Many coffee enthusiasts start with instant coffee, then muster the courage to step into a Starbucks, only to be intimidated by the menu—thankfully, they spot the familiar Americano. Compared to hot Americano, iced Americano is more popular. Whether winter or summer arrives, a cup of iced Americano brings a refreshing and palate-cleansing sensation to the drinker.

Among many coffee enthusiasts, the most widely circulated version of the origin story of Americano is related to World War II. American soldiers, on their way to support Europe, found the strong coffee of southern Europe hard to stomach, so they added water to espresso. Europeans, disdainful of this thin, watery coffee, dubbed it "Americano."

In fact,Americanomay have originated even earlier. In the late 1920s, an author named Somerset Maugham wrote a character in a play who drank Americano, yet the book never provided any details about how Americano was made.

Even though Americano seems thin as water to some espresso lovers, it doesn't diminish people's affection for it. In most people's minds, the typical coffee flavor is bitter. However, some coffee novices, after tasting the iced Americano produced by Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), not only find the Americano from Front Street uniquely flavored but also wonder: the Americano I had before was bitter, but today I suddenly drank a sour Americano—what's going on? Has the coffee gone bad?

Actually, this has to do with the coffee beans. It's not because the beans have gone bad, but because of the beans' origin and roast level. Some chain coffee shops like Starbucks use espresso beans that are roasted darker. A darker roast ensures the stability of the beans and extends their shelf life, but as the roast level deepens, the beans' regional flavors gradually disappear, replaced by more pronounced nutty, dark chocolate flavors, or even a burnt, bitter taste.

As the quality of green coffee beans improved greatly after World War II, coffee roasters and roasting techniques were significantly enhanced. With the development of the third wave of specialty coffee to this day, coffee enthusiasts worldwide increasingly pursue regional terroir. To preserve the beans' inherently richer fruity sweet-and-sour notes and elegant aromas, the roast level tends toward medium and light roasts.

In addition, some specialty coffee shops may use single-origin beans to extract SOE coffee for making Americano. Since the espresso extraction process amplifies the beans' flavors, single-origin beans inevitably have prominent flavors—for example, Ethiopian beans extracted as espresso taste sour.

Of course, for stable extraction, many coffee shops still choose blended beans to make espresso. However, if a blend includes beans from Africa, the resulting iced Americano will also be sour. So, it's quite normal—and actually quite likely—to have a sour iced Americano at a café outside.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) once mentioned in an article explaining coffee flavors that sourness is good, but it depends on the situation. Some good acidity resembles the tartness of fruit juice, and if it's a sharp sourness, then there's basically no problem with the extraction.

Therefore, the same goes for iced Americano: sourness is the inherent taste of coffee beans, and it's perfectly normal for it to appear. You can drink it with peace of mind—it's not that the beans have gone sour and spoiled. If you don't like this flavor, you can ask the staff in advance about the roast level, the origin of the beans, and whether the beans will be sour, to avoid disappointment. I hope everyone can enjoy coffee they like.

The espresso drinks served at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) shops use a blend called "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend." This blend consists of 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans and 30% Ethiopian sun-dried Yirgacheffe.

Among them, the Honduras Sherry beans, after fine washing, are placed in Sherry whisky barrels for low-temperature fermentation for 30 to 40 days. The whisky aroma compounds in the barrels penetrate the green beans, bringing vanilla cream and boozy notes.

The Ethiopian sun-dried Yirgacheffe undergoes a natural process, imparting a berry-fruit acidity to the espresso and a more pronounced sweetness.

Before daily service, the baristas at Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) adjust the various espresso extraction parameters each day based on the temperature and humidity. After adjustments, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) usesespresso beansground with a Galileo Q18 grinder at grind setting 1.5 to produce 19.7 grams of coffee grounds, brewed on a Lelit Bianca V3 espresso machine for 30 to 32 seconds, extracting 38 to 40 grams of espresso.

Making Americano requires no sugar or milk—just diluting espresso with a certain proportion of water. Therefore, Americano is also one of the black coffees (plain coffee) that everyone loves.

When serving hot Americano, Front Street uses a 1:4.5 ratio. At this ratio, Front Street's hot Americano better highlights the boozy, vanilla, and chocolate flavors of the Warm Sun Blend while maintaining a full-bodied mouthfeel.

When serving iced Americano, considering the lasting chill and how ice, water, and coffee merge, Front Street opts for larger ice cubes (25g each), ultimately using a ratio of 1:2.5:3 / espresso: ice: water. This way, the coffee isn't too strong at first, and as the ice melts slowly, it won't become too dilute.

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