There are a great many technical terms in the world of coffee, and although they may sound roughly alike, the meanings they express are actually entirely different. Take espresso, Americano, drip coffee and so on: although they all share a "style" suffix, some of these words are the name of a cup of coffee, some are the name of a brewing method, and some are a general term for a category of coffee. Each is different from the others!

The Americano produced by FrontStreet Coffee has a refreshing taste and rich aroma. The barista uses FrontStreet's classic espresso blend beans roasted in-house. The espresso has notes of chocolate, roasted nuts, cream, nutty, and caramel. It is not only layered and rich, but also mellow and pleasant.

To highlight these aromas, Qianjie went through many comparisons and finally settled on a 1:4.5 ratio, that is, 180g of hot water added to 40g of espresso. When making an iced Americano, it is changed to 100g of large ice cubes and 120g of water, that is, 1:2.5:3. An iced Americano made this way has a moderate strength, is sweet, tart and refreshing, with a long-lasting finish.

Can Americano be sweetened with sugar or milk?

For people who cannot accept the bitterness of coffee, Qianjie usually suggests adding a small amount of sugar or milk to make the Americano more drinkable, while also enriching the layers of a cup of coffee.

A standard Americano often has an attractive golden foam floating on top - crema. A moderate amount of crema not only gives the coffee a good mouthfeel, but also provides us with some aromatic substances through the sense of smell, and it is also one of the important signs that the coffee is fresh.

To make the crema richer, many people prefer to use dark-roasted beans (espresso beans). Their flavor profile is bitter to begin with, and if the parameters are not dialed in well, the coffee will also show negative characteristics such as dryness or roughness. At this point, adding a small amount of milk not only neutralizes the coffee's bitterness, but the milk's creaminess also gives the whole cup of americano a thicker mouthfeel, allowing the caramel and chocolate aromas to become richer.

Usually, every coffee shop has a fixed ratio for its drinks. For example, Qianjie uses a medium-dark roasted Warm Sun blend to make a hot americano, served in a 240ml ceramic cup, with generally 35 to 40ml of coffee and 180ml of hot water, a ratio of roughly 1:4.5. The resulting hot americano, drunk straight, has a moderate strength, a balanced, mellow aroma, and a subtle sweet finish.

For those who want to add milk separately, Qianjie adjusts the coffee-to-hot-water ratio to 1:4, first adding 160ml of hot water to the cup and pouring in 40ml of espresso, then adding 15ml of fresh milk for every 100ml of black coffee. In other words, a total of 30ml of fresh milk is added, giving a good result in terms of strength, mouthfeel and aroma.