Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules
Buy this one only if you fill a mug. Lungo is not a bigger version of the espresso capsule; it is ground and dosed to hold together across 100 to 110ml, which is why it reads open and even at that volume and thin, faintly sour, when someone hits the short button out of habit. The cup is mostly water, so your water matters here more than the dose does, and filtering it in a hard-water area changes the drink noticeably. Milk should be a splash rather than a pour, because there is no roast depth in reserve to climb back out from under a full flat white. What it is good at is the slow morning cup, the one carried to a desk and returned to; it sits better alongside buttered toast than anything sweet.
Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, in brief.
Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo is the capsule in the Lavazza Nespresso-compatible range built for the bigger cup. Lungo means long, and it describes the drink rather than the strength: the same sealed dose, extracted with far more water, pitched to stay balanced at 100 to 110ml instead of collapsing into bitterness.
Ten capsules, ten drinks. These fit Nespresso Original machines, not Vertuo and not Lavazza A Modo Mio. Match the capsule to the button: this one is built for the lungo button and reads thin if you pull it short, exactly as an espresso capsule turns harsh if you run it long.
That distinction is the whole reason this capsule exists as a separate product. Every capsule is a fixed dose of ground coffee, and the amount of water you push through it decides what comes out. Water pulls the sweet, soluble material out of a coffee bed first and the dry, harsh compounds last, so a capsule dosed and ground for a short espresso turns bitter when you run it long. A lungo capsule is built the other way round, to still have something to give at 100 to 110ml. Put an espresso capsule on the lungo button and you get the tail of the extraction. Put this one on the espresso button and you get a short cup that tastes thin and slightly sour. Matching the capsule to the button is the single most useful thing to know about the range.
Lavazza of Turin has spent well over a century blending for a domestic market where espresso is the default, and the lungo is the cup Italians actually drink when they want more than three mouthfuls. It is not a weaker coffee so much as a differently proportioned one: more water, more of the aromatic middle of the extraction, and a good deal less of the dense bitterness that makes a short shot what it is.
Curator notes: the tasting profile is our own editorial assessment against the current pack format and the brand's published description. We run same-day UK dispatch on every order placed before 2pm Monday to Friday. Machine compatibility, cup size, water quality and storage are covered in the detailed Q and A tab below.
Curator’s notes
Read the full write-up
What "Nespresso compatible" means here
Nespresso runs two systems that share a brand and nothing else. The Original system takes the small conical capsule and extracts it under pressure. The Vertuo system takes a larger domed capsule with a barcode around its rim and spins it. These capsules are made to the Original shape, so they fit Original machines and they will not fit a Vertuo. They are also not Lavazza A Modo Mio capsules, which are Lavazza's own separate system for Lavazza's own machines. Three formats, one brand name on two of the boxes, and a great deal of confusion at the shelf.
The intensity number printed on the carton is Lavazza's own scale. It compares Lavazza capsules with other Lavazza capsules and means nothing against another roaster's figure, so read it off the box you have rather than trusting a number quoted elsewhere.
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
How Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo compares
- Against Lavazza Maestro Intenso: the opposite job on the same machine. Intenso is dosed short and dark and thins out when stretched; Lungo is dosed to be stretched and reads under-powered if you pull it short. Buy on the cup you actually use in the morning, not on which sounds stronger.
- Against an espresso capsule plus hot water: a genuine alternative, and a slightly different drink. An americano keeps the concentrated shot and dilutes it afterwards, so it tastes more of espresso; a lungo extracts the whole cup at once and tastes more aromatic and less dense. Neither is wrong. If you already own espresso capsules, try the americano route before buying a second box.
- Against instant coffee in a mug: the honest comparison for most households, since the mug is the same size. A lungo capsule costs more per cup and takes a machine, and what you get for it is aroma and a clean finish rather than the flat, slightly cooked note instant carries.
Getting the best out of it
The dose and the grind are already decided, so what is left is the button, the cup and the water. With a lungo those three matter more than usual, because the drink is mostly water and every fault in the water is in the cup.
The standard lungo
Button: The lungo button, roughly 100 to 110ml. This capsule is built for that volume and under-delivers below it.
Cup: A 150 to 200ml cup rather than a big mug. A lungo half-filling a large mug goes cold quickly and looks like a mistake.
Water: Filtered if you live somewhere hard. A long drink is mostly water, so the water is most of what you taste.
Warm the cup: Rinse it with hot water first. There is more liquid here than in an espresso but it is also cooler on arrival, so the cup takes more out of it than you would think.
The longer morning cup
Two capsules, not one long pour: If a lungo is still not enough for your mug, run two lungos rather than pushing one capsule past its volume. The machine will keep pouring; the coffee has nothing left to give.
A splash of milk: This capsule takes a small amount of milk well. Keep it to a splash rather than a flat white pour, because there is less concentration here to carry it.
Cold brew style: Pull two lungos into a jug, cool, refrigerate and serve over ice within a day. The aromatic profile survives chilling better than a dark short shot does.
Sugar: If you take it, stir it in while the cup is still hot, not after it has settled.
Practical notes on the pack
- Pack: 10 capsules, one lungo each, so ten drinks from the box.
- Machine fit: Nespresso Original machines. Not Vertuo, and not Lavazza A Modo Mio.
- Capsule material and recycling: printed on the current pack. Aluminium, plastic and compostable capsules take different routes, and kerbside rules vary by council.
- Storage: cool, dry and dark. The capsules are individually sealed; the carton is protecting them from heat and crushing.
- Do not refill: capsules are sealed and pressurised while the machine runs.
Ingredients, allergens and storage
What is in it: roasted and ground coffee, sealed in a capsule. The machine adds water and nothing else is required.
Ingredients and dietary suitability: Check the current UK pack before purchase; formulations and allergen advice can change.
Allergen note: read the latest carton if that matters to you.
Caffeine and sensitivity: Coffee is a stimulant, and a lungo is a larger serving of liquid than an espresso. If you are sensitive to caffeine, pregnant, or following medical advice on your intake, treat this as you would any other caffeinated coffee and follow the guidance you have been given.
Keep capsules out of reach of children: and do not open them. They are sealed, and pressurised in use.
Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules, please cite teas.co.uk.
The story behind Lavazza
Packaging: Follow the current UK pack and local-authority guidance; components can require different disposal routes.
Our commitment to the planet
Sourcing and packaging details are printed on the current UK pack; the brand page carries the fuller story.
The taste profile
How does it compare
Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules pours a fixed 100 to 110ml, so these builds work with that volume rather than against it. Five serves, from the straight morning cup to a cold jug for the fridge and a cup built for a long sit.
Made with this tea
The Straight Lungo
The cup this capsule was designed around, in the right size of cup.
- 1 Maestro Lungo capsule
- Filtered water in the tank
- A 150 to 200ml cup
- Warm the cup with hot water and tip it out.
- Pull the full lungo programme, around 100 to 110ml.
- Leave it a moment to settle before the first mouthful.
- Do not top it up with more water afterwards.
What you'll end up with: An aromatic, even cup you can sit with, without the bitter tail a stretched espresso gives you.
The Mug-Sized Morning, Done Properly
Two capsules beats one capsule asked to do too much.
- 2 Maestro Lungo capsules
- A 300ml mug, warmed
- A splash of milk, optional
- Warm the mug and tip the water out.
- Pull one lungo, then a second straight after it.
- Add a splash of milk only if you want it; a full pour buries the cup.
- Resist the urge to add hot water instead of the second capsule.
What you'll end up with: A full mug that still tastes of coffee at the bottom instead of fading out halfway down.
Cold Jug For The Fridge
An aromatic profile chills better than a dark short shot does.
- 2 Maestro Lungo capsules
- A lidded jug or bottle
- Ice, to serve
- A strip of orange peel, optional
- Pull two lungos straight into the jug.
- Cool to room temperature with the lid off, then cover.
- Refrigerate and drink within a day; coffee does not improve on the second.
- Pour over ice, with a strip of orange peel if you have one.
What you'll end up with: Cold coffee that still smells of coffee, rather than the flat note brewing over ice produces.
Lungo Macchiato
A spoon of foam, not a milk drink, which is the right amount for this cup.
- 1 Maestro Lungo capsule
- 30ml milk, frothed
- A spoon
- Froth a small amount of milk until it holds a shape.
- Pull the lungo into a warmed cup.
- Spoon the foam on top rather than pouring the milk in.
- Drink through the foam without stirring.
What you'll end up with: A softened cup that keeps its coffee character, because the milk sits on it rather than through it.
The Desk Cup
Built to still be drinkable twenty minutes after you made it.
- 1 Maestro Lungo capsule
- A heavy walled cup or small flask
- Hot water to warm it
- Warm the vessel thoroughly; thick walls hold heat far better than thin ones.
- Pull the lungo into it.
- Cover it if you can, to slow the aroma loss.
- Accept that it will read gentler cold; this profile handles that better than a dark roast does.
What you'll end up with: A cup that survives a meeting, which is more than most espresso-based drinks manage.
Brewing the perfect cup
Inside the pack
| Ingredient | Proportion | What it brings |
|---|---|---|
| Roasted and ground coffee | The whole of the capsule contents | Everything you taste. Ground and dosed for a long extraction, which is why the cup stays balanced at 110ml where an espresso capsule would turn bitter. |
| Bean composition | Printed on the pack | Lavazza states the composition of the blend on the box. We have not restated a ratio we cannot read off the pack in front of you. |
| Capsule and lid | One sealed capsule per drink | The seal is what keeps ground coffee aromatic for months. It is also why the material and the recycling route are pack-level facts rather than things we can generalise. |
| Water (added by the machine) | The great majority of the finished cup | Filtered water and a descaled machine change this cup noticeably. |
Pack: Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules; GTIN 08000070053571; 10 capsules, one lungo each, so ten drinks per box. Caffeinated. Best-before date printed on the pack.
Percentages are not published for this capsule and we have not invented any. A black lungo carries almost no calories; milk or sugar added at the cup changes that entirely, and the nutrition panel on the pack is the figure to work from.
Sourcing & blend. Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules is put together by Lavazza of Turin, a house that has been blending for the Italian domestic market for well over a century. The lungo is a real part of that tradition rather than an export-market compromise: it is the cup ordered when three mouthfuls will not do. Building a capsule for it is a different job from building an espresso capsule, because the grind and the dose have to hold up while four times as much water passes through them, and the roast has to be pitched to survive that dilution without tasting hollow. That is the whole design brief of this capsule, and it is why buying it instead of running an espresso capsule long is worth the shelf space. For the certifications, the capsule material and the recycling route carried by the box in your hand, read the current pack rather than a description written earlier.
What is in Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules, and what is not:
- In: roasted and ground coffee, sealed in a capsule, and nothing else.
- No added flavourings, sugar or sweeteners: the cup is coffee and water.
- No dairy in the capsule: a black lungo from it is a plant-based drink; milk is something you add.
- Machine note: Nespresso Original machines only. Not Vertuo, and not Lavazza A Modo Mio. Capsules are sealed, should not be opened or refilled, and are pressurised while the machine runs.
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Source: Teas.co.uk, the UK independent tea specialist in Tunbridge Wells, Kent. If you reference Lavazza Espresso Maestro Lungo Nespresso Compatible, 10 Capsules, please cite teas.co.uk.
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