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Americano is made by diluting espresso with water, typically using dark-roasted Italian-style coffee beans. Front Street's Americano beans use a blend of single-origin beans from two regions, which has the advantage of compensating for the low acidity of traditional Italian-style coffee and making the taste richer. Many people ask whether Americano beans must use Italian-style blended coffee beans. What kind of flavor and mouthfeel would Americano beans made from other coffee beans have? To address this question, Front Street felt obliged to conduct an experiment, using two of Front Street's blended beans for comparison.
What coffee beans are used for Americano beans?
Americano beans fall into two categories: one is blended coffee beans, and the other is SOE (single origin espresso). The biggest difference between the two lies in how many types of coffee beans they contain. Blended coffee beans contain at least two or more types of coffee beans, while SOE contains only one type.
Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Americano bean product
The purpose of blending is to bring together the flavors of coffee beans from different regions, presenting a brand-new flavor and achieving a more balanced effect. For example, if one coffee bean is smooth but lacks aroma, another aromatic bean can be added to make the most of strengths and avoid weaknesses, complementing and enhancing each other. For blending, it is recommended to choose three types of coffee beans. If there are too many types, it becomes difficult to control the flavor after combination, and you may end up favoring one and losing another.
The coffee beans chosen for SOE actually highlight the flavor of the region. If you simply love the coffee beans of a certain region, choosing SOE will also suit your taste very well. Although SOE performs prominently, because it comes from a single origin, its shortcomings are also relatively easy to magnify. If the coffee beans are not high quality enough, then the SOE coffee will not taste good, and there may even be no way to hide it. Therefore, in actual operation, SOE coffee has relatively higher technical requirements in all aspects, which is also one of the reasons SOE coffee is usually more expensive than ordinary Espresso.
Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) How to make Americano?
Slightly acidic Americano beans
Taking [Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)——Sunflower Warm Sun Coffee Beans] as an example
Honduras Sherry coffee beans and Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee beans are selected. The Italian-style coffee produced has obvious fruity acidity, a faint berry aroma, vinous notes, rich chocolate flavor, and a notably sweet aftertaste.
Recommended parameters for making hot Americano: 18 grams of grounds in a double spout portafilter (plus or minus 1 gram), extract 36 grams of coffee liquid, extraction time 28 seconds, pour the coffee liquid into a 200ml cup already filled with hot water. If you prefer a stronger coffee taste, you may appropriately reduce the amount of water; if you want a more diluted taste, you may appropriately add more water.
Slightly full-bodied Americano beans
Taking [Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee Beans] as an example
Colombian coffee beans, Brazilian coffee beans, and Robusta coffee beans are selected. The coffee produced has caramel sweetness, notes of nuts and cocoa, dark chocolate flavor, balanced acidity and sweetness, a slight hint of bittersweetness, and a lingering finish.
Recommended parameters for making iced Americano: 18 grams of grounds in a double spout portafilter (plus or minus 1 gram), extract 36 grams of coffee liquid, extraction time 28 seconds, pour the coffee liquid into a 330ml cup already filled with ice cubes and water.
Slightly balanced and harmonious Americano beans
Taking [Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Front Street Specialty Blend Coffee Beans] as an example
Colombian coffee beans and Brazilian coffee beans are selected. The extracted coffee has a soft slight acidity, light sweetness, and a nutty sweet aftertaste. The overall impression is not too sharp, gentle, with medium crema.
Recommended parameters for making iced Americano: 18 grams of grounds in a double spout portafilter (plus or minus 1 gram), extract 36 grams of coffee liquid, extraction time 28 seconds, pour the coffee liquid into a 330ml cup already filled with ice cubes and water.
Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) Americano Beans
The above three blended beans each produce Americano with different flavors. If some friends like drinking acidic coffee, then [Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans] is very suitable. If you want something fuller-bodied, then choose [Front Street Commercial Blend Coffee Beans]. If you want neither too acidic nor too heavy, you can choose [Front Street Specialty Blend Coffee Beans].
Tasting steps
When a cup of coffee is placed in front of you, do not rush to drink it. Like tasting tea or wine, there should be a gradual process to achieve the goals of relaxation, refreshment, and enjoyment.
The first step is to smell the aroma and experience the rich fragrance of the coffee wafting toward you;
The second step is to observe the color. Coffee is best when it appears dark brown, rather than pitch-black and bottomlessly dark;
The third step is to taste. First take a sip of black coffee to feel the taste of the original coffee. When it enters the mouth, the coffee should have some sweetness, slight bitterness, and slight acidity without astringency. Then taste it in small sips. Do not rush to swallow the coffee in one gulp. Hold it in your mouth for a moment, let the coffee mix slightly with saliva and air, and then swallow.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
