What Brand of Ginger Water Makes the Best Americano? Which Ginger Water Does Manner Use for Their Ginger Americanos?

The Rise of Dry Ginger Americano

Recently, FrontStreet Coffee noticed that a unique beverage has been gaining popularity in the coffee community, which is quite interesting! It's called "Dry Ginger Americano," and it's made with dry ginger water (sparkling water).

Dry ginger water (sparkling water) is a carbonated water with dry ginger flavor. It combines the distinctive spiciness of dry ginger with the refreshing sensation of sparkling water, also known as ginger ale. In the mixology industry, dry ginger water is one of the three most popular sodas used by bartenders (perhaps).

When the well-known coffee chain Manner launched a Dry Ginger Americano made with dry ginger water and espresso, this unique beverage immediately gained widespread attention and attracted countless fans. Although it was launched quite some time ago, it's not hard to notice that recently, there's been an increase in posts sharing how to make Dry Ginger Americanos. This naturally made FrontStreet Coffee want to taste this beverage for ourselves! So, FrontStreet Coffee opened the search function to see which brand of dry ginger water makes the best tasting version. However, it was discovered that regardless of the brand, Americanos made with their dry ginger water received polarized reviews. Some said it was delicious, while others found it unacceptable. Therefore, to determine which brand of dry ginger water makes the best Dry Ginger Americano, FrontStreet Coffee purchased three popular and readily available dry ginger water brands for testing. They are Schweppes, Watsons, and Bundaberg, with prices per can being approximately 2.1/2.8/14 respectively. (Watsons on the left, Schweppes in the middle, Bundaberg on the right)

Tasting the Dry Ginger Waters

Looking at the ingredient lists, there aren't significant differences between them - they're all made from similar ingredients. But just like coffee, different combinations in different proportions and different production processes can create completely different changes in taste and texture. So FrontStreet Coffee will first taste the dry ginger water individually to understand the differences in texture, aroma, and flavor among the three, then use them in coffee making to see which dry ginger water has the highest compatibility with coffee.

First up is Schweppes dry ginger water. As can be seen from the image above, Schweppes dry ginger water (middle) is the clearest looking of the three! Through tasting, FrontStreet Coffee found that in terms of aroma, its ginger flavor is the weakest among the three, not so prominent. However, it has high sweetness and tastes somewhat similar to Sprite? Then because it has abundant bubbles, the texture is quite refreshing with some stimulation.

Next is Watsons dry ginger water (left). Watsons dry ginger water has an overall yellowish color with moderate clarity! Through tasting, FrontStreet Coffee found that Watsons dry ginger water has the most intense aroma, with very prominent ginger flavor, and you can clearly feel the spicy sensation of dry ginger when drinking it. But its sweetness is the lowest among the three, and it has even more bubbles than Schweppes, making it very bubbly/stimulating to drink~

Finally, there's Bundaberg dry ginger water (right). Although its liquid has the lowest clarity among the three, it has excellent balance. Its ginger flavor is stronger than Schweppes but milder than Watsons; its sweetness is higher than Watsons but lower than Schweppes. In terms of texture, it doesn't have as much bubble sensation as the first two, so it drinks very smoothly and is quite rich. It can be said to be a very balanced dry ginger water in all aspects.

As can be seen from above, each has its own advantages. Schweppes has the highest sweetness, Watsons has the strongest ginger flavor, and Bundaberg is the most balanced. So next, FrontStreet Coffee will add espresso to see how they perform when made into Dry Ginger Americanos!

Testing with Espresso

In this comparison of Dry Ginger Americanos, FrontStreet Coffee will conduct two sets of tests. One set will be made using the medium-dark roast "Warm Sun Blend" currently used in our stores, while the other will use the relatively lighter roast "Floral Queen." The proportions will be identical in all cases at 1:4 (1 part espresso, 4 parts dry ginger water).

First, let's enter our first evaluation. The Warm Sun Blend presents flavors of whiskey, butter cookies, and berries. FrontStreet Coffee's extraction parameters for this are 20g of coffee grounds, with a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio, extracted over 30 seconds. To prevent waste from not being able to finish it all, FrontStreet Coffee will only use 20ml of espresso for the coffee making. Following the 1:4 ratio, 80ml of dry ginger water needs to be added.

Results with Medium-Dark Roast

Schweppes Dry Ginger Americano: Similarly, after tasting all three, the Schweppes Dry Ginger Americano is the sweetest. After adding coffee, its ginger flavor becomes even less noticeable, and the coffee flavor is also diminished - FrontStreet Coffee could only capture a hint of chocolate flavor. It's more about the sweetness and bubble sensation of the dry ginger water.

Watsons Dry Ginger Americano: The Dry Ginger Americano made with Watsons brand dry ginger water has a very rich flavor, the strongest among the three! This richness refers not only to the ginger flavor of the dry ginger water but also to the very prominent coffee flavors, with chocolate, whiskey, and caramel notes. However, its sweetness is relatively low, and because it has more bubbles, it tastes slightly stimulating and somewhat "bitter" (for friends who don't drink bitter coffee).

Bundaberg Dry Ginger Americano: Bundaberg Dry Ginger Americano maintains a balanced state - it doesn't have overly prominent sweetness, and its ginger flavor and coffee flavor are well-balanced, neither bitter nor weak, very gentle. The texture is similarly smooth and rich. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee believes its audience will be relatively broader because everything is in a just-right state.

Testing with Light Roast

The above is the evaluation of Dry Ginger Americanos made with medium-dark roast coffee beans. If FrontStreet Coffee had used even darker roasted beans, FrontStreet Coffee believes the coffee flavor and bitterness would have been even more prominent. Of course, everyone can adjust the ratio according to their own preferences. Here FrontStreet Coffee is just conducting a simple comparison~ So next, FrontStreet Coffee will use the lighter roast "Floral Queen" for making to see what delicious flavors emerge from the collision of light roast coffee with dry ginger water~

Because "Floral Queen" is roasted significantly lighter than "Warm Sun," the extraction time will be slightly longer, with parameters as follows: 20g of coffee grounds, 35 seconds time, 40ml liquid weight. The ratio of coffee to dry ginger water remains 1:4.

The overall performance of the three cups is not much different from the previous ones, so FrontStreet Coffee won't elaborate further here. However, compared to the Dry Ginger Americano made with medium-dark roast coffee, the light roast coffee doesn't have as much bitterness and the flavor isn't as rich, so the coffee flavor's expression in the entire Americano is relatively weaker. The proportion of dry ginger water could be appropriately reduced. But because light roast coffee has more acidity, this acidity provides an excellent layered complexity to the Dry Ginger Americano, making it much more acceptable than the version made with medium-dark roast coffee, tasting more like a fruit-flavored ginger ale~

Conclusion and Recommendations

In summary, since each brand of dry ginger water has different and quite distinct characteristics, which one is most suitable for making Dry Ginger Americano depends on our own taste preferences.

If you prefer a Dry Ginger Americano with higher sweetness, where the coffee and ginger flavors aren't too strong or intense, then using Schweppes dry ginger water would be more suitable; if you prefer a more stimulating texture with stronger ginger and coffee flavors and not too much sweetness, then Watsons dry ginger water would be more suitable; and if you prefer something just right, where the flavor isn't too strong or too weak, the texture isn't very stimulating, and the sweetness is moderate, then Bundaberg would be more suitable, although its price... well, you can weigh that yourselves~

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473