Is it normal for Americano to taste sour? What to do if your coffee is too sour? How to adjust coffee flavor?

Americano coffee has likely become the mainstream in coffee shops, especially in summer when a glass of iced Americano feels particularly refreshing. Coffee has become a daily habit for many people—sometimes for enjoying slow moments of life, other times for adding spiritual energy to an exhausting, day-and-night-reversed lifestyle. Regardless of the reason for drinking coffee, the reality is that many people have treated coffee as their essential daily "coffee ration."

However, coffee is an agricultural product, and there can be inconsistencies when brewing coffee. Although sometimes we can accept a less-than-perfect cup based on subjective feelings, we cannot deny that if most people understand more about coffee knowledge or brewing techniques, this cup of coffee could taste even better.

Americano coffee gives people the impression of being bitter. If you encounter a sour Americano, you might ask: Is this normal? Or is this a good Americano? In fact, it's normal for Americano coffee to have sourness because coffee beans themselves contain rich acidic flavors. However, as roasting time increases, the acidity gradually diminishes. The Americanos we typically drink mostly use dark-roasted coffee beans, but some coffee beans can still exhibit acidity even when dark-roasted. Nowadays, more and more Americanos are gradually shedding that burnt, bitter coffee flavor, instead moving toward coffee with acidic notes. Current coffee taste trends are shifting from traditional burnt, bitter coffee flavors to floral and fruity acid profiles, or perhaps toward single-origin SOE coffees.

When brewing coffee, the dissolution rates of bitter, sweet, and acidic substances differ. At the beginning of brewing, acidic substances are most easily extracted, followed by sweet substances, and finally bitter substances are gradually extracted. If a coffee is very sour, it might be because the extraction ended before sweet and bitter flavors began to emerge, which could mean this coffee is under-extracted. If a coffee is very bitter, it might be due to prolonged continuous extraction, causing excessive bitterness extraction. This could also mean this coffee is over-extracted.

How to Adjust When Americano Coffee is Too Sour?

The taste of coffee is influenced by the entire coffee processing chain, from picking and processing green beans, to coffee roasting, until the final brewing of a cup of coffee. Some coffees naturally contain acidic aromas in their flavor profile, so we cannot say all acidity in coffee is undesirable. Just like apples, which are overall sweet but have a slight tanginess, this acidity actually enhances the sweet-tart taste of the apple. "Bad acidity" typically refers to overly stimulating vinegar-like sourness.

Roast Level

We typically use dark-roasted coffee beans for Americano, which results in less sour taste. If it turns out sour, it might be that the coffee beans were roasted too lightly. In that case, try using darker-roasted coffee beans for brewing. For example, Brazilian coffee beans, Colombian coffee beans, etc.

Lower Water Temperature

Appropriately lower the water temperature and extend extraction time. Keeping the coffee grounds as still as possible in the water can also soften the coffee's acidity.

Finer Grind

If the coffee grind is too coarse, it will also be quite sour. We can adjust it to a finer grind to increase its extraction rate. This way, the coffee will be less sour, and bitterness will increase somewhat.

Increase Water Amount

You can adjust brewing by increasing the water amount. For example, if the original coffee-to-water ratio was 1:15, you could adjust it to 1:16 or 1:17.

Extend Total Extraction Time

When the total extraction time is too short, relatively more acidity and less bitterness will be extracted. Therefore, when extending the total extraction time, theoretically more sweetness and bitterness will be extracted. Generally speaking, for 15g of coffee grounds, even after extension, the extraction time should not exceed 2 minutes and 15 seconds.

Aside from reasons related to the beans themselves, channeling might have occurred. Channeling causes some parts of the coffee to be over-extracted while others are under-extracted, resulting in coffee that tastes both bitter and sour. To avoid channeling, you can use a distributor to evenly distribute the grounds. However, channeling is inevitable—it's just a matter of degree. What we can do is minimize it as much as possible.

SOE Americano

SOE Americanos are now popular in coffee shops, and they showcase the acidity of Americano coffee to its fullest extent. SOE stands for "Single Origin Espresso," which is espresso extracted from single-origin coffee beans, with the purpose of expressing the flavors of single-origin coffee. Therefore, coffee beans with distinctive flavor characteristics are chosen, such as Yirgacheffe, which has strong flavor expression. Rarely would beans like Brazil, Blue Mountain, or Mandheling be used for SOE, because coffees made from these beans don't differ significantly from traditional Italian blends. In terms of roasting, these SOEs are roasted slightly lighter than espresso but darker than pour-over, to highlight the original flavors of the coffee beans. Therefore, Americanos made with SOE coffee beans will exhibit distinct fruity acidity, such as Ethiopian SOE Americanos, which can be quite acidic.

The Americano served at FrontStreet Coffee uses a blended Italian coffee bean mixture of 30% Yirgacheffe coffee beans and 70% Sherry coffee beans. Although Yirgacheffe coffee beans account for a relatively small proportion in the blend, under pressurized espresso extraction, the acidity of Yirgacheffe beans is amplified, adding a lively berry-like sweetness and tartness to the espresso.

Americano, on the other hand, is diluted espresso with water added. After dilution, the berry-like sweetness transforms into bright citrus-like acidity. If it's hot Americano, as the coffee cools and aromas dissipate with the temperature drop, it will taste more acidic. This is also why FrontStreet Coffee often reminds everyone to drink coffee while it's hot.

FrontStreet Coffee - "Warm Sun Blend" Coffee Beans: Ethiopian natural red cherry coffee beans (30%) + Honduras sherry barrel-aged coffee beans (70%), featuring rich wine aroma, vanilla cream, berry sweetness and tartness, with roasted nut flavors.

Honduras Sherry coffee beans also make delicious SOE coffee. Nowadays, people are gradually pursuing single-origin Americanos because single-origin coffees can better reflect local coffee flavors, and the SOE coffees made from them are also delicious. Of course, single-origin SOE coffees are still not as rich as blended Americanos.

FrontStreet Coffee - "Basic Blend" Coffee Beans: Yunnan washed small-bean coffee (30%) + Brazil semi-natural coffee beans (70%), featuring mild fruit acidity, caramel, and nut flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee - "Premium Blend" Coffee Beans: Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazil semi-natural coffee beans (70%), featuring nut, dark chocolate, and caramel flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee - "Commercial Blend" Coffee Beans: Robusta washed coffee beans (10%) + Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazil semi-natural coffee (60%), featuring nut, cocoa, and caramel flavors.

FrontStreet Coffee Brewing Suggestions:

Whether making Americano or pour-over coffee, to brew a delicious cup of coffee, attention must be paid to the freshness of the coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee has always believed that the freshness of coffee beans greatly affects coffee flavor. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days. FrontStreet Coffee's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Quality Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee possible. The coffee resting period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive their coffee, it's at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, FrontStreet Coffee kindly reminds you: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for a resting period, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide buildup in the packaging also helps round out the coffee flavor, so you can brew a cup immediately upon receiving the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, as it oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding fresh before brewing to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat account: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473