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What's the Difference Between Latte and Americano? Why is Americano So Bitter?

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, For professional coffee knowledge and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style). For those who rarely drink coffee, ordering coffee is not an easy task. The dazzling array of items on the menu can be dizzying. What are the differences between them? Is Americano just American

For those who don't drink coffee often, ordering coffee can be quite challenging. The dazzling array of items on the menu can be overwhelming. What are the differences between them? Is Americano the favorite coffee of Americans? What's the difference between Americano and latte? Today FrontStreet Coffee will discuss the differences between the two with everyone.

The Difference Between Latte and Americano Coffee

Both latte and Americano coffee are derivatives of espresso. The biggest difference between them is that the former adds milk to espresso, while the latter adds water to coffee. Latte coffee is one of the most representative beverages in the milk coffee series, while Americano coffee is one of the most representative beverages in the black coffee series.

What is Espresso?

Espresso can be simply understood as super-strong, small-portion coffee liquid. Authentic espresso requires using a pressure-extraction coffee machine, allowing hot water to quickly pass through extremely finely ground coffee powder under sealed pressure (9 bar or above), extracting rich coffee liquid.

Most espresso typically uses blended coffee beans because of their low cost and stable flavor quality. As coffee consumers have further pursued flavors, some coffee shops now use single-origin coffee beans (single-origin coffee beans) to make espresso, also known as SOE (Single Origin Espresso).

FrontStreet Coffee's store espresso products all use blended coffee beans - a medium-dark roast "Sunflower Warm Sunshine Espresso Blend" made from 30% Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Natural Red Cherry coffee beans + 70% Honduras Sherry coffee beans. The goal is to ensure all espresso products maintain long-term stability, allowing every customer to consistently enjoy coffee with stable quality.

Espresso extraction parameters need to be adjusted according to different coffee machines and grinders. FrontStreet Coffee provides an initial espresso extraction reference: use 20g of coffee powder to extract 40g of coffee liquid at a 1:2 ratio under 9 bar pressure, taking 25-30 seconds. Adjust accordingly based on the actual flavor performance of the coffee after extraction.

FrontStreet Coffee stores use Q18 grinders and Lelit brand coffee machines. Daily extraction parameters are approximately 19.8-20g of extremely finely ground coffee powder to extract 35-38g of coffee liquid, taking about 27-30 seconds. The espresso extracted from the Warm Sunshine blend shows rich fermented wine aroma, berry sweetness and sourness, vanilla cream-like smoothness, and nut and caramel-like aftertaste.

What is Latte Coffee?

Latte coffee can be simply understood as coffee with milk added. The preparation is also very simple - add heated and finely frothed milk to the extracted espresso, then you can create various latte art patterns.

When hot milk is added to espresso made with FrontStreet Coffee's Warm Sunshine blend, the sweetness is very obvious, accompanied by gentle fermented wine aroma, with a texture as soft and silky as vanilla cream, plus a hazelnut chocolate aftertaste. When cold milk is added, the latte shows gentle vanilla cream + whiskey-like smoothness and aroma, gentle berry acidity, and nut caramel aftertaste.

What is Americano Coffee?

Americano coffee can be simply understood as diluted espresso. Add hot/ice water to the extracted espresso to adjust the coffee concentration. You can choose the water addition ratio according to your preference.

FrontStreet Coffee's daily store production uses the Warm Sunshine blend coffee beans with a 1:5 ratio of hot/ice water mixture. Hot Americano's flavor performance includes vanilla cream, fermentation-like aroma, slight berry acidity, and caramel dark chocolate aftertaste. Iced Americano's flavor performance includes whiskey wine aroma, gentle berry acidity, and hazelnut chocolate aftertaste.

Why is Americano Coffee So Bitter?

The flavor of Americano coffee depends on the taste of espresso. The flavor direction of espresso itself is rich and mellow. Everyone's perception of bitterness is different, so if it's not uncomfortable bitterness, it's normal.

If there's abnormal bitterness that makes people uncomfortable, it might be that the espresso wasn't extracted properly. This can be adjusted by increasing the water dilution ratio. If it still tastes uncomfortable, then you need to adjust the espresso extraction parameters.