Can Drinking Americano Coffee Help with Weight Loss? Is Americano Very Bitter? Is Americano High in Calories?

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The Rise of Coffee Culture

Once upon a time, drinking coffee has replaced tea drinking, becoming the primary choice for most people to stay energized at work, socialize, and mark the beginning of their day as part of their lives.

If you're also part of the coffee-drinking crowd, why not take some time today to understand the differences between Americano and milk-based coffees like lattes and cappuccinos in coffee shops? Whether you care about calories or caffeine, next time you order coffee, you'll know which one to choose!

Decoding Coffee: Black Coffee vs. Milk Coffee

Coffee shops most commonly use espresso machines to brew coffee, extracting small cups of espresso through high heat and high pressure.

Generally, a single shot of espresso uses 12-14 grams of coffee grounds and can extract about 21 milliliters of coffee, while a double shot uses 20-22 grams of coffee grounds and can extract about 40 milliliters of coffee.

But when we order coffee, the smallest cup is 8 ounces (about 240 milliliters), and large cups go up to 16 ounces or even larger. So what's actually added? The answer is water or milk/milk foam.

Americano is coffee made by diluting espresso with water. Because it contains more coffee, its caffeine content is also higher. Commonly heard lattes, cappuccinos, mochas, and caramel macchiatos are all coffees with added milk, just with different ratios of coffee, milk, and milk foam. Some coffees also add chocolate or other ingredients.

For example, lattes only add milk, cappuccinos add milk and milk foam, while mochas add milk and chocolate.

Calories and Caffeine in Common Coffee Drinks

In Terms of Calories

Coffee grounds themselves have almost no calories, so for those worried about calorie intake, black coffee without milk and sugar would be a better choice. However, if you add creamer and sugar, calories will increase (one packet of sugar is about 8 grams, with 32 calories; one creamer ball is about 10cc, with 26 calories).

Milk-based coffees have added fresh milk, and 240 milliliters of whole milk has 150 calories, so the calorie content of milk-based coffee is much higher than black coffee. Especially mocha coffee, which adds chocolate syrup and whipped cream besides milk - a medium hot mocha has 290 calories, exceeding the calories of a bowl of rice.

Each coffee shop's preparation method may vary. For example, some lattes are just coffee plus milk, while others also add milk foam; similarly, some mocha coffees add whipped cream while others don't; likewise for macchiatos, some only add a large spoonful of milk foam, while others add a lot of milk foam. Therefore, the exact calorie content of a coffee depends on each shop's recipe. Generally, the more milk, chocolate, sugar, or hazelnut/vanilla syrup added, the higher the calories will be.

In Terms of Caffeine

The amount of caffeine in a cup of coffee varies with the coffee bean variety, origin, roast level, as well as the brewing method and time.

Generally, Americanos have higher caffeine content because they contain more coffee. For coffees of the same size (such as medium), lattes, cappuccinos, and macchiatos have similar caffeine content because they use similar amounts of coffee - about half that of an Americano. Mochas have slightly higher caffeine than other milk-based coffees because they contain chocolate, and cocoa beans also contain caffeine.

In summary, for those who need to limit caffeine intake, choosing milk-based coffees like lattes and cappuccinos would be better than black coffee.

Additionally, because different sizes of coffee may use different numbers of espresso shots, when ordering coffee, it's worth asking the staff first to understand how many shots of espresso are used in large, medium, and small cups, as coffees with fewer espresso shots will have lower caffeine content.

FrontStreet Coffee's recommended espresso parameters:

Single shot: 14g of grounds, extract for 25-30 seconds, yield 21g of coffee liquid

Double shot: 21g of grounds, extract for 25-30 seconds, yield 40g of coffee liquid

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473