Americano has become the beverage of choice for many young people. A cup of Americano after a meal not only cuts through greasiness and aids digestion, but also effectively breaks down fat—combined with proper exercise, it can even help with weight loss. That's why Americano has also become the go-to coffee drink for many celebrities. Front Street Coffee also serves Americano, and many regulars enjoy dropping by Front Street Coffee after a meal to order a cup of Americano and chat about everyday life.
So what exactly is an Americano? The method for making an Americano is very simple—just add water directly to extracted espresso. In other words, diluted espresso is an Americano. Unsweetened Americano has a rather bitter taste, which may take some getting used to for those who regularly drink milk-based coffee and are accustomed to adding sugar packets. Front Street believes whether to add sugar to an Americano depends entirely on personal taste. A pure Americano has its own distinctive Americano flavor, but there's nothing wrong with adding sugar if you don't care for the bitter profile.
The bitter taste of Americano comes partly from the fact that Americano beans are generally roasted darker than pour-over coffee beans.
What beans does Front Street use for its Americano?
Coffee shops typically use blend beans or dark-roasted beans for making Americano. As for flavor, it's recommended to choose beans with notes of nuts, cocoa, caramel, chocolate, and the like. The beans Front Street Coffee uses for its Americano are Front Street's own blend, which they've named Sunflower Warm Sun Blend. This blend uses Honduras Sherry and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Cherry coffee. Through continuous blending by Front Street Coffee's baristas, they arrived at a near-perfect ratio of 7:3. The resulting espresso carries distinct fruity acidity, along with berry flavors and wine aroma, with a comfortable sweet aftertaste.
The reason for choosing blend beans for Americano is twofold: on one hand, you can combine the characteristics of each bean to create a flavor you enjoy. Sometimes Robusta beans are added to the blend to enhance the crema of the extracted Americano. On the other hand, adding Robusta beans can reduce costs compared to using specialty coffee alone.
The Sunflower Warm Sun coffee beans just mentioned by Front Street include Honduras Sherry coffee beans. The Sherry beans undergo a refined washed process with whiskey sherry barrel fermentation, adding a vinous note to the Americano. Of course, if you don't like Honduras's special processing method, you can also consider other beans. For example, Front Street's Black Cocoa Blend uses Yunnan coffee and Brazil coffee in a 3:7 ratio, giving the espresso a soft fruity acidity and caramel sweetness. There's also Front Street's Specialty Blend, which uses Colombia coffee paired with Brazil coffee in a 3:7 ratio. Colombia coffee's characteristic nutty and chocolate notes combined with Brazil's rich peanut and cream flavors make this espresso blend very balanced overall, with rich crema and an extremely smooth mouthfeel—fragrant yet with a slight bitterness unique to the Americas.
AmericanoThe most important part is extracting the espresso. Every espresso machine has different usage parameters. Front Street Coffee currently uses the Lelit V3 espresso machine, and the extraction parameters used have been adjusted by Front Street through multiple extraction trials.
Pressure: 9 bar
Temperature: 90.5~96°C
Time: 20~30 sec
Coffee-to-water ratio: 1:1.7~1:2
Dose: 12g (single shot espresso), 20g (double shot espresso)
Extracted espresso yield: 20ml (single), 40ml (double)
These parameters are also suitable for making milk-based coffees such as lattes, cappuccinos, and so on.
Hot Americano
Front Street uses a double shot—40ml of espresso—for its Americano. You can add an appropriate amount of hot water according to your desired strength. Of course, the hot water temperature should ideally be around 85°C, and it's best not to add too much hot water, otherwise the resultingAmericanowill taste very weak. The traditional Americano ratio is generally 1:8, but Front Street Coffee currently doesn't use that ratio. Front Street adjusted it based on the cup size served in-store, ultimately setting the Americano coffee-to-water ratio at 1:4.5.
Iced Americano
Making an iced Americano is very simple and convenient. Just mix ice and water at a 1:1 ratio to get the amount of water you need, then pour the extracted espresso over it.
Regarding the differences between hot and iced Americano, Front Street Coffee lists the following three aspects:
1. The color of the coffee drink: Hot Americano is brown-black in color, while iced Americano presents a transparent brown. This is related to the ratio of coffee liquid to water. Front Street Coffee's hot Americano water-to-coffee ratio is about 1:4.5, while iced Americano reaches about 1:9.
2. The difference in caffeine content: Front Street's hot Americano uses only one shot of espresso, while the iced Americano uses two.
3. The mouthfeel differs: Iced Americano's flavors are more restrained—the addition of ice makes it refreshing and light. Hot Americano, on the other hand, is relatively heavier, full of aroma. The crema on the surface adds layers and a creamy texture to the coffee, naturally boosting its body. The hot coffee liquid in iced Americano rapidly cools upon contact with ice, changing the overall flavor while keeping it consistent. But hot Americano's flavor changes as the temperature drops. Take Front Street Coffee's hot Americano as an example: the coffee has a mixed aroma of floral and vinous notes. When hot, sipping it reveals an obvious fermented quality. A sip along with the surface "crema" gives the coffee a creamy, smooth mouthfeel. As the temperature drops, acidity begins to emerge, and the fermented wine aroma lingers in the mouth long after swallowing. At a comfortable temperature, the sweetness becomes very pronounced—caramel notes.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
