What's the difference between Americano and black coffee? Is Americano black coffee? How does espresso differ from Americano?

"Boss, I'll have a black coffee!"

Occasionally, customers at FrontStreet Coffee will order a "black coffee." Although FrontStreet Coffee knows that these customers are most likely referring to an Americano, to be on the safe side, FrontStreet Coffee will still ask for clarification. This leaves many customers wondering: "Isn't black coffee the same as Americano?"

Well, that's actually incorrect! Many people mistakenly believe that Americano and black coffee are equivalent because they've seen bloggers online referring to Americano as black coffee. While Americano can be called black coffee, black coffee is not necessarily Americano. Why does FrontStreet Coffee say this? First, we need to understand what black coffee actually is!

What is Black Coffee?

So-called black coffee doesn't actually refer to a specific type of coffee, but rather a category—simply put, it's a general term. It primarily refers to coffees made with only coffee beans and water as ingredients, without adding milk, sugar, or any other additives besides water and coffee. In other words: if a coffee contains only coffee and water, then it can be considered black coffee. As for why it's called black coffee, FrontStreet Coffee believes it's not hard to imagine—it's because the color of coffee resembles black.

Undoubtedly, Americano is indeed a member of the black coffee family. It's made by diluting espresso with water, and espresso itself is a high-concentration coffee obtained by extracting coffee grounds with water. Throughout the entire process, no other additives are included, so what results is a pure black coffee.

However, as FrontStreet Coffee mentioned before, black coffee is a general term for a category that includes Americano but is not limited to Americano. Therefore, they have an inclusive relationship rather than an equivalent one. Americano can be black coffee, but black coffee isn't necessarily Americano. That's why FrontStreet Coffee needs to specifically ask to confirm whether the customer's desired "black coffee" is indeed an Americano.

What Other Coffees Belong to Black Coffee?

Honestly, basically any coffee made without adding ingredients other than coffee and water, regardless of the brewing method, can be considered black coffee. For example, in the espresso system, espresso, Lungo, Ristretto, or Americano's sibling Long Black—all these espresso-with-water or water-with-espresso preparations belong to black coffee.

Outside of espresso, coffees like pour-over made by manual water infusion, siphon coffee made with siphon pots, cold drip and cold brew from the cold extraction series, or coffees made with household essentials like French press, moka pot, smart dripper—all of these belong to black coffee. Of course, the prerequisite is that you haven't added any ingredients other than water and coffee.

There are many other examples, but FrontStreet Coffee won't list them all. At this point, FrontStreet Coffee believes friends will ask: if coffees made with only water and coffee are called black coffee, then what are coffees with other additives called?

Other Coffee Categories

Other categories... well, there are many names! But generally, we collectively refer to them as "specialty coffees," referring to coffee types made with various flavorings. For example, coffees made with milk, sugar, chocolate, cream, alcohol, salt, and various other seasonings can all be called specialty coffees. Of course, water can be included too, but this usually refers to coffees that differ from pure coffee forms. Such as latte, cappuccino, flat white, con panna, mocha, macchiato, café au lait, and so on...

Within this category, they may have different classifications based on different preparation methods or regions. For example, some regions classify coffees by color—just like black coffee, coffees with milk added are called white coffee (though white coffee also refers to different coffees in different regions); or in recent years, coffees prepared like cocktails have become known as "specialty coffee drinks"... Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee doesn't recommend everyone using a general term when ordering coffee outside. Because there are too many coffee types included, without clarification, it's very easy for differences in understanding to lead to discrepancies between what the shop serves and what customers want, adding many unnecessary troubles~

Important Notice :

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FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473