How Does a Moka Pot Handle a Longjing Iced Americano?

Longjing Iced Americano combines green tea and coffee in one glass, and it works either way: brew Longjing with hot water and use that liquid in place of plain water, then add espresso, or grind the tea leaves and extract them together with the coffee grounds before pouring in ice water. A moka pot version, where the tea goes into the base chamber, is also easy to make at home and holds up well in the cup.

The main risk is the tea being buried under the coffee, so watch the extraction and the ratio. Any green tea, such as Biluochun or Maojian, can replace Longjing, though the taste shifts. A medium-roast bean like Diamond Mountain is used as the demonstration, and the iced americano how much water question matters most when the tea liquid already carries its own flavor.

Can green tea and coffee be enjoyed in the same cup? This article focuses on Longjing Iced Americano, first analyzing the key to harmonizing tea and coffee flavors, then presenting two methods using an espresso machine and two methods using a moka pot, along with a practical tasting comparison. Front Street uses Diamond Mountain medium-roast beans as a demonstration, explaining extraction parameters and precautions in detail to help coffee enthusiasts recreate this new-style Americano at home. The full text retains brand recommendations and product information for readers' reference.

During a casual chat yesterday, a friend recommended a new way of combining Americano with green tea to Front Street. It is said that the finished drink is different from the common "Yuenyeung," with a unique flavor and simple steps, called "Longjing Americano."

Regardless of age, everyone should be familiar with the taste of tea. Compared to coffee, tea is mostly elegant and subtly fragrant, with a fresh and sweet aftertaste; coffee tends toward mellow bitterness, intensity, and fullness. For this reason, to make the two coexist harmoniously, it is essential to prevent the "tea flavor" from being completely overpowered by the "coffee flavor," and this depends on the extraction method and the pairing ratio.

After some research, Front Street broadly categorized Longjing Americano methods into two types: first, brew the tea with hot water, use the tea liquid instead of water, then add espresso; second, grind the tea leaves and extract them together with the coffee grounds, then pour in ice water. Besides these, there is also a version for moka pot users, said to be easy to make with a pretty good taste, worth trying. So today, let's indulge a little～

Regarding the choice of tea leaves, Front Street thinks it's not necessary to stick strictly to Longjing. Common green teas at home, such as Biluochun, Maojian... as long as you don't get scolded by your elders, they can all be used; if conditions permit, you can also look to other tea types, like black tea with prominent fruity-honey notes, or oolong tea with interwoven floral-fruity and roasted aromas. Because the flavors differ, combining them with coffee will naturally bring different taste experiences.

As the other protagonist, the choice of coffee beans is equally crucial. As Front Street mentioned above, to make a tasty finished drink, you need to ensure the tea flavor is rich without being astringent, while also making sure its aroma is not overpowered by the "coffee flavor."

Based on Front Street's practical experience, it's best to avoid overly dark-roasted beans, otherwise the bitterness will be too prominent; secondly, coffee with obvious fermented notes will also mask the elegant tea aroma; thirdly, light-roasted beans, due to espresso extraction, tend to produce noticeably sour and astringent espresso. Overall, choosing sun-dried/washed/honey-processed coffee beans with a medium roast level is the most reliable for making Longjing Americano. Here, Front Street Diamond Mountain Coffee is used as a demonstration, presenting cocoa, citrus, and honey flavors when brewed.

Espresso Machine Method One

Prepare 4g Longjing tea leaves, pour in 200g boiling water, steep for about 1.5 minutes, then filter out the tea liquid;

Place 100g ice cubes in a cup, pour in the brewed tea liquid and set aside. To make the coffee and green tea taste more harmonious, Front Street adds 5g syrup, gently stirring to even it out and cool it down;

Grind 20g Diamond Mountain coffee grounds, extract 40g espresso in 29 seconds, pour over the tea liquid, and it's done.

Espresso Machine Method Two

First grind 18g Diamond Mountain coffee grounds, then weigh 2g Longjing tea leaves and grind them into the finest particles.

Next, spread the tea powder on top of the coffee puck and tamp firmly, extracting 40g of tea-coffee mixture in 25 seconds.

Finally, prepare a cup of ice water with 5g syrup, pour in the tea-coffee mixture, stir, and it's ready to drink.

Moka Pot Method

Using a moka pot, you can also follow the above operations and divide into two methods:

For the first method, first brew a cup's worth of green tea with 4g Longjing tea leaves and 200g hot water, then pour into ice to cool; grind about 18g Diamond Mountain coffee grounds (moka pot coarseness), extract about 60–80ml of coffee liquid, and pour it over the Longjing tea.

For the second method, first grind 19g Diamond Mountain coffee and 2g Longjing tea leaves, evenly fill the filter basket, then put it back on the base, tighten the top and bottom chambers, and start heating; when the liquid fills the lower silver part, stop heating, and after the remaining coffee-tea has all been released, pour it into the pre-prepared tea liquid. Finally, add 5g syrup, stir evenly, and it's ready to drink.

Tasting and Comparison

The green tea Americano made with the first method, although the tea flavor is on the lighter side and the coffee flavor slightly stronger, has a clear overall mouthfeel, with orange and nutty flavors on entry, and after swallowing you can taste a bit of the fresh aroma of Longjing tea. It's also easy to make, overall neither outstanding nor disappointing;

In comparison, the second method, under the multiple pressures of the espresso machine, seems to have over-extracted both the coffee and the tea. The first thing you feel when drinking this cup of Longjing Americano is not sweet-and-sour or sweet, let alone much aroma; instead, it's the astringency of green tea and the bitterness of coffee. Even with the help of ice cubes and syrup, it's still hard to drink. If you want to try this method, Front Street suggests reducing the dose or coarsening the grind;

The moka pot version falls somewhere in between: because the moka pot's pressure is lower, the coffee concentration is lower than espresso, so after combining with the tea liquid, neither masks the other's flavor—one could say it's fairly harmonious; the same goes for the method using ground tea leaves. The moka pot's gentler extraction means the tea powder releases fewer substances, thus avoiding some of the over-extraction risk. The final Longjing Americano, while not exactly boasting great flavors, is still a mellow, refreshing pick-me-up drink.

Lastly, Front Street must remind you again: coffee can wake you up, and tea can too. When the two are combined, it means double the alertness. If you are sensitive to caffeine or have a low tolerance, please try with caution...

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