Many friends have asked Front Street, "How exactly do you make your iced Americano? It's sooo good!" Americano is a permanent staple on coffee shop menus, and every coffee shop's Americano tastes a bit different. So Front Street is going to teach everyone how Front Street makes its Americano.

The Origins of Americano

Americano originally referred to the drip black coffee that Americans liked to drink. This coffee tasted very light, not as rich and flavorful as what Europeans drank. After espresso spread around the world, in order to cater to American tastes, espresso was used as a base to create a coffee suited to Americans. Simply put, it isespressodiluted with water to the strength Americans like. This is the Americano in the espresso family, and it is also how major coffee shops make Americano today.

How to Make an Iced Americano

Hot Americano is made by diluting espresso with an appropriate amount of water, while iced Americano consists of espresso, water, and ice. Adding water and ice essentially changes the coffee's concentration. Although Americano's extraction yield and concentration are similar to pour-over coffee, unlike pour-over, it does not require balancing extraction yield and concentration at the same time—these are handled completely separately. Therefore, making a delicious iced Americano comes down to the ratio of coffee to ice water.

For the extraction yield part, you only need to manage the extraction yield of the espresso. Generally, with an espresso ratio of 1:2, the extracted coffee liquid will have an extraction yield of 19-20% and a concentration of 9-10%. At this point the coffee's extraction yield is already fixed, and what remains is to dilute the coffee liquid's concentration by adding water. Actually, there is no very precise rule for exactly how much water to add or what concentration to dilute to.

Front Street will do a test, measuring the coffee's concentration and tasting its flavor by adding different proportions of water. The espresso liquid uses Front Street's own roasted Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend coffee beans. With Front Street's extraction method, the resulting espresso will have an extraction yield of 19-20% and a concentration of 9-10%. Because different coffee beans and different extraction yields will produce different results (explained below), this still needs to be discussed with this foundation as the main premise.

In the first group, Front Street added 180ml of water, which is a 1:4.5 ratio. This is Front Street's hot Americano serving ratio. The measured concentration was 1.67%, which by Golden Cup standards is an extremely high concentration.

In the second group, Front Street added 240ml of water, which is a 1:6 ratio. According to Front Street's understanding, this is one of the mainstream Americano ratios. The measured concentration was 1.34%, hitting the Golden Cup standard.

In the third group, Front Street added 320ml of water, which is a 1:8 ratio. The measured concentration was 1.05%, a relatively low concentration.

From the perspective of concentration, the 1:6 ratio is relatively scientific for Americano. But Front Street ultimately chose the 1:4.5 ratio, because we are drinking coffee, and actual sensory feedback is also very important. After continuous comparison, Front Street found that this Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend coffee bean at a 1:4.5 ratio for Americano had the best flavors of winey aroma, vanilla cream, chocolate, and brown sugar. Although the data shows a rather high concentration, in actual sensory experience it does not feel too strong or abrupt.

The 1:6 ratio mainly applies to the currently common espresso coffee beans with a nutty-chocolate profile. The main flavors of these coffee beans are bitterness-oriented, and controlling the concentration within a range acceptable to most people means it won't taste too strong or too thin and weak when drunk, while still having enough coffee flavor—everything is just right, achieving a balanced, mass-market Americano.

The 1:8 ratio is suitable for traditional espresso coffee beans with a very dark roast level. The espresso extracted from these beans will have a very strong and bitter flavor, so more water needs to be added. In fact, the 1:8 ratio was also the ratio commonly used for Americano in the past, but later people began to pay more attention to flavor, bean quality became more and more particular, espresso extraction parameters also gradually changed, and through a series of chain effects, this ratio became relatively rare (some chain brands may still use this ratio).

One difference between making iced Americano and hot Americano is that the ice will melt into water over time, making the coffee weaker. Therefore, Front Street's approach to making iced Americano is to both ensure the flavor of the iced Americano and maintain a long-lasting low temperature.Therefore, Front Street chose larger hard ice cubes, which can slow down their melting speed. As for the proportion of water used, it is less water than when making hot Americano, so that after the ice melts slightly, the concentration will drop.

In terms of the actual amounts added, taking the espresso made by Front Street using Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend coffee beans as an example, 40g of espresso, plus 120ml of water and 100g (4 cubes) of large ice cubes. The ratio of coffee, water, and ice is 1:3:2.5. According to Front Street's observations, many customers will leave about 2 ice cubes after finishing. Of course, this ratio is not absolute. You can also, based on the flavor attributes of the coffee beans you use and by understanding Front Street's approach, arrive at a ratio you like.

Finally, many friends say our iced Americano is very delicious. Besides the appropriate ratio of water to coffee,espresso coffee beansselection is also very important. Different coffee beans express different coffee flavors.

For example, Front Street stores currently use Front Street's independently blended Front Street Sunflower Warm Sun espresso blend coffee beans, which contain 70% Front Street Honduras Sherry coffee beans and 30% Front Street Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans. Among them, Front Street Honduras Sherry coffee beans provide rich vanilla cream and sherry wine notes, while Front Street Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans provide rich brown sugar sweetness and chocolate charm. This makes the extracted espresso flavor very special and attractive.

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