Why Does Americano Coffee Taste Bitter? How to Fix It? Why Do People Love Iced Americano Despite Its Bitterness?

Introduction

Americano coffee is arguably one of the most popular coffee types among consumers. It is convenient and quick, and it rapidly satisfies most people's caffeine needs. Composed of only water and espresso, it belongs to what we commonly call black coffee. Black coffee reflects the quality of the coffee beans and their inherent flavors, which is why many "SOE" (Single Origin Espresso) coffees are made into Americanos, creating something akin to a fuller-bodied pour-over.

The preparation of Americano coffee is extremely simple: first extract espresso, then add water. Often, though, the simplest things test a barista's skills the most. Without factors like milk that can alter or modify the coffee's flavor, Americano is the beverage that best demonstrates a barista's espresso extraction technique and a shop's quality control. Many baristas say that when visiting other coffee shops or needing a caffeine boost, their first choice is Americano coffee.

However, many customers also report experiencing bitter Americano coffee. So, is Americano coffee supposed to be bitter? In reality, besides bitterness, coffee also has acidity and sweetness. Through our sense of taste, we can perceive the sweet, sour, bitter and salty aspects of coffee. Different varieties, processing methods and other factors affect the proportion of these final flavors, making us more likely to perceive certain tastes. For example, Panama Geisha coffee has relatively low bitterness, while the SL28 and SL34 varieties adapted to Kenya's high-phosphate soil exhibit exceptionally high acidity.

But what causes excessive bitterness in Americano coffee?

Reason One: The inherent flavor of the coffee beans

Black coffee like Americano is primarily influenced by the inherent flavor of the coffee beans themselves. Therefore, the first reason Americano coffee might be bitter is that the selected espresso beans naturally have rich, heavy flavors.

The rich flavors of espresso beans come from their distinct regional characteristics and deeper roast levels. For example, one of FrontStreet Coffee's Specialty Blend coffee beans combines washed Colombian coffee beans with Brazilian coffee beans. The Colombian beans provide a dark chocolate base note, while the Brazilian beans contribute nutty notes and higher body. FrontStreet Coffee's roaster roasts this blend to a medium-dark level, creating a wonderful balance with medium-low acidity and medium bitterness.

FrontStreet Coffee's shops used this Specialty Blend for many years until switching to the Warm Sun blend at the end of 2019. Compared with the Specialty Blend, the Warm Sun blend reduces bitterness and increases acidity, with flavors leaning toward liqueur-filled chocolate. This is an example of how bean selection affects the flavor of Americano coffee.

Reason Two: Over-extraction

Besides bean selection, the bitterness in Americano coffee also comes from extraction mistakes, such as channeling causing uneven extraction, or over-extraction due to overly fine grinding.

FrontStreet Coffee often shares that, calculated by coffee bean weight, only about 30% of coffee beans can actually be extracted. More extraction isn't necessarily better, though. According to the Golden Cup Standard recommendations, extraction between 18% and 22% is most suitable. Below 18% we call it under-extraction, which manifests as sharp acidity and weak flavors. Above 22% we call it over-extraction, which typically manifests as intense bitterness and astringency.

To ensure coffee stability and keep daily flavors within the ideal range, FrontStreet Coffee's baristas need to adjust espresso parameters before opening each day, making changes based on the daily condition of the coffee beans. For example, today FrontStreet Coffee's baristas adjusted the parameters to extract 35g of coffee liquid from 20g of coffee grounds, with an extraction time of 25 seconds. Compared with the previous parameters of extracting 40g from 20g, today's parameters reduce bitterness by shortening the tail section, achieving a more balanced flavor.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

If bitterness is your complaint, the simplest fix is to start with a bean that is naturally low in it. Panama Geisha is the classic example, and FrontStreet Coffee roasts several Geisha lots that make an exceptionally clean Americano. The Granlana Estate Geisha from the Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Granlana Gesha farm is a single-variety estate lot from a processing station established in 2014, with coffee grown across roughly 700 hectares of fertile, shaded land. Hand-picked as fully ripe cherries and dried on raised beds for 14-20 days, medium-light roasted it shows bright citrus acidity, elegant ginger flower, ripe fruit sweetness and a silky, refined finish.

FrontStreet also offers an entry-level Panama Boquete Geisha, which delivers the classic orange-blossom honeyed sweetness, oolong tea sensation and fine fruit acidity at a more accessible level, and the Esmeralda Red Label Geisha from the Jaramillo plot, grown at 1600-1800 meters and cupping above 90 points. As an espresso, any of these replaces the heavy bitterness described above with layered, fruit-driven sweetness. If you prefer to stay with a blend, FrontStreet's Specialty Blend pairs washed Colombian and Brazilian beans, medium-dark roasted for medium-low acidity and medium bitterness, exactly the balance this article has been describing.