Is There an Optimal Time and Temperature for Drinking Coffee? What's the Ideal Temperature for Hot Americano?

Most coffee drinkers have a preferred drinking temperature, ranging from hot coffee at 70-80°C to iced coffee near 0°C. As long as it's a temperature you can tolerate, it's drinkable—in other words, it's purely a matter of personal preference. However, our standard temperature categories typically include scalding, hot, cool, and iced. Moreover, most people prefer only drinking coffee when it's hot or iced, rarely opting for "intermediate" temperatures, unless they're cupping to evaluate coffee quality. Otherwise, few people choose to drink warm, cool, or cold coffee.

FrontStreet Coffee believes what's most fascinating about coffee is that as you drink it from hot to warm to cool, each temperature offers a different sensory experience. Of course, if the coffee itself is of poor quality—either poorly roasted or brewed—it might taste unpleasant from start to finish.

The Winter Rise of Hot Americanos

Taking advantage of the winter season, hot Americanos, which typically have low visibility, have recently started gaining attention. With people holding cups in their hands, hot Americanos haven't yet surpassed their iced counterparts, but they're certainly no longer overlooked. As more people order hot Americanos, some have noticed that the temperature of hot Americanos seems to vary from café to café. Water temperatures range from 60°C to 80°C, or even higher. So at what temperature range does a hot Americano offer the best flavor and mouthfeel?

Testing Methodology

To explore this question more objectively, FrontStreet Coffee will test two different coffee beans: a full-bodied dark roast espresso blend and a light-medium roast single-origin bean that highlights fruity acidity. We'll compare them at four temperatures (60°C, 70°C, 80°C, and 90°C) while keeping all other parameters and preparation details as consistent as possible. Without further ado, let's begin.

Dark Roast Coffee Test

Dark Roast Beans: Frontsteet Blend · Classic Espresso Beans
Espresso Flavor Notes: Dark chocolate, cream, hazelnut, caramel
Grind Size: 2.0
Extraction Parameters: 20g coffee grounds, 30-31 seconds extraction time, 40g espresso liquid
Brewing Ratio: 1:4.5 (40g espresso + 180ml hot water)

The espresso made from dark roast blend beans had rich crema, and all four cups displayed hazelnut and caramel aromas. The 60°C and 70°C hot Americanos could be sipped immediately, preserving the most complete crema. By comparison, the 70°C Americano was slightly superior in flavor, presenting rich aromas of creamy chocolate, nuts, and caramel biscuits, with a more noticeable aftertaste. The 80°C coffee was initially too hot to drink more than a small sip, with acceptable flavor. As the temperature decreased, it showed the most丰富的层次变化 in coffee aroma and sweetness.

After leaving it at room temperature for 20 minutes, the 60°C Americano had cooled below 45°C, with diminished aroma and increased bitterness, offering the shortest optimal tasting window. As for the 90°C Americano, because the water temperature was near boiling, it could only be consumed in larger sips after fifteen minutes, resulting in almost no retained crema and significant aroma loss, leaving only roasted notes mixed with some dull bitterness.

Hot Americano Aroma and Mouthfeel Ranking: 70°C > 80°C > 60°C > 90°C

Light-Medium Roast Coffee Test

Light-Medium Roast Beans: Costa Rica Baha Beans
Espresso Flavor Notes: Grape, blueberry, rose, cream, fermented wine aroma
Grind Size: 1.6
Extraction Parameters: 20g coffee grounds, 28-29 seconds extraction time, 40g espresso liquid
Brewing Ratio: 1:4.5 (40g espresso + 180ml hot water)

Since the Baha coffee beans, which highlight floral and fruity acidity, have a relatively lighter roast, the extracted espresso had thinner crema that almost disappeared after adding hot water. In terms of flavor, the four freshly prepared hot Americanos didn't show significant differences, all displaying citrus and blueberry acidity with subtle fermented notes.

Among them, the 80°C hot Americano offered the best drinking experience, revealing delicate floral aromas and raisin-like sweetness as it cooled to around 70°C. Similar to the dark roast blend Americano group, the 90°C hot Americano tasted predominantly acidic with the flattest aroma. The 60°C and 70°C Americanos had moderate flavors—without negative notes—but due to their lower initial temperatures, they cooled quickly, providing the shortest optimal tasting window.

Hot Americano Aroma and Mouthfeel Ranking: 80°C > 70°C > 60°C > 90°C

Optimal Temperature Recommendations

From these results, it appears that regardless of using light or dark roast coffee, it's not advisable to use water above 80°C to make hot Americanos. Not only does this risk burning the mouth, but the scalding sensation significantly overwhelms taste bud perception, making the palate less sensitive. Additionally, excessively hot Americanos require longer cooling times, causing more volatile coffee aromas to dissipate and substantially diminishing the flavor.

Furthermore, those who regularly drink pour-over black coffee should know that coffee liquid exhibits different flavor characteristics at various temperatures, with bitterness becoming more pronounced as the temperature decreases, especially below normal body temperature. Therefore, considering not only the optimal tasting temperature but also that people typically take more than 20 minutes to finish a cup of coffee, FrontStreet Coffee aims to use pre-warmed coffee cups when preparing hot Americanos while controlling the temperature at a moderately high 75-80°C. Otherwise, a coffee would cool after just a few sips, making it difficult to finish, let alone appreciate its flavors.

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473