What Is American Coffee and How Does SOE Americano Differ?

American coffee is the light drip coffee brewed in the pot-style machines common in US households, not a shot of espresso diluted with water. The Americano served at cafes usually starts with espresso plus six to eight times its volume in water, which is why the taste differs sharply from the drip coffee many Americans drink daily.

The pour-over method with SOE Americano uses a single-origin espresso base, while drip bag pour-over brews a lighter, origin-forward cup. Testing Front Street Yirgacheffe Red Cherry side by side shows how the same bean shifts between the two methods, and how grind, water temperature, and pour timing shape the final flavor.

Many people think Americano is just espresso diluted with water, but the real American coffee actually originates from the drip coffee makers Americans use daily. So, what exactly is the difference between Americano and single-origin pour-over? And how should drip bag coffee be brewed to taste good? This article will start from the historical origins of Americano, clarify the relationship between Americano and single-origin coffee, and through a comparative experiment with Front Street Yirgacheffe·Red Cherry, intuitively demonstrate the flavor differences between SOE Americano and pour-over single-origin, while also recommending several Front Street drip bag coffees suited to different tastes.

Anyone with some knowledge of coffee has surely heard the term "Americano." When you order an Americano at Starbucks, the barista typically uses espresso as the base and then adds about six to eight times the amount of water to dilute it. However, it's said that Italians themselves don't drink Americano (which is true), so why does Americano appear on Italian coffee menus? Is Starbucks' method the authentic Americano?

What counts as a real Americano?

Literally understood, Americano is American-style coffee, the kind Americans habitually drink daily. However, this name was actually given by people outside the United States (just as foreigners wouldn't call themselves "laowai"). American households commonly use drip coffee makers to make coffee, with nearly every home having one, and it's not uncommon to have even multiple units. (Fully automatic coffee machines are actually rare in American homes.) On many American restaurant menus, "coffee" refers to this drip coffee—brewed by machine into a large pot, and when a customer orders, it's simply poured from a thermos, extremely convenient, and of course, no attention is paid to origin. Because Americans drink coffee at an extremely high frequency, several cups per person per day, over time, people from other countries began calling this light-tasting black coffee they prefer "Americano."

How did coffee become popular in the United States?

Starting in 1607, European immigrants gradually brought coffee and tea to the North American continent. The British Puritans who fled Europe for religious reasons had a strong temperance tendency, and they advocated replacing alcoholic beverages with tea and coffee. Thus, tea and coffee gradually became everyday drinks in American life. The "Boston Tea Party" in 1773 further deepened the antagonism between America and Britain. The British loved tea, so Americans deliberately switched to coffee as opposed to tea, and the Continental Congress officially declared coffee the official national drink of the United States.

Why do Americans prefer drip coffee?

The United States is a nation of immigrants, without a deep cultural tradition, and people prefer a free, casual lifestyle, not as particular about "rules" in making coffee as Europeans. Drip coffee is simple to operate, saves time and effort, requires no advanced skills, and fits perfectly with the American character.

Back to the question at the beginning: Why does Starbucks' Americano use espresso diluted with water? Are they fooling consumers? Actually, this practice dates back to World War II. When American soldiers entered Italy, they really couldn't get used to the strong espresso, so they poured the coffee into military canteens and added water to dilute it. This way of drinking was mocked by the locals: "Yankees only deserve coffee as weak as dishwater."

And the word Americano specifically refers to the practice of diluting espresso with water, evolving into today's "Americano" in coffee shops. For a long historical period, American coffee was looked down upon by people from other countries, and the French even said Americano tastes like water used to wash socks. This isn't entirely unreasonable—early Americans were indeed very casual about coffee and didn't care much about bean quality. Coffee was more of a sidekick to meals, so naturally the taste wasn't great. However, the more backward a place is, the more room for development. It was against this background that Ms. Knutsen in the United States first proposed the concept of "specialty coffee" in the magazine "Coffee & Tea," thus sparking the third wave of coffee we are experiencing today. The current industry standards are set by the Specialty Coffee Association of America (SCAA).

Does single-origin coffee belong to Americano?

American drip machines rely on machines to complete pouring and extraction, while single-origin pour-over uses manual control of pouring for extraction; both belong to filter extraction, with the same principle. But pour-over single-origin coffee is a specific extraction method of drip coffee, while American drip machines are another extraction method, and there are differences between the two. Americano was originally made by adding water to espresso, whereas American drip machines directly extract coffee grounds with water, not by diluting espresso. The reason it's called "American" is because the machine used to make it is called an American coffee machine, and a more accurate term should be "American black coffee." Pour-over single-origin coffee is black coffee, and Americano is also black coffee, so calling it that is more accurate.

Additionally, pour-over coffee has a pre-made form—drip bag coffee. It grinds coffee beans into powder in advance, packs them in single-serving filter bags, ready to brew anytime, anywhere, and presents different flavors depending on the chosen coffee beans. Here, Front Street briefly lists a few coffees suitable for most people: For friends who prefer floral flavors, we recommend Front Street Panama Geisha drip bag coffee, one of the most expensive coffee varieties in the world; if you like a fresh, slightly acidic taste, we recommend Front Street Huakui drip bag coffee, where you can feel the notes of black tea and berries when drinking;

If you prefer a balanced taste, that is, neither sour nor bitter, we recommend Front Street Brazil drip bag coffee; finally, for drinkers who love a solid, mellow mouthfeel, we suggest buying the highest-grade Front Street Golden Mandheling drip bag coffee. These beans undergo multiple rounds of hand sorting, reducing the defect rate to a minimum, making the coffee's aroma clearer and the aftertaste more outstanding. All the above drip bag coffees can be ordered at Front Street stores and the Front Street Tmall flagship store.

What are the flavor differences between Americano and pour-over?

To intuitively show the difference between the two, this time [Front Street Yirgacheffe·Red Cherry] coffee beans were selected for a comparative experiment.

Region: Yirgacheffe

Altitude: 1700 to 2200 meters

Variety: Heirloom

Processing method: Natural (sun-dried)

FrontStreet Coffee natural Red Cherry SOE production

FrontStreet Coffee SOE parameters: 20g dose, 40g yield, 26 seconds extraction time

SOE flavor description: Citrus, berries, fermented aroma, syrupy, medium bitterness, medium-high acidity, bright and lively acidity.

FrontStreet Coffee natural Red Cherry SOE Americano

To compare with pour-over, we made the SOE into Americano.

Espresso to hot water ratio is 1:7, so this SOE Americano is made by mixing 40ml of SOE with 280ml hot water.

SOE Americano flavor description: Initial aroma is rich fermented fragrance, on the palate the fruit acidity is soft, with citrus acidity, prominent sucrose sweetness, and a tea-like finish.

FrontStreet Coffee natural Red Cherry coffee brewing

Next, brew the natural Red Cherry coffee beans using the pour-over method.

Dripper: Hario V60

Water temperature: 90-91°C

Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:15

Grind size: granulated sugar coarseness

Front Street brewing method: First, bloom with 30g water for 30 seconds, 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, wait for the water level to drop again to nearly expose the bed, then remove the dripper. (Timing from the start of blooming) Total extraction time is 2 minutes 00 seconds.

Brewed flavor: It smells of rich fermented fruit and jasmine, on the palate there's a sweet-tartness of strawberry and berries, mid-palate has almond and cream flavors, with an oolong tea-like aftertaste.

Summary

FrontStreet Coffee found through this comparison that after making natural Red Cherry into SOE Americano, the sweetness is noticeably enhanced, the flavor is relatively balanced, but the mouthfeel is thinner with less layering; whereas the black coffee made by pour-over natural Red Cherry has a more distinct character, richer flavor and layering changes, and a relatively fuller mouthfeel.

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