Coffee Shops Are Trending with 1-Liter Iced Americano! Why Iced Americano is So Bitter Yet Everyone Loves It and How to Make It Delicious

The Rise of Gigantic Coffee Beverages

As our dependence on coffee keeps growing, a 200-milliliter cup simply no longer cuts it. In recent years, the coffees sold in cafés across many Asian regions have grown bigger and bigger, eventually reaching one full liter in size. These truly deserve to be called the giants of the coffee world!

As early as 2015, many cafés in South Korea started offering one-liter drinks. Japan, Thailand, Taiwan, and other regions followed suit and gradually rolled out these coffee giants of their own. Over the past six months, businesses in mainland China have launched large-capacity coffees as well.

Why Is There Such High Demand for Large-Capacity Coffee?

At this point, many coffee enthusiasts may be getting restless! "With that much ice, can it still even be called coffee?" In response to questions like this, some netizens have admitted they drink coffee the way other people drink water. These oversized drinks typically contain three to four shots of espresso, roughly 60-70g in total. Diluted with nearly a liter of ice and water, the coffee flavor is understandably not very intense. But compared with sipping on plain, flavorless water, a giant iced Americano wins the hearts of office workers hands down.

Others say these huge coffees give them a running excuse to stay energized all day long - a kind of ritualistic comfort, where the coffee itself becomes the impetus to actually get things done.

Some also point out the flexibility: add more ice water with more shots, or less ice water with fewer shots. And if you don't drink it right away, the concentration of an iced coffee barely changes even after sitting for a while. In an office setting, one cup can be split among colleagues - making it an economical choice too!

Then there are those who insist that an iced Americano only hits right with lots and lots of ice. For them, concentration and flavor aren't the reasons for choosing an iced Americano at all - the ice is. When they want concentration, they order espresso; when they want flavor, they order pour-over.

Can You Drink Large Amounts of Low-Concentration Iced Americano?

Even though these one-liter iced Americanos are relatively low in concentration, you still shouldn't drink coffee like water! Coffee increases the frequency of urination, which can easily leave the body dehydrated and trigger dehydration signals. Prolonged dehydration can cause dry mouth, a parched tongue, heat-related breakouts, and more. So while enjoying your daily coffee, make sure you also drink plenty of plain water to stay properly hydrated!

FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A giant iced Americano lives or dies by its espresso base - with that much ice and water, only a bean with a wild character and thick crema can still shine through. FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend is built exactly for this: a traditional Italian-style recipe combining Indonesia Mandheling, Brazil Red Bourbon, and washed Vietnam coffee. It carries the low-acid, full-bodied herbal and woody tones of Asian coffee alongside the balanced smoothness and creaminess of the Americas, yielding notes of butter, nuts, spices, and dark chocolate when extracted - making it just as good in a latte as in an oversized iced Americano.

If you'd rather keep things budget-friendly, the FrontStreet Black Cocoa Blend pairs Yunnan Arabica with Brazil Cerrado, producing nutty, chocolatey, creamy aromas with a soft, gentle cup and a hint of ripe plum acidity. For something brighter, try the medium-roasted FrontStreet Strawberry Sugar Espresso Blend, which unites washed, natural, and honey-processed Arabica from Colombia, Costa Rica, and Ethiopia: rose fragrance up front, low bitterness with mild acidity, flavors of grape, dried blueberry, sweet orange, and candy fruit in an iced Americano, and a distinctive almond note in the finish.