Black coffee, also called "zhai coffee," means black coffee in Cantonese. So zhai coffee refers to pure black coffee with no additives whatsoever, such as the commonly seen espresso, Americano, ice drip, cold brew, and coffee extracted by various brewing devices—all of these are zhai coffee, like siphon, French press, moka pot, and so on. Among them, iced Americano is also called "iced zhai coffee" and is one of the most popular black coffees.
Does iced Americano taste good?
Americano is made from espresso extracted by an espresso machine plus water, with no other additives, so it is a type of black coffee. There is no specific standard for the ratio of Americano, meaning that Americano made by each coffee shop may differ; they determine it based on the flavor characteristics of the coffee beans used and the cup size.
The taste of iced Americano depends on the espresso beans used. For example, the Americano served at Front Street stores uses Front Street's own roasted Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans. Under ideal extraction, it should have aromas of wine, vanilla, cream, chocolate, and berries. To highlight these aromas, Front Street conducted multiple comparisons and finally settled on a ratio of 1:4.5, that is, adding 180g of hot water to 40g of espresso. When making iced Americano, replace it with 100g of large ice cubes and 120g of water, i.e. 1:2.5:3. This iced Americano has a moderate strength, with a refreshing sweet-and-sour taste.
Front Street once compared iced Americano, warm Americano, and hot Americano, and found that hot Americano has the fullest and richest flavor, iced Americano has a sweet-and-sour, refreshing taste with a lighter bitterness, while warm Americano tastes flat, with neither flavor nor mouthfeel standing out. Therefore, generally no coffee shop offers room-temperature Americano. Compared with hot Americano's strong coffee flavor, everyone prefers a clean, refreshing iced drink. For workers who need to get up early to "move bricks," a cup of iced Americano can solve the problem of drowsiness from lack of caffeine, cut through greasiness, quench thirst, and satisfy the taste buds, all at a very affordable price, so naturally people like it even more.
The benefits of drinking black coffee
The reason Americano is so popular is not only its moderate strength and approachable taste; one cup a day in moderation also helps us aid digestion, cut through greasiness, and reduce bodily edema. In Guangdong, where temperatures are relatively high, iced Americano can also help Cantonese people beat the heat and quench thirst, making it a summer lifesaver. In addition, because iced Americano is very low in calories and can boost the body's metabolism, drinking it one hour before exercise also helps burn fat, so it is one of the drinks recommended by many fitness enthusiasts. However, Front Street still needs to remind everyone that only pure Americano has certain benefits; Americano with added syrup, condensed milk, or non-dairy creamer brings extra calories, and long-term consumption is not good for our health.
Whether Americano is healthy is a long-standing global topic, but the current medical consensus is that moderate consumption of Americano has no adverse effects on health, does not increase the risk of certain cancers, and may even be beneficial to the body. Front Street suggests no more than 3 cups of black coffee a day is beneficial and harmless to the body, but this also depends on each person's constitution. If we tend to suffer insomnia or gastrointestinal discomfort after drinking coffee, then we should not consume too much caffeine.
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The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
