Because American soldiers during World War II were not accustomed to the extremely strong small cups of coffee in Europe, they asked the shops to dilute it with hot water to mimic the taste and flavor of American drip coffee. And because this cup of coffee was widely welcomed by American soldiers, it was named Americano.

From the above, we can learn that Americano is made by using espresso as a base and adding water. Hot Americano is espresso plus hot water, and iced Americano is espresso plus ice water—it's that simple. Although simple, it also contains a lot of knowledge, for example: "Is there any requirement for the water temperature of Americano?" This was a question recently raised by a friend at Front Street Coffee.

Like most other coffees, because there are no "hard and fast indicators" for the brewing parameters of Americano, it is usually made however the shop prefers. How much water to add, how much ice to add, what temperature the water should be—all of it is adjusted according to one's own understanding of coffee. Thus, the same kind of coffee can end up with different preparation standards in every shop.

And "What temperature of hot water should be used to make hot Americano?" is not an obscure topic. If you often read Front Street Coffee articles, you know that the temperature of coffee directly affects the taste and mouthfeel we perceive when drinking it. Therefore, to make a good cup of Americano, besides understanding coffee extraction and controlling the ratio of coffee to water well, choosing a suitable water temperature is equally crucial.

So today Front Street Coffee will compare the differences in Americano made with hot water at different temperatures. Let's see which water temperature is most suitable for making the hot Americano served at Front Street Coffee stores~

To make hot Americano, use Front Street Coffee's classic espresso blend. This is a recipe composed of beans from three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a deep roast, which can maximize the coffee's rich aroma and also allow everyone to easily extract abundant and dense crema. It is very suitable whether for making Americano diluted with water or latte paired with milk. It can be purchased and ordered at the Front Street Coffee Taobao store or the Front Street Coffee Tmall flagship store.

In order to discuss the results more objectively, Front Street Coffee will conduct tastings right after the coffee is made, at the 5th minute after completion, and at the 20th minute after completion, to see how the coffee performs differently over time. Then Front Street Coffee will make four cups of Americano, using water temperatures of 55°C, 65°C, 75°C, and 90°C—from warm to hot, covering everything.

Because Front Street Coffee had previously already conducted an experiment with dark-roasted coffee and light-roasted coffee, the coffee beans used this time are the store's "signature bean"—Warm Sun Blend. Warm Sun Blend is medium-dark roasted. Tasting the espresso alone, you can feel whiskey aroma, butter cookies, chocolate, and a little berry-like sweet-and-sour taste. The parameters are as follows:

Dose: 20g

Grind setting: 1.8 on the Galileo Q18

Coffee-to-liquid ratio: 1:2

Extraction time: 30±2 seconds

Americano ratio: 1:4 (that is, 1ml espresso should be diluted with 4ml hot water)

After making it, Front Street Coffee tasted it directly! Through tasting, it was found that when just made, the 55°C and 65°C Americanos, because their temperatures were not so high, could be drunk immediately after completion. We could directly taste the whiskey aroma, butter cookies, and berry flavor performance of the Warm Sun Blend, with both sweetness and acidity excellent, and a clear and obvious finish. The only drawback of the 55°C cup of Americano was that it was not hot enough; it drank like a lukewarm Americano;

The 75°C Americano was a little hot at first, and could only be drunk slowly by slurping or taking small sips, so its flavor performance at the beginning was relatively less rich than the previous two. We could only taste the more intense flavors such as whiskey aroma and butter cookies, and its taste showed a relatively high sweetness, with almost no berry acidity perceptible, but it was also very good; while the 90°C Americano, because the temperature was too high, was almost difficult for us to drink, and we could only sip a very small amount of coffee to sense it. Although the flavor was prominent, it was more an experience brought by inhaling aroma through smell, and the taste was neither good nor bad.

After sitting for 5 minutes, the coffee temperatures had all dropped by about 10°C on average. At this point Front Street Coffee tasted again: the Americano that was originally 55°C now tasted warm. Because it was relatively close to room temperature, the coffee's taste and flavor were very prominent, but the aroma was beginning to be less abundant, and the bitterness had increased somewhat; while the Americano that was originally 65°C changed from slightly burning the mouth to warm. Like the 55°C coffee, its taste and flavor performance was more prominent than five minutes earlier. But because its temperature had not dropped too low, its aroma was still rich at this time, and the bitterness had not yet emerged;

The Americano that was originally 75°C was now the best performer among these four cups of Americano, because at this time it was very easy to drink, with abundant aroma and rich layers, very close to the performance of the originally 65°C cup of Americano when it was just made; while the cup that was originally 90°C was still burning hot, and still needed to be sipped little by little, with both its mouthfeel and taste experience inferior to the previous three.

By 20 minutes, none of the coffees' aromas were as prominent as before. The coffee that was originally 55°C was no longer warm, and drank like a room-temperature Americano, so its mouthfeel and taste were greatly reduced compared with before, and its enjoyable tasting window was the shortest; next was the 65°C Americano, whose temperature had already dropped below 45°C, and whose mouthfeel and taste performance was somewhat better than the former; while the 75°C Americano was still warm, so we could still experience a good mouthfeel and taste from this cup of Americano; although the 90°C Americano had dropped to a temperature at which it could be drunk in large mouthfuls, because of the loss of aroma, its flavor no longer performed very outstandingly. Compared with the previous three cups, it gave us the least high-quality experience throughout the whole process.

So if we rank them by the overall experience when the hot Americano is just made, the order is: 65°C > 75°C > 55°C > 90°C; and if we rank them comprehensively by the aroma and overall performance the coffee provides over 20 minutes, the order is: 75°C > 65°C > 55°C > 90°C.

It can be seen that hot Americano for dine-in is not very suitable for being made with water that is too hot. Because high-temperature hot water not only easily burns the mouth, but also lowers the sensitivity of the taste buds, affecting our taste experience. At the same time, an excessively scalding temperature can also cause us to miss the coffee's "golden" tasting time, making it impossible to enjoy it freely when the coffee's aroma is at its richest. So, if producing hot Americano for dine-in, it is best not to use water that is too hot.

Of course, too low a temperature is also no good. Although a not-so-high temperature allows the coffee to immediately enter its best tasting temperature after completion, at the same time the time it takes to cool down will also be shorter. And not everyone will finish a cup of coffee in a short time, so if water that is not high in temperature is used to make Americano, then because it cools too quickly, the "hot Americano" experience will be greatly reduced.

Therefore, when making dine-in hot Americano, Front Street Coffee controls the water temperature at 75±5°C. This not only ensures the coffee has enough temperature to extend the enjoyable tasting time, but also avoids making it difficult for the taste buds to recognize the coffee's deliciousness because the temperature is too high.

But there are two things everyone should note. One is that when serving hot Americano, it is best to serve it in a preheated coffee cup. Otherwise, a cup that has not been preheated will absorb the water's heat, lowering the temperature of the coffee in the cup; also, the temperatures recommended above by Front Street Coffee are only suitable for dine-in service, not for takeout. Because takeout will have a10~30minute delivery time, so we need to take into account the temperature the coffee will drop during the delivery time, so that when the customer receives it, it can be a hot Americano at a suitable temperature.~

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