Although Breville espresso machines make great espresso, sometimes you just want to enjoy a full mug of regular coffee. So, How to make regular coffee with Breville espresso machine?
Depending on where you live, having a “regular coffee” can mean a few different things. It’s either an Americano, an Americano with sugar and cream, or a lungo.
Whichever of the three you meant to make, I will cover all three in this article!
Can You Make Regular Coffee With Breville Barista Express?
You can make a regular coffee with every Breville Espresso machine. Every Breville machine has a hot water function. The only thing you have to do to make a regular coffee is to add some hot water, sugar, and cream to your espresso.
How to Make a Regular Americano With The Breville Barista Express?
When people say they want to make a “regular coffee”, most people mean to make an Americano, and if you like, add some cream and sugar. So, here is how you make a regular coffee (Americano) with your Breville Barista Express.
Weighing, Grinding, And Tamping Coffee Before Pulling A Shot
To start, we want to make espresso. For this, you first need to weigh out the amount of coffee you will use. I like to go with 18 grams of coffee beans.
Put the coffee beans in your Breville’s grinder and place the portafilter under the ground coffee dispenser. The grind size to use really depends on the kind of beans you have. I usually go with size 8.
I wrote an article that you can check out about: how to figure out what grind size to use for your Breville espresso machine.
Now that you have the ground coffee in your portafilter, make sure to level the ground coffee and tamp the coffee firmly.
Pulling An Espresso Shot
Before you lock the portafilter in the machine, press the single shot button once to let some hot water flow. This will clean out the ground coffee from last time and it will warm up your espresso machine a bit.
Now lock in the portafilter, put a large or medium cup under it (not an espresso cup), and press the double shot button.
The pressure dial should point north when pulling the shot. If this isn’t the case, you can check out this article about: How to get the right pressure with your Breville espresso machine.
Turning It Into An Americano
Now that you have an espresso, all you need to do is add hot water to turn it into an americano. You can remove the portafilter and put the cup under the hot water dispenser. Turn the dial on the right side of your Breville to “hot water”.
Your Breville will stop automatically when it has poured 8oz of hot water. This is the perfect amount for an Americano. Now you have a 10oz Breville barista express americano which consists of 2oz espresso and 8oz hot water.
To turn it into a regular coffee, add some cream and sugar to your liking.
How To Make A Lungo With The Breville Barista Express?
In most parts of Europe, when people say they want to make a “regular coffee”, they mean to make a Lungo. So, for the Europeans reading this. Here is how you make a regular coffee (lungo) with your Breville Barista Express.
Making An Espresso
The first part of making a lungo is exactly the same as making an Americano, in that we first want to make an espresso. If you’re only reading this article for the lungo part, here is the process of making an espresso again:
Get 18 grams of ground coffee in the portafilter. For grind size, I usually go with size 8, but this can be different for you depending on the coffee beans you use. Make sure to level the ground coffee and tamp the coffee firmly.
Put a medium-sized cup under the portafilter (a cup that is a bit bigger than an espresso cup) and press the double shot button once.
The pressure dial should point north when pulling the shot. If this isn’t the case, you can check out this article about: How to get the right pressure with your Breville espresso machine.
Turning It Into A Lungo
All you have to do to turn this espresso into a lungo is press the single shot button once. That way you get a slightly larger espresso called a lungo.
When I make a lungo for myself. I like to press the double shot button twice so that instead of three servings of water, I get four. That way, the flavor is slightly more bitter, but the coffee is larger.
Conclusion
So to answer the question again: Can you make a regular coffee with the Breville Barista Express? The answer is yes! It just involves some extra steps. To summarize, this is how you make a regular coffee with your Breville Barista Express:
- Make a 2oz espresso
- Add 8oz of hot water
- Add sugar and cream to your liking
- Alternatively, you can make a lungo
I hope that this article helped you make regular coffee with your Breville espresso machine and that you can enjoy a nice large coffee now!
Thanks for reading!