When customers who don't usually drink coffee walk into Front Street Coffee's offline stores, they often ask the baristas a question: "What is espresso? What is its relationship and difference with Americano?" This is a good question. At Front Street Coffee, there are only two small blackboards serving as menus—one for pour-over coffee and the other for espresso. On the espresso menu, it clearly lists Americano, Latte, Cappuccino, and Mocha. Many people think that espresso is Italian coffee and Americano is American coffee, so they are confused by Front Street Coffee's coffee menu: why is Americano included in the espresso category? Next, Front Street Coffee will use this article to answer your questions.
Actually, the above conjecture is not wrong—Americano is American-style coffee. When it comes to Americano, there are two ways to make it: the first is coffee made with a traditional American drip coffee maker, which many households still use today. Because it is convenient and practical, it is also called a foolproof coffee machine. The method of using this American drip coffee maker is very simple, and the steps are as follows:
Step 1: Add an appropriate amount of ground coffee
Step 2: Pour an appropriate amount of water into the water tank
Step 3: Press the switch button
As for the water-to-coffee ratio for Americano, Front Street Coffee believes you can adjust it freely according to personal preference, but it is recommended to start with a 1:20 ratio. Generally speaking, the time to make a pot of coffee will be about 5-8 minutes.
But it is worth noting that the Americano made this way is completely different from the Americano you can buy in coffee shops now. Most Americanos on the market today are made by diluting espresso with water, and this method originated during World War II. At that time, American military officers tasted traditional Italian coffee, that is, espresso, for the first time in Europe. But for Americans who were used to drinking American drip coffee, the taste was too strong, so they diluted the espresso with water to weaken its flavor, ultimately obtaining a drink with a flavor similar to coffee made by an American drip coffee maker. Europeans felt very disdainful of this and jokingly called this kind of coffee "Americano."
Regardingthe extraction time of espresso and the amount of coffee liquid,Front Street Coffee will make appropriate adjustments based on the coffee beans of the day and other factors. Taking today's Front Street Coffeeespressoextraction parameters as an example: use 19.5 grams of ground coffee, extract for about 28 seconds, and obtain 35 grams of coffee liquid.
It can be said that espresso is the foundation of all coffee drinks, so whether a cup of coffee tastes good or not has a lot to do with the espresso. Even abroad, espresso itself is a kind of coffee drink and has been played with in many creative ways. Espresso is also called espresso, and the extraction parameters generally use 7-9 grams of ground coffee, under 9 bars of pressure, with water at about 92 degrees, extracting about 14-18 grams of coffee liquid in 25-30 seconds. Most of Front Street Coffee's coffee drinks are based on a double shot of espresso. Therefore, about 20 grams of ground coffee are needed to extract about 35 grams of coffee liquid.
Front Street Coffee believes that whether the espresso tastes good or not is closely related toespresso beans. The coffee beans currently used in Front Street Coffee's stores are Front Street Coffee's self-made Warm Sun Blend coffee beans. This espresso blend is composed of Honduran Sherry coffee and Ethiopian Red Cherry coffee beans. The coffee liquid extracted from this blend has a strong fermented feel. Compared with ordinary low-acidity blends that highlight nutty flavors, Warm Sun Blend coffee has higher and livelier acidity. The chocolate flavor is obvious, and the mouthfeel is very heavy and textured. Many consumers are attracted by this coffee bean and even bought Warm Sun Blend coffee beans at Front Street Coffee to make espresso drinks at home. There are always consumers who ask questions about espresso bean blends: why use a model of mixing two kinds of coffee beans?
Front Street Coffee will briefly introduce this to everyone here. A long time ago, the overall quality of espresso was generally not high, so high-quality coffee would be mixed with some lower-quality coffee so that it would not be easily noticed. This was a business strategy. The second reason is to satisfy complex taste preferences and requirements by blending coffees from different regions to achieve an effect where 1+1 is greater than 2. The third reason is the stability of the coffee beans. You should know that coffee is, after all, an agricultural product, and this year's flavor and taste characteristics may differ somewhat from next year's. Therefore, blending coffee can achieve the standards required for coffee output. Mix two kinds of coffee and adjust the ratio to ensure a balanced taste.
According to the method of diluting espresso with water, the ratio of coffee liquid to water in Front Street Coffee's hot Americano is 1:4, while the ratio of coffee liquid to water (including 100 grams of ice) in iced Americano is 1:8. As for how much water to add to espresso to turn it into Americano, Front Street Coffee believes that you can first control the ratio of coffee liquid to water at about 1:4-1:8, but you can adjust it to a certain extent according to your own needs. Sowhich is more delicious, Americano or espresso? Front Street Coffee believes there is no standard answer to this question. If you don't like black coffee, then you will naturally prefer espresso drinks other than Americano, but if you can accept black coffee, then it is recommended to drink Americano. Because you can taste the flavor and taste characteristics of various coffee beans
Milk coffee among espresso drinks is a good choice for many coffee beginners, because the bitterness in the coffee liquid will be neutralized by the sweetness of the milk. And for a good milk coffee, the milk and coffee can blend perfectly together, rich and mellow, leaving a lingering fragrance on the lips and teeth, with a soft mouthfeel. Of course, more and more coffee shops now choose to offer the market-popular SOE coffee, so what is SOE coffee?
In fact, it is espresso from a single origin. The reason for doing this is to highlight and amplify the flavor characteristics of a single origin. However, considering various factors, Front Street Coffee does not have SOE coffee drinks. Of course, not all SOE coffee beans are made very well. Front Street Coffee has also drunk some SOE milk coffees where the heavy milky taste has already covered the original flavor of the coffee, losing the original intention of making SOE coffee.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
