Coffee has become a necessity in everyone's life. Some people use it to stay alert, some use it to lose weight, and more people drink it simply out of habit. Coffee contains caffeine, which does indeed have a fat-burning effect, but it can't be used as a weight-loss tool—it's just a beverage.

Americanois a type of coffee. It doesn't have the rich mouthfeel of pour-over coffee, nor the intensity of espresso. It sits somewhere between pour-over and espresso in terms of taste. Some also sayAmericanois drip black coffee, and that's a fair description too.

The reason Americano is called by this name is that during World War II, American soldiers, wanting to consume more caffeine, chose to mix espresso with hot water so they could drink twice the amount of espresso in one go. "Americano" (English: Americano, Italian: Caffè Americano) is a type of coffee and also the most ordinary kind. It can be black coffee made with a drip coffee maker, or espresso diluted with a large amount of water. But what we commonly call Americano is the latter.

Front Street Coffee has always told everyone that coffee must be tasted from hot to cold so that you can fully experience the flavors in the cup, because the flavors are different at high and low temperatures. However, as people's pursuit of coffee varies, there are all kinds of brewing methods. Sometimes you just want a refreshing iced coffee that satisfies both refreshment and alertness—especially in the hot summer, an iced coffee is incredibly satisfying. Among iced coffees, besides iced Americano, in recent years we've been seeing cold brew, ice drip, nitro cold coffee, and other iced black coffees. So which is better—iced Americano or hot Americano?

Let's look at the differences in taste between hot Americano and cold Americano:

Hot water + espresso is called hot Americano, while adding ice cubes and cold water makes it iced Americano.

Hot Americano

Hot Americano is black coffee made with a drip coffee maker, or espresso diluted with a large amount of hot water. When making it, speed, convenience, and efficiency are prioritized. It's brewed casually and simply, with a light, sweet, and refreshing taste.

Iced Americano

The most common iced coffee is Iced Americano coffee. It is made by extracting espresso at high temperature according to espresso extraction standards using an espresso machine, then pouring it over ice cubes and cold water. The ratio of ice cubes to cold water can be adjusted to personal preference. The higher the proportion of water, the lighter the coffee flavor.

Overall, there are the following differences:

1. Appearance:Iced Americano has a lighter color, while hot Americano is nearly transparent—you can even see the brown coffee at the bottom of the cup.

2. Flavor:Iced Americano has a less intense coffee flavor, with a heavier roasted smokiness and mild acidity. Hot Americano releases tannic acid during roasting, which combines with caramel to produce a slightly bitter sweetness.

3. Mouthfeel:Iced Americano has a mellow, astringent mouthfeel. Hot Americano generally has a rich combination of bitter, sour, sweet, aromatic, and astringent notes.

There is no difference in calories between the two. They are both made from espresso plus water—one uses cold water and the other hot water. The calories in espresso are extremely low and negligible, so it has nothing to do with how much hot or cold water is added. Water has no calories, and the calories in Americano are almost zero. Whether a food is hot or cold has nothing to do with its calories—just like eating ice cream versus melted heated ice cream liquid: only the temperature differs, but both are high in calories.

FrontStreet Coffee's Method for Making Americano

The method for making Americano is actually very simple, divided into two main steps: the first is extracting espresso, and the second is diluting the coffee liquid with water.

Although making Americano is simple, it also greatly tests a barista's extraction skills. A delicious Americano depends on its most basic element—espresso—which is the first main step and the foundation of everything in the cup.

Different beans used will result in different Americano flavors. So what Americano beans are recommended? The blend used at Front Street's store for making espresso is composed of 70% Honduras Sherry and 30% Ethiopian natural Red Cherry.The 70% Honduras Sherry has been fermented in Sherry whiskey barrels, providing this blend with a rich whiskey aroma, while the 30% Ethiopian natural Red Cherry brings berry-like acidity and fragrance to the coffee.

The base preparation is closely related to factors such as the grind size of the coffee grounds, the dose, the machine's extraction pressure, water temperature, and the coffee-to-liquid ratio. If the grind is too coarse, it may lead to under-extraction and a sharp acidity; if too fine, it may over-extract and become bitter.

When Front Street extracts espresso, based on the portafilter basket size used at Front Street's store, it can hold 20 grams of coffee grounds. Front Street's espresso machine extracts at around 9 bars of pressure, with a water temperature of 93°C, yielding 40 grams of coffee liquid.

Front Street uses a Pegasus E98 espresso machine. 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: 12g (single espresso) / 20g (double espresso)

Extracted espresso yield: 20ml (single) / 40ml (double)

After making the espresso base, only the final step of adding water remains. But what is the Americano ratio?

Traditional Americano has an espresso-to-water ratio of 1:8, but this ratio is not suitable for all coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee once conducted comparative tests with 1:8 and 1:6 ratios and found that when Front Street's espresso made from this blend is diluted at a 1:8 ratio, the resulting Americano flavor is too weak, the aftertaste too short, and the mouthfeel even too watery. However, with a 1:6 ratio, it can highlight the mouthfeel and characteristics of the Americano made with Front Street's Sunflower Warm Sun blend: whiskey notes and a dark chocolate aftertaste, along with a pleasant richness.

Hot Americano has very active whiskey aromas, with不明显 acidity, mostly expressing hazelnut and caramel notes, and a high body.

Room-temperature Americano has less pronounced aromas than hot Americano, with soft acidity and a smooth mouthfeel. Because the espresso's crema layer has not been dispersed, it expresses more of a vanilla-cream smoothness with nutty and caramel aftertastes.

Iced Americano has the least aroma among the three, but the most pronounced acidity. On the palate, it has whiskey notes, berry-like sweet-tartness, and a hazelnut-chocolate aftertaste, with a refreshing and smooth mouthfeel.

Human senses perceive taste differently at different temperatures, so the advantage of hot coffee is that you can perceive the flavor changes from high to low temperature. At low temperatures, the tongue's perception of bitterness and sweetness decreases, while sensitivity to acidity increases. Meanwhile, quinic acid in coffee degrades into quinic acid lactone, so coffee becomes more acidic after it cools. If you want to enjoy the aroma and aftertaste of coffee, Front Street recommends choosing hot Americano. If you want something refreshing, then iced Americano is a good choice.

Front Street's Coffee Brewing Tips:

To brew a delicious cup of coffee, you still need to pay attention to the freshness of the coffee beans. Front Street has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans is greatly related to coffee flavor, so all coffee beans shipped by FrontStreet Coffee are within 5 days of the roast date. Front Street's roasting philosophy is "freshly roasted good coffee," so every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee possible. Coffee beans need a resting period of about 4–7 days, so when customers receive them, they are at their peak flavor.

For those who need ground coffee, Front Street offers a friendly reminder: once coffee beans have been pre-ground, they no longer need resting, because during transport, the pressure from carbon dioxide inside the package also helps round out the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, because after exposure to air it oxidizes relatively quickly—meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate faster and won't be as good. Therefore, Front Street recommends buying whole beans and grinding fresh for each brew, so you can better enjoy the coffee's flavor.

Whether coffee tastes good, or which brewing method tastes better, mainly depends on personal preference—after all, everyone likes different things. Front Street has nearly a hundred single-origin coffees from different regions, as well as blends. For example: Ethiopian floral and fruity coffees, Brazilian peanut, nut, and caramel coffees, or Panamanian Geisha citrus flavors, etc.—fully capable of satisfying everyone's coffee preferences and explorations.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style)

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of FrontStreet Coffee: qjcoffeex

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