Recently, I saw a fan's comment asking about the flavor differences when using the same coffee beans to make pour-over coffee and Americano. In this article, Front Street will answer this question~ Before we begin, we first need to distinguish the differences between pour-over coffee and Americano.

The English for pour-over coffee is "pour over" (manual pouring) / "hand drip" (manual drip), which is a brewing method where water passes through the coffee grounds layer by natural gravity. The English for Americano is "Americano" (American's coffee), a method used by American soldiers to dilute espresso with water, later joked about by Italians as American's coffee, and is one of the common coffee types.

What is pour-over coffee?

Pour-over coffee is a method that uses a coffee dripper as a medium, grinds fresh coffee beans to a suitable coarseness, and extracts soluble substances from the coffee by pouring water at an appropriate temperature. Pairing with different drippers/using different grind sizes, water temperatures, and pouring techniques will all give the same coffee bean different flavor and mouthfeel expressions.

Because a dripper is used as a support, water is poured into the coffee grounds to extract substances, which then drip through the filter paper into the sharing pot. No pressure is needed during extraction, so pour-over coffee belongs to drip coffee.

What is Americano?

Authentic Americano requires using an espresso machine to extract espresso and then diluting it with an appropriate amount of water. The Americano machines on the market are actually drip coffee machines, which extract soluble substances from coffee grounds by pouring water, and then drip through filter paper/mesh into the lower pot.

Espresso is different from pour-over coffee. Its principle is to inject relatively high-temperature hot water at 9 bar pressure into a very finely ground and tightly packed coffee bed, quickly extracting a highly concentrated coffee liquid in 20-30 seconds at a coffee-to-water ratio of 1:2. When this highly concentrated coffee liquid is diluted with an appropriate amount of water, it transforms into the familiar Americano. Because the production process requires pressure, Americano belongs to pressure-extracted coffee.

Using the same coffee beans to make pour-over and Americano,

what different flavor and mouthfeel expressions are there?

This time, Front Street used Huakui 5.0 coffee beans from the Sidamo region of Ethiopia as the brewing subject, because during cupping, Front Street experienced obvious floral and fruity aromas, acidity that is not too sharp, and a good sweetness expression.

# Pour-over Coffee Brewing Parameters

Hario 01 dripper, medium-fine grind (about 78% passing through China standard No. 20 sieve), water temperature 90°C, 15g coffee grounds, coffee-to-water ratio 1:15. Three-stage extraction pouring: first pour 30g of water for 30 seconds of blooming. Then pour in a small stream in circles until 125g, pause, and when the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, continue pouring until 225g and stop. When the water level drops and is about to expose the coffee bed, remove the dripper. (Timing starts from the beginning of blooming) Extraction time is 2'08".

The flavor expression of Huakui 5.0 coffee extracted by pour-over method is: floral, berry, citrus, plum-like sweet and sour notes, mango juice, honey, with a finish of red tea sweetness.

Espresso Extraction Parameters#

Pegasus E98 espresso machine, ek43s grinder at 0.1 grind setting, coffee-to-water ratio 1:2, double spout portafilter, 20g coffee dose, extracting 40g coffee liquid, time 24 seconds.

The flavor expression of Huakui 5.0 coffee extracted as espresso is: medium-high acidity, medium sweetness, low bitterness, with a smooth bitter sensation, citrus acidity on entry, followed by berry aroma, and a finish of dark berries mixed with caramel.

From the flavor expression of the espresso, the espresso extracted from this coffee bean is not suitable for making Americano at too high a ratio. So Front Street tried diluting and tasting with different coffee-to-water ratios, and finally determined 1:6.5 (40g coffee liquid diluted with 260g of 86°C hot water).

The flavor expression of Huakui 5.0 Americano is: soft berry-like acidity, with slight tropical fruit, a mouthfeel similar to juice, and a finish of cream and caramel.

Summary

Pour-over coffee has a higher level of layering than Americano, and the flavor expression is more layered. Due to filtration by filter paper, the mouthfeel of the coffee is cleaner and more refreshing. Americano, on the other hand, has the oils from espresso, so it exhibits a full-bodied coffee mouthfeel, overall richer and more solid than pour-over coffee.
 

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