Americano is the most common coffee beverage in daily life. Generally, Americano is divided into two types: one made in coffee shops and the other made with a drip coffee maker. Front Street Coffee will now explain the differences between these two methods of making Americano.

The Americano in coffee shops actually belongs to the espresso-based coffee category. The story goes something like this: Americans mainly drink drip-style light coffee, while Italians drink strong espresso. After World War II, Italian immigrants in the United States, in order to cater to American tastes, diluted espresso with water to make it lighter and more suited to American preferences. This method became the mainstream way of making Americano in coffee shops.

This method requires an espresso machine, which most coffee shops have, but households rarely do because it is too expensive. The advantage of this method is that it takes very little time and can produce a cup quickly. Taking Front Street Coffee's method as an example, Front Street uses 20 grams of coffee grounds to extract 40 grams of espresso, then adds 200 milliliters of water to dilute it, at a ratio of 1:5. This way, it retains flavor and mouthfeel without being too strong and uncomfortable to drink.

To make Americano, we use Front Street's classic espresso blend coffee beans, with flavors of cream, chocolate, nuts, and maple syrup, rich crema, and a smooth mouthfeel.

For using a drip coffee maker, Front Street recommends prioritizing medium-roast beans, because this can avoid coffee that is too bitter or too sour. If you don't know how to choose, you can refer to the guide provided by Front Street:

1. For tropical fruit and fermented wine aromas, we recommend buying Front StreetStrawberry Candy coffee beans, which when brewed have rich aromas of roses, raisins, strawberry gummies, and ripe blueberries. You can also choose Front Street Colombia Diviso Estate Sidra coffee beans, with diverse layers of passion fruit, grapes, apricots, citrus, and chocolate.

2.  For those who prefer a low-acid, balanced type, Front Street Bird of Paradise coffee beans are recommended, produced in Papua New Guinea, with flavors of nuts, dark cocoa, caramel, and almonds, a balanced mouthfeel, and soft citrus acidity;

3. For a rich mouthfeel or full-bodied type, we recommend purchasingFront Street Brazil Queen Estate coffee beans. Extracted with a fully automatic coffee machine, they have flavors of roasted peanuts, dark chocolate, cream, and cane sugar, with a notable sweet aftertaste.

The working principle of a drip coffee maker is somewhat similar to pour-over coffee, as both use drip extraction. However, there is a difference: drip coffee makers operate according to the manufacturer's program, with low adjustability. For friends who don't know how to brew coffee, this is a good coffee device; but for friends who enjoy brewing coffee, a drip machine seems a bit impractical.

Drip coffee makers are generally used in offices, homes, or some Western breakfast shops. The drip coffee maker is very simple to use. For a horizontal comparison, we also use Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans. The grind level is the same as pour-over, with an 80% pass rate through a No. 20 standard sieve. The container for coffee grounds in a drip coffee maker is usually a metal filter; to improve cleanliness, you can place a trapezoidal paper filter.

For the amount of coffee grounds, follow the standard for general drip machines: add 100 ml of water for every 5 g of coffee grounds. This time we use 20 g of coffee grounds, so add 400 ml of water. Place the carafe into the coffee maker, roughly close the coffee maker lid, pour in 20 g of coffee grounds, and add 400 ml of hot water to the water tank. Then cover the lid, press the start button, and the drip coffee maker will begin extracting coffee.

Water flows down from the water tank into the U-shaped heating tube, is heated to 100°C, and then through water pressure and thermal pressure, the hot water at the front is pushed into the outlet pipe and sprayed out through the outlet; the hot water drips into the coffee grounds in the filter, undergoes full immersion and extraction, and flows into the carafe. After about 5-8 minutes, a pot of drip coffee is ready.

The coffee made with a drip coffee maker tastes a bit lighter, and its mouthfeel very much matches the American style of being very light with just a hint of coffee flavor. It is suitable for breakfast pairings and afternoon refreshment.

The advantage of a drip coffee maker is that it is simple to operate, and you can make a decent cup of coffee without learning a lot of coffee knowledge. A drip coffee maker can also adapt to different coffee beans, so the coffee made will have different expressions.

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