground coffee in, 250 grams out in about 25 to 30 seconds.
Café crème vs lungo
A café crème looks like a lungo, but it is not the same. Just like a lungo, a café crème is made with 18 grams of espresso-ground coffee. The difference is in the total amount of coffee you have in your cup after brewing.
The minimum ratio for a lungo is 1 part espresso ground coffee to 2.5 parts water. So if you use 18 grams of ground coffee, that comes down to 45 grams of liquid coffee.
A café crème has a ratio of 1:14 and a total volume of 250 grams. Both are more diluted than an espresso, which has a ratio of 1:2.
Want to make your café crème a little less strong? You can. Grind your beans coarser so it runs through a bit faster.
Read all about the difference between espresso, ristretto, and lungo here.
