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What's the Difference Between Espresso, Pour-Over, Three-Stage, and Single-Stage Brewing? The Origin of Americano and How to Make It

Published: 2026-01-27 Author: FrontStreet Coffee

Last Updated: 2026/01/27, In the world of coffee, there are numerous technical terms. While they may sound similar, they actually have distinctly different meanings. For example, terms like espresso, Americano, and drip coffee all contain the word "style," but some refer to specific types of coffee while others describe brewing

In the world of coffee, there are numerous technical terms. While they may sound similar, they actually represent completely different meanings. Terms like espresso-style coffee, American-style coffee, and drip-style coffee may all contain the character "style" (式), but some refer to specific coffee drinks, others describe brewing methods, and yet others represent categories of coffee—each with its own distinct meaning!

Coffee beginners often get confused by this "style" character, so FrontStreet Coffee is here today to share what these different terms with "style" in their names actually mean!

What is Espresso-Style Coffee?

Originally, espresso-style coffee referred to espresso made with semi-automatic espresso machines! Because these machines originated in Italy, people called them Italian-style espresso, and the semi-automatic machines used to make them were called Italian-style coffee machines.

However, since many people couldn't accept this small, high-concentration coffee, they needed to dilute the bitterness and concentration by adding various "ingredients." From that point on, espresso-style coffee no longer referred solely to espresso but became a general term! Any specialty coffee made with espresso as a base and various ingredients added can be called "espresso-style coffee." Lattes, cappuccinos, flat whites, and others all belong to the category of espresso-style coffee.

What is American-Style Coffee?

American-style coffee is one of the espresso-style family mentioned above—a coffee made by mixing espresso and water! During World War II, American soldiers first encountered espresso. As you might imagine, espresso was really too strong and too bitter. American soldiers had such mild tastes—how could they get used to it! (Double rhyme) So they asked shops to pour espresso into water to dilute it.

Unexpectedly, espresso diluted with water became very popular because it suited the mild tastes of American soldiers. More and more soldiers began asking shops to add espresso to water for dilution. For convenience, shops named this coffee "American-style coffee."

What is Drip-Style Coffee?

Drip-style refers to a coffee brewing method, which we can simply understand as "filtration," because coffee grounds are placed in filtration equipment, and then water is used to extract the coffee grounds. Due to the presence of filtration equipment, only liquid coffee seeps out from the equipment, while the coffee grounds are isolated. This type of extraction method is what we call "drip-style." Coffee made using this method is drip-style coffee. Filter paper, flannel filter cloths, filter screens, and others are all filtration equipment that can isolate coffee grounds.

Immersion-Style Coffee

Since we mentioned drip-style, let's also discuss "immersion-style." Similarly, it's also a coffee brewing method, but immersion-style coffee is simpler to make because we only need to steep water and coffee grounds together!

The reason we mention it is that immersion-style is an extraction method completely different from drip-style. Compared to drip-style, immersion extraction relies less on kinetic energy from external forces and only requires determining steeping time based on water's dissolution efficiency. When the time is up, you can get a delicious coffee with suitable taste. Because it significantly reduces human brewing factors, immersion extraction can better reflect the coffee's original flavor! However, precisely because of this, the extracted coffee cannot have the rich layered presentation that drip-style coffee can offer.

Three-Stage and One-Stage Methods

In addition to the above "styles," we might also see terms like three-stage and one-stage in some coffee articles. These are different. The nouns mentioned above all refer to the coffee itself or coffee made by specific methods. However, three-stage and one-stage are not followed by the word "coffee" because they don't refer to coffee but rather to coffee brewing techniques!

It can be said that among all drip-style extractions, pour-over is the most popular extraction method! Because pour-over coffee offers so much versatility. We can research different brewing techniques by controlling parameters like water temperature, grind size, and time, and the final taste of coffee will vary based on these different parameters. Three-stage and one-stage methods are two such brewing techniques. So we can understand that although some terms may sound very similar, their meanings are completely different! They should never be lumped together.