Is the Americano the Same as American Drip Coffee?

The Americano covers two different drinks. One is American drip coffee, brewed in a drip machine that adds water automatically and lets the liquid run into a thermal carafe. The other is espresso pulled under high temperature and then diluted with hot water. Starbucks stores mainly serve the second style, which is why grind size and extraction settings matter more than brew time.

After coffee spread in early twentieth-century America, most households used an American coffee machine for drip brewing. The diluted style is generally traced to American GIs stationed in Italy during World War II who found straight espresso too intense. Because the two drinks are built differently, bean choice, grind size and espresso extraction parameters should follow the method being used, not one shared setting.

Walk into any Starbucks, and the Americano is almost always one of the most ordered drinks. It's quick to make, clean in flavor, and lets you taste the richness of espresso without being overly intense. But did you know? The Americano actually has two completely different methods of preparation—one rooted in the American drip coffee tradition, and the other born at the hands of American GIs in Italy during World War II. In this article, Front Street Coffee will trace the origins of the Americano, explain the types of Starbucks coffee machines and their extraction logic, and share tips on choosing beans for Americano, grind size settings, and espresso extraction parameters to help you make a smooth, delicious cup of Americano.

In Starbucks stores, there's always a crowd of hurried office workers who grab an Americano and rush off. What exactly is the appeal of the Americano that makes busy urbanites favor it so much? And how does Starbucks make this cup of coffee? Today, Front Street Coffee will chat with you about this most common classic drink in coffee shops—the Americano.

Did the Americano really originate in America?

That statement is only half true. The reason is that the Americano actually falls into two major categories: one is drip Americano, and the other is espresso diluted with water. They use different equipment, and the origins of their preparation methods differ as well, so saying the Americano first appeared in America is only half right.

After coffee became widespread in America in the early twentieth century, what locals drank most was actually drip coffee—coffee made with a drip coffee maker (commonly known as an American coffee machine). In those days, almost every American household had a drip machine. You'd put coffee grounds in the machine, it would automatically add water and drip-brew, and the coffee liquid would flow into a thermal carafe, ready to drink from morning to night. But what we now call an Americano usually refers to espresso extracted under high temperature by an espresso machine, then diluted with hot water—there's a clear difference between the two.

So where did this Italian-style Americano first appear? The answer is Italy. (What? Isn't Italy famous for espresso? Why would the Americano be born in Italy??)

Legend has it that during World War II, American soldiers stationed in Italy couldn't get used to the intense, bitter taste of espresso, so they tried diluting it with hot water before drinking. Actually, you can tell from the name—Americano isn't English; it's Italian for "American." Although the diluted espresso was close to the drip coffee Americans were familiar with in taste and mouthfeel, once the flavor was watered down, Europeans rather looked down on this way of drinking it. The French even mockingly called it "sock coffee" (during the war, French soldiers used socks to filter coffee grounds for extraction).

Later, Starbucks—which originally only sold roasted coffee beans—began offering coffee beverages, bringing espresso extraction technology to America. Adapting to national tastes, they sold both intense espresso and diluted espresso, the latter named Americano. Because it was quick to serve and retained the richness of brewed coffee, the Americano quickly swept across America, with coffee shops everywhere following suit, and it ultimately became America's national drink.

What coffee beans make a delicious Americano?

Today, Americano beans typically use medium-dark to dark roast blend beans. Through the stable 9-bar pressure of an espresso machine, hot water rapidly passes through finely ground coffee, extracting espresso in a short time. As for how much water to add to espresso to make an Americano—generally a cup consists of one to two shots of espresso, then diluted with hot or iced water at an appropriate ratio (1:4 to 1:9, though of course you can adjust to personal taste).

Describing the taste characteristics of Americano

The flavor and mouthfeel of an Americano depend on the beans themselves. On the question of what beans make a good Americano, Front Street Coffee recommends espresso blend beans, because blends provide stable coffee flavor.

For example, Front Street Specialty Espresso Blend Beans, a blend of two renowned origins—Brazil and Colombia—extracts coffee with rich nutty aromas and a soft, bright berry acidity. Made into a hot Americano, the flavor shows hazelnut notes with a touch of berry acidity and a chocolate finish. Made into an iced Americano, the acidity is brighter than the hot version but not too sour, with a lingering nutty dark chocolate finish in the mouth.

If you're after something different, Front Street recommends the Sunshine Blend Beans currently used in our stores. It's a blend of Sherry and sun-dried Red Cherry, with a very pronounced fermented character. Whether as a hot Americano or a milk coffee, it pairs perfectly, with prominent cream and chocolate flavors and plenty of wine-like aroma.

So which tastes better—espresso or Americano?

Front Street believes this question can't be answered with a blanket statement. If you enjoy the taste of black coffee and want to taste the different flavor characteristics of espresso from a cup of black coffee, then the Americano is the obvious choice. But if you're interested in milk, adding milk somewhat softens the intensity of the coffee, making the drink easier to drink, and a perfectly integrated milk coffee is rich and mellow.

How to extract a delicious Americano?

The espresso used in an Americano doesn't have fixed extraction parameters. As coffee bean varieties and roast levels differ, grind size and extraction time will vary. So after buying beans, you need to adjust according to the extraction parameter suggestions below and taste until you're satisfied. Front Street Coffee recommends extracting espresso at a 1:2 coffee-to-water ratio, with 9 bar extraction pressure and an extraction time of 23 to 30 seconds.

Those who drink coffee regularly probably know that coffee bean grind sizes come in many dimensions. Front Street roughly divides all sizes into three types: fine, medium, and coarse.

Making an Americano with an espresso machine usually uses finely ground coffee. The reason is simple: under high temperature and pressure, water quickly penetrates the coffee bed in the portafilter, so extremely fine grinding and manual tamping of the coffee grounds are needed to extend the contact time between water and coffee, thereby extracting the coffee liquid better. So what grind size should a home drip coffee maker use? In other words, how coarse should the grounds be for an American coffee machine?

Actually, you can try it yourself at home, but Front Street Coffee will give you a simple parameter: keep the drip machine's grind size consistent with pour-over coffee, which is medium grind.

The coffee machines Starbucks uses fall roughly into three types:

1. La Marzocco, a fully manual coffee machine, takes slightly longer to make and is relatively complex in craft.

2. Mastrena, fully automatic.

3. Verismo, fully automatic.

Currently, Starbucks on the market generally uses the latter two. Before 2000, Starbucks stores mainly used semi-automatic coffee machines from Italy, and baristas needed to operate manually, controlling extraction time and pressure. But as Starbucks stores expanded, most stores switched to fully automatic machines like the Mastrena and Verismo. Of course, both brands come from the Swiss company Thermoplan, customized for Starbucks, with the Mastrena being an upgraded version of the Verismo. It's said these Starbucks-customized machines cost over 100,000 RMB each and are not sold to the public.

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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.