Every region has its own way of drinking coffee, and because some regional coffee-drinking methods are fairly representative, they have given rise to a kind of local culture, much like Turkish coffee or Italian coffee. And when it comes to those coffees, a picture may already have formed in your mind. But when it comes to Americano, your mind may hesitate for a moment first, and then two scenarios appear: one is the black coffee made with a drip machine, and the other is espresso diluted in water.

Drip coffee is generally black coffee; as long as you do not add sugar or milk to it, it is a cup of black coffee. Just as Turkish coffee has a story with Turkey, Americano likewise has a story with the United States; otherwise, the word "American" in the name would be inexplicable.

"Americano" (English: Americano, Italian: Caffe Americano) is a type of coffee and also the most ordinary coffee. It can be black coffee made with a drip coffee pot, or it can be made by adding a large amount of water to espresso. But what we usually call Americano is the latter.

It is said that during World War II, American soldiers went to the European continent to support the war effort. The people over in Europe were used to drinking espresso with concentrated flavor, but because the taste and mouthfeel were too concentrated, Americans were not used to it and even found it hard to swallow. So they diluted the espresso with water before drinking it, and continued this practice. Europeans scorned this practice, so they named this kind of coffee "Americano", which means American-style coffee. It should be noted that if you go to a cafe in Italy and want to order an Americano, you must add cafe before Americano; the same goes for latte. If you only say latte, you will probably just get a cup of milk.

How FrontStreet Coffee Makes an Americano

As for how big a cup of Americano is, we know that a Starbucks grande Americano is 473ml and a venti Americano is 592ml, but here, to bring out the flavor profile of the coffee beans, FrontStreet serves its iced Americano in a 300ml glass, while the hot Americano is served in a 200ml ceramic cup, so that it is not only rich in aroma but also smooth and refreshing in mouthfeel.

The method of making an Americano is actually very simple, divided into two main steps: the first is extracting the espresso, and the second is adding the coffee liquid to water.Even so, the Americano is also a great test of a barista's extraction skills. A delicious cup of Americano cannot do without its most basic element, which is espresso, meaning the first main step is everything for this cup of Americano.

Different beans are used, and the flavor of the resulting Americano will also differ, so what Americano coffee bean recommendations are there? FrontStreet uses FrontStreet Classic Espresso Blend coffee beans to make its Americano. This is a recipe combining three origins, Brazil, Indonesia and Vietnam, and it uses a dark roast, which can highlight the mellow aroma of the coffee to the greatest extent and also lets everyone easily extract a rich and dense crema, making it very suitable whether for making an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk. It can be purchased and ordered at the FrontStreet Taobao store or the FrontStreet Tmall flagship store.

FrontStreet Coffee: Classic Italian Blend Coffee Beans

Regions: Brazil & Indonesia & Vietnam

Roast Level: Dark Roast

Processing Method: Washed & Wet-Hulled

The part that makes up the base has a very close relationship with factors such as the grind size of the coffee grounds, the dose, the machine's extraction pressure, the water temperature, and the coffee-to-liquid ratio. If the coffee grounds are ground too coarse, it will easily lead to under-extraction and a sharp, sour taste; if too fine, it will easily lead to over-extraction and become bitter.

The tamping step after loading the grounds and distributing them is also very important. To outsiders, this step looks like just taking a tamper and pressing down on the coffee grounds, and some friends who are very proud of their mighty arms may use tremendous force, even risking cracking the portafilter basket as they think brute force will produce a miracle, assuming that compared with the 9 bar of pressure the machine provides, this is nothing worth mentioning. Little do they know that this brute-force approach will make the density of the coffee puck too great, and the gaps for water to pass through will be greatly reduced or even blocked completely, which will easily cause over-extraction.

In addition, pay special attention that the direction of force applied with the tamper must be perpendicular to the portafilter basket, otherwise the puck will be pressed unevenly, resulting in uneven extraction.

When Qianjie extracts espresso, depending on the capacity of the portafilter basket used at the Qianjie store, it can hold 20 g of coffee grounds. The extraction pressure of Qianjie's espresso machine is around 9 bar, the water temperature is 93°C, and the extraction yields 40 g of coffee liquid.

Qianjie uses a Flying Horse E98 espresso machine, and the extraction parameters are as follows:

Pressure: 9 bar±2

Temperature: 90.5~96°C

Time: 20~30 sec

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2

Dose: 12 g (single espresso) 20 g (double espresso)

Extraction yield: 20 ml (single) 40 ml (double)

After the espresso base has been made, only the final step of adding water remains. But what is the ratio for an Americano?

For a traditional Americano, the ratio of espresso to water is 1:8, but such a ratio is not suitable for all coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee once conducted a comparative test with ratios of 1:8 and 1:6 and found that when the espresso made with this blend was diluted with water at a ratio of 1:8, the resulting Americano tasted too weak, with too short an aftertaste and even an overly watery mouthfeel. With a ratio of 1:6, however, it could highlight the mouthfeel and characteristics of the Americano made with FrontStreet's Sunflower Warm Sun blend: whisky notes and a dark chocolate aftertaste, along with a good body.

How do you drink an Americano?

When a cup of coffee is set before you, Qianjie suggests you need not rush to drink it; you should approach it as you would tea or wine, following a process that goes from shallow to deep, so as to release stress, refresh yourself and enjoy it.

Step one, smell the aroma, and take in the rich fragrance of freshly ground coffee as it hits your nose;

Step two, observe the color; freshly ground coffee is best when it shows a deep coffee brown, rather than being pitch black and unfathomable;

Step three, taste it; take a sip of coffee first to feel the original flavor of freshly ground coffee; the freshly ground coffee should have some sweetness, a little bitterness, and sourness without bitterness. Then sip it little by little; there is no need to rush to swallow the freshly ground coffee in one gulp. Hold it in your mouth for a moment, let the freshly ground coffee mix slightly with saliva and air, and then swallow.

If you find it bitter, Qianjie suggests adding according to your own preferred taste, for example: spice cinnamon, sugar or milk, or soda water.

The difference between hot americano and iced americano

Because the higher the temperature, the more active the movement of molecules. So hot americano coffee has the upper hand in aroma. However, iced americano has a refreshing feel that hot americano does not. If you want to taste the aroma and finish of the coffee, Qianjie recommends choosing hot americano coffee. If you want something cooling, then iced americano coffee is a good choice.