Is Americano the Right Way to Drink Coffee for Weight Loss? How to Drink Starbucks Espresso and Americano Black Coffee

When people talk about black coffee, the first thing that comes to mind is the light Americano made from dark-roasted coffee beans. Ever since Starbucks began entering global markets, Americano has become synonymous with black coffee, leading many people to assume that black coffee simply means Americano.

In fact, black coffee is a general term for pure coffee, meaning no milk, sugar, or other additives have been added. Any coffee liquid extracted by passing water through coffee grounds can be called black coffee, including cold brew, iced drip, pour-over coffee, and more.

Americano: More Than Just Espresso + Water?

Americanos made with espresso really only emerged after Starbucks began selling coffee beverages globally. In the United States, however, "Americano" typically describes a relatively mild black coffee. As for coffee consumption in America, East Coast residents drink stronger coffee than West Coast residents, and the South drinks stronger than the North. By background, Southern European and Latino immigrants prefer stronger coffee than British, German, and Northern European immigrants, while diluting espresso with water is the primary drinking method in the American West.

Generally speaking, American life is busy and stressful, often involving a large pot of electric drip coffee consumed from morning until night. Because of the high water content and the small amount of coffee, the taste is particularly weak, which has led many to criticize local Americano coffee as truly unpalatable.

Are Americanos Made with Espresso Good?

Compared with typical American drip coffee, Americanos made by diluting espresso with water are indeed richer and more aromatic. They are also faster to make than drip coffee machine coffee, which has won them a following among busy professionals worldwide. With the push of the specialty coffee trend, major coffee shops now focus on the quality of the beans used for espresso extraction, and the resulting coffee flavors are more complex.

For example, the "FrontStreet Coffee Warm Sun Espresso Blend" served in FrontStreet Coffee shops is made from Yirgacheffe natural red cherry and Honduras sherry coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee recommends a double shot with 20 g of coffee grounds extracting 40 g of coffee liquid, then diluted with hot or iced water at a 1:4.5 ratio. The resulting Americano has rich wine-like aromas, berry-like soft acidity, and a hazelnut dark chocolate aftertaste.

The Right Way to Drink Americano Black Coffee

Americano coffee is so popular not only because of its moderate concentration and approachable flavor, but also because drinking an appropriate amount daily can help with digestion, cut greasiness, and ease water retention. In the warmer Guangdong region, iced Americano also helps locals cool down and quench thirst, making it a summer essential.

Because iced Americano is very low in calories and can boost metabolism, drinking it an hour before exercise can help burn fat, making it one of the recommended beverages for many fitness enthusiasts. FrontStreet Coffee still needs to remind everyone, however, that only pure Americano has these effects. If Americano is mixed with syrup, condensed milk, or coffee creamer, it brings extra calories, and long-term consumption is not beneficial to health.

FrontStreet Coffee believes the optimal drinking temperature for Americano depends on the beans used, in other words, on the flavor profile of the beans. If you use dark roast (non-acidic, full-bodied) beans, like FrontStreet Coffee's classic blend Americano, the optimal drinking temperature is around 60-70°C.

If you use a medium roast (slightly acidic, noticeably sweet, with body) blend, like FrontStreet Coffee's strawberry candy blend Americano, the optimal drinking temperature is around 50-60°C.

If you use light roast (bright acidity, fresh flavor) single-origin beans, the optimal drinking temperature is 40-55°C.

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

Since cold brew counts as black coffee too, it is a great way to get the same clean, low-calorie drink at home. FrontStreet Kenya Cherry Tomato is an ideal bean for the job: grown in Kenya's Sika region at 1,550-1,750 meters from SL28 and SL34 and given the classic 72-hour double washed fermentation, it is lightly roasted and delivers vivid cherry-tomato and smoked-plum acidity with a juicy, full body, a clear sweetness mid-palate, and a clean finish, all of which come through beautifully in a cold extraction.

For a sweeter, fruitier iced black coffee, FrontStreet Strawberry Candy Gesha Blend pairs Panama Geisha with Costa Rican honey-processed coffee. One contributes delicate rose and orange notes, the other a grape, raisin, and strawberry-candy sweetness, and the combination is bright and lively over ice; given a little time to rest, it even takes on a light fruit-wine character.