Is Americano Pour-Over Coffee? The Difference Between Americano and Espresso Coffee

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The True Nature of American Coffee

Italians call coffee made with espresso as a base and then diluted with water "Americano," but in reality, the true American coffee—the coffee most commonly drunk by Americans—is actually drip coffee.

"Welcome to the U.S. Do you want an Americano?" From this sentence, you can see what coffee means in America. Americans have a cup of coffee before doing anything, which shows their love for coffee. They drink it anytime and anywhere: in the morning, afternoon, and even at night; before work, after work, and during meetings; while shopping, walking dogs, and certainly on dates; workers drink it, teachers drink it, police officers drink it; priests drink it, nuns drink it, even the Statue of Liberty...呵呵, drink!

It is said that when Apollo 13, the first spacecraft to take humans to the moon, encountered a fatal malfunction on its return journey, the comforting words from ground control to the three astronauts were: Keep it up! Rich, hot coffee is waiting for your return.

So undeniably, Americans are the group that loves coffee most in the world, almost inseparable from coffee 24 hours a day. They drink 400 million cups of coffee daily, consuming one-third of the world's coffee production. They are the largest coffee-consuming country globally, with an annual trade value of $30 billion, second only to gasoline.

The Unrestricted Coffee Customs

Although Americans love coffee, they don't seem to be very particular about its taste, like a game without rules—completely unrestricted. Americans don't share the European emphasis on coffee brewing methods. They want both freedom and satisfaction in their coffee drinking, somewhat like old-timers drinking beer. This can't be blamed on Americans; generally speaking, Americans are very busy—where would they find the leisure time that Europeans have to enjoy a cup of coffee! Americans often keep a drip coffee maker running from morning till night. Due to the added water, the coffee tastes particularly light, and the filter pot stays on the warming plate until the coffee dehydrates, greatly affecting its taste.

Moreover, Americans overemphasize convenience and are committed to selling ground coffee. Little do they know that whether in cans or vacuum packaging, no matter how good the seal is, the freshness of ground coffee is greatly compromised. This has also led Americans to innovate coffee packaging, such as the emergence of metal cans, vacuum sealing, and breathable valves, which to some extent have extended the freshness preservation time of coffee beans, but for ground coffee, it's still of no help. Once ground, regardless of the packaging form, freshness greatly declines.

No Americano in America

There is no Americano in America, and there is no Viennese coffee in Vienna either. Actually, "Americano" is not coffee in the true sense of American coffee, but rather Italians using espresso as a base, adding hot water to dilute it, thereby creating a coffee with a lighter taste. Italians call it Americano, which is actually implying Americans' lack of sophistication in coffee drinking.

The true American coffee is actually drip coffee—the coffee from American household electric filter pots—and Americans simply call it "Coffee." This makes it understandable why there's no Viennese coffee in Vienna either. In Vienna, the coffee covered with fresh cream on the surface is called cream coffee (einspänner), while pure coffee with milk foam on top is called melange.

Coffee Time

Coffee time is an American corporate tradition and a benefit provided by companies to employees, allowing them to have breathing time and space for rest amidst busy work schedules. American companies usually have break rooms equipped with coffee machines for employees, allowing them to enjoy a cup of coffee and then return to intense work with renewed enthusiasm. After coffee time, circular cup stains are often left on desks, which is quite interesting.

It is said that during the fierce Civil War, a 19-year-old boy from Ohio carried a bucket of hot coffee to the front lines, filling soldiers' tin cups and bringing some small biscuits, greatly boosting the soldiers' morale. This was on September 9, 1862, and can be considered America's first memorable coffee time.

America has preserved this tradition and incorporated it into corporate culture. Facts have proven that coffee time indeed improves employee work efficiency, which has led some companies to even introduce coffee brands into their internal operations. If you live in Seattle and happen to work at Microsoft headquarters, you'll have endless Starbucks, because Starbucks is headquartered in Seattle, so Starbucks' presence at Microsoft is natural; similarly, if you live in San Francisco and happen to work at Google headquarters, you'll have the pleasure of tasting the South American coffee god Juan Valdaz's coffee.

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