Is it Normal for Iced Americano to Taste Sour or Bitter? How to Make a Delicious Iced Americano? What Does a Cup of Iced Americano Imply?

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The Viral Iced Americano Trend

Recently, a trend has been circulating on Douyin (TikTok in China): "I'd like an iced Americano." The meaning behind this trend suggests that while Americano coffee tastes quite bitter, it always makes people want to drink it again - because after experiencing the bitterness, it's no longer bitter on the second sip. The metaphor implies: whether it's situations, relationships, or interpersonal connections, there's no absolute good or bad, only preference. Not everyone will like it, but those who do become deeply captivated.

Because of this, many people, after seeing this trend, rushed to coffee shops to buy an iced Americano to experience this "philosophy"... The result? "This iced Americano tastes quite sour, what's going on?"

Understanding Acidity in Americano Coffee

Many people have tried Starbucks' iced Americano, which has a rich, mellow flavor and is quite bitter. But when drinking an iced Americano at a specialty coffee shop, it tastes surprisingly sweet and sour - could something have been added?

Not at all. When Americano coffee exhibits citrus or berry-like acidity (as long as it's not the sourness of spoilage or harsh green acidity), this is completely normal. Different coffee shops use different coffee beans for extracting espresso. Some use lightly roasted single-origin coffee beans, which highlight acidity more prominently; others blend coffee beans from regions with distinct acidity with beans from regions known for rich body, creating a gentler acidity in the flavor profile.

Roast Levels and Flavor Profiles

The lighter the roast, the more pronounced the acidity, but the flavor will also be relatively thinner. To ensure consistency across all stores, Starbucks roasts their espresso beans very dark (so dark that they develop an oily surface) - this ensures every espresso has a rich, robust flavor and extends the shelf life of the coffee beans' flavor.

Choosing dark roast coffee beans for espresso, while ensuring consistent coffee flavor, sacrifices the rich complexity of coffee. Therefore, Americano coffee will present a very cool profile. Meanwhile, specialty coffee shops focus more on coffee flavor and texture, possibly using medium to medium-dark roast coffee beans to make iced Americano, thus presenting a sweet and sour taste.

FrontStreet Coffee's Approach

For example, FrontStreet Coffee's daily offerings use a medium-dark roast "Sunflower Warm Sunshine" blend coffee bean combining sun-dried Yirgacheffe + Sherry coffee beans. Because this blend uses coffee beans from the African region (characterized by bright acidity), even after medium-dark roasting, the extracted coffee liquid exhibits gentle berry acidity. Combined with the unique wine-like aroma of Sherry coffee beans, coffee made from this blend always presents distinct fermentation notes, smooth vanilla cream-like texture, gentle berry sweetness and acidity, as well as nutty and caramel-like flavors.

Acidity vs. Bitterness: Personal Preference

Should iced Americano coffee taste deliciously sour or pleasantly bitter? Actually, everyone's preferences are different. Some people like sweet and sour flavors, while others simply enjoy bitterness. So whether sour or bitter tastes better is subjective and varies from person to person. Just like the trend suggests - there's no absolute good or bad, only preference.

Important Notice :

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