I spent June of 2004 in Budapest. While there I picked up a taste for the hosszú kávé at the Central Kávéház. As an American mathematician I’m mostly familiar with standard drip-brewed coffee and never really got into any of the special coffee drinks. I’ve been wondering what sort of coffee drink available at American coffeshops would be most comparable to a Hungarian hosszú kávé. Any ideas?
Moved to CS.
-xash
General Questions Moderator
In web searching it’s direct translation is “long coffee” and it’s apparently what Hungarians deem to be an “American style” coffee vs the traditional more expresso like drinks. There seem to be quite a few variations on it. Do you know how it (the kind you liked) was prepared?
What was the drink like? Most café drinks are just various combinations of espresso and steamed, foamy milk, with sweet flavored syrups in some of them. If the drink was prepared in a specific way like, for instance, Greek coffee, you won’t have much luck getting it at Starbucks.
Duh. I should have thought of that… thanks mods.
My best guess is something like an espresso or macchiato, which neither of them really manages to capture it. It was larger than an espresso, strong and slightly bitter, and I think it came with something added, to judge by the color and foaminess. There was a little pourer of the milk on the side, though, so I don’t think that there was milk already in it.
Really, I’m hoping a Hungarian doper knows what, generally, the drink consists of and what the closest approximation is.
Based on the translations provided before, and on this site:
http://66.102.7.104/search?q=cache:Ylpd_ToaUFAJ:www.tantien.hu/kave.html+hosszú+kávé.&hl=en
I’d guess that what you had is a caffe’ lungo: espresso with more than the normal amount of water sent through it (as opposed to an americano, which is espresso with water added to it after it comes out of the machine).
The color and foaminess you’re talking about might be the “crema” on top of the espresso–good espresso has a little layer of dense golden foam on top.
So the definition of a mathematician as “a device for turning coffee into theorems” is true, eh? 
Actually, the original quote was “coffee and cigarettes”. Coincidentally, it’s by Paul Erdös, a Hungarian.
The thing he left out was all the speed he took.
That sounds like it might be what I’m looking for. Now to find a coffeeshop that makes it so I can test it out.