Friends who drink coffee regularly may know that espresso has a very rich mouthfeel and intense flavor, and it becomes even harder to accept once it cools down. But if you add ice cubes, the temperature of the espresso can drop rapidly, or mixing it with ice water instantly brings out a refreshing taste, the bitterness becomes less heavy, and drinking it in summer is even more thirst-quenching and cooling—this is the charm of iced Americano.

The ratio of iced Americano coffee to water

Iced Americano is undoubtedly the simplest popular item in a café; it only requires combining espresso, ice cubes, and water, and it is also usually the lowest-priced drink on the menu, typically between 18 and 25 yuan. At this point, some friends may wonder: what is the ratio of each component? There is no specific standard for the ratio of iced Americano, which means every coffee shop’s Americano may be different. Everyone determines it based on the flavor characteristics of the coffee beans used and the cup size.

For example, the Americano served at Front Street Coffee uses Front Street’s own roasted Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans. Under ideal extraction, it should have the flavors of wine, vanilla, cream, chocolate, and berries. In order to highlight these aromas, Front Street conducted multiple comparisons and finally settled on a ratio of 1:4.5. When making it, extract 40g of espresso from 20g of coffee grounds, pour it into a preheated cup, add 180g of hot water, and control the temperature at 80–85°C.

When making iced Americano, Front Street takes into consideration the chilling effect and the situation after the ice melts. The harder the ice cubes, the slower they melt when soaked in water, so the ice cubes used at Front Street stores are all frozen and shaped in advance, then taken out and kept frozen in the refrigerator. This kind of “old ice” melts more slowly, so even in summer it will not melt completely too quickly, diluting the concentration and making the coffee taste too weak. Here, Front Street chooses relatively large ice cubes, with 1 cube weighing about 25g, and replaces the hot water portion in hot Americano with 100g of large ice cubes and 120g of room-temperature water, that is, 1:2.5:3. This kind of iced Americano has a moderate concentration and is sweet, sour, and refreshing.

Besides iced Americano, what other iced coffees can espresso and ice make?

Among the guests who come to Front Street for coffee, a small number of friends will order from the FrontStreet Coffee barista like this: “Boss, please give me an iced Americano without water, thanks!” The method is also very simple: for the iced water in the iced Americano, only keep the ice cubes. However, Front Street recommends pouring the espresso liquid over the ice cubes, or directly extracting espresso into a cup already filled with ice cubes.

In this way, the espresso will quickly cool down after passing through the ice cubes, and the resulting flavor and mouthfeel will be better. So an iced Americano with the water removed, that is, iced espresso, still tastes quite rich. The coffee beans used by Front Street are the Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans, and hot espresso and iced espresso were made separately for comparison. Compared with hot espresso, it seems less bitter, has a bit more sweet-and-sour quality, and the whole cup has a bright, uplifting feeling.

In addition, in recent years, “quicksand iced Americano” and “waterfall iced Americano” have also become popular on various platforms. “Quicksand” refers to the crema of espresso being steamed and whipped into a delicate golden foam layer, then poured into a cup and left to stand until the coffee separates into layers, creating a visual effect like fine sand sliding down layer by layer.

Because the strongly flavored espresso is whipped with ice cubes, the bitterness of the coffee liquid is reduced, while instead highlighting a light vanilla flavor and a refreshing berry sweet-and-sour taste. Together with the delicate and silky foam layer, it has a bit of the mouthfeel of dark beer. Pour the coffee liquid into a pre-frozen “ice cup,” then let it float steadily on the water surface, and wait for the espresso liquid to “burst” out from the inside. This is the once-viral waterfall iced Americano, which presents a dynamic visual effect through ice changing from solid to liquid.

Is iced Americano bitter?

Front Street believes that for a delicious cup of iced Americano, a high-quality espresso base is the key, so choosing the right coffee beans is very important. Since espresso is a pressure extraction method, small adjustments to the parameters will also affect the final taste of the espresso. Therefore, Front Street recommends using medium-dark roasted blend coffee beans.

Espresso blend coffee beans are roasted beans made by roasters carefully selecting coffee beans from different origins and with different flavor profiles and blending them for roasting (or roasting them separately and then blending them in proportion). The purpose is to highlight the rich aroma of Espresso, maintain balanced flavor, and at the same time make the espresso served in stores more stable in taste. Front Street’s understanding of blend beans is to maintain stable flavor and balanced mouthfeel, let the blended coffee present an effect where one plus one is greater than two, and in terms of taste make up for each other’s shortcomings, thereby creating coffee with a richer new taste.

Compared with the classic bitter Americano served in many stores, the espresso served at Front Street stores uses its own roasted “Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans,” made by blending Honduras Sherry coffee beans + sun-dried Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans. Under ideal extraction, the espresso should have whiskey aroma, vanilla, cream, and berry acidity, with rich aromas, a soft mouthfeel, and it is very easy to drink, even easy for friends who do not drink much coffee to accept. Of course, in addition to the Warm Sun blend, Front Street also has three espresso blend coffee beans with rich flavor and balanced mouthfeel, which are also very suitable for making Americano.

1. FrontStreet Coffee - Front Street Specialty Blend Coffee Beans:

Colombia washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazil semi-washed coffee beans (70%)

Colombian coffee is added to the classic Brazilian coffee’s nutty notes. The espresso presents dark chocolate flavor, caramel sweetness, and a full roasting aroma.

2. FrontStreet Coffee - Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee Beans:

Robusta washed coffee beans (10%) + Colombia washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazil semi-washed coffee (60%)

The espresso produced has thick golden crema and nutty aroma. When tasting, there is the roasted coffee bitterness, but accompanied by more of a creamy, full-bodied mouthfeel. After swallowing, the bitterness also dissipates, leaving fragrance on the lips and teeth.

3. FrontStreet Coffee - Front Street Dark Cocoa Blend Coffee Beans:

Yunnan washed small-bean coffee (30%) + Brazil semi-washed coffee beans (70%)

Yunnan small-bean coffee brings a soft acidity, paired with the rich aroma of Brazil Cerrado coffee. The espresso has the taste of caramel, nuts, and soft plum acidity.

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 FrontStreet Coffee, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex

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