A Simple Introduction to American Coffee: Drip Coffee or Watered Coffee

The Rise and Evolution of Americano Coffee

As coffee entered its third wave, the emergence of specialty coffee has led more coffee enthusiasts to focus on and pursue high-quality coffee. However, espresso, which was the protagonist of the second wave, has not diminished in popularity. Espresso has become a staple in coffee shops, and Americano is one of the simplest espresso-based coffees. It lacks the richness of pour-over coffee and the intensity of espresso, but it definitely has more espresso character than pour-over while offering more coffee flavor than straight espresso.

Understanding Americano Coffee

Coffee differs from tea in its preparation requirements, but FrontStreet Coffee believes that compared to tea brewing, coffee preparation might be even more particular, requiring attention to factors like water temperature, time, and grind size. "Americano" (in English: Americano, in Italian: Caffè Americano) is a type of coffee and one of the most common coffee beverages. It can be made using a drip coffee maker to produce black coffee, or by adding a certain proportion of water to espresso. Because its extraction time is relatively longer, the taste is relatively lighter, but the caffeine content will be relatively higher. Consequently, its energizing effect is also quite effective.

The Origins of Americano Coffee

Americano coffee was born after World War II, when Americans, having ended the European conflict, had many troops stationed in Southern Europe. They couldn't handle the intensity of espresso, so they diluted it with warm water. Only at this concentration could they accept it, which shows that espresso wasn't naturally loved by everyone! Because this drinking method was mainly adopted by American soldiers, people named it "Americano coffee."

At that time, most Americans used filtration methods to make lighter-tasting coffee. To this day, most Americans use drip coffee makers at home, which is why drip pots are also called American coffee pots. However, the popularization of Americano made by diluting a shot of espresso with water is largely due to Starbucks' global expansion.

In Italian, Americano coffee is called Caffè Americano, which now typically refers to coffee made by adding hot water to espresso. In New Zealand and Australia, the preparation of Americano coffee is slightly different: after extracting the espresso, the machine continues to supply water until a full cup of coffee is obtained. Coffee made this way is also called "long black" coffee.

The Art of Americano Preparation

Americano coffee consists of only two parts: espresso and water, with iced Americano having the addition of ice cubes. However, don't be careless just because Americano is simple—the simplest parts are often the most technically demanding. Americano is typically the espresso-based coffee that best tests a barista's espresso extraction technique. Compared to milk-based coffees like latte, Americano lacks the influence of milk on coffee flavor, so it best allows one to perceive the taste of the coffee beans themselves. Many coffee-savvy friends choose Americano when visiting other coffee shops—first, for convenience and speed, and second, to gauge the quality level.

American Coffee Culture

Americans' habit of drinking coffee seems innate—whether at home or in the office, whether in shopping malls or at roadside vending machines, the aromatic smell of coffee often wafts by. For Americans with very fast-paced lives, they need coffee to energize them, yet they don't savor coffee's deliciousness as leisurely as Europeans do. But regardless, one undeniable fact is that coffee has become a necessity for every American, which is why America ranks first in global coffee consumption.

Coffee is now the third most popular beverage, and it has also become very popular in China. However, everyone's coffee drinking habits differ—some people like to add milk or sugar to slightly bitter black coffee, while others prefer the original bitter taste, and some friends even like to add American-produced beverages when drinking coffee, which is another unique way to enjoy it. FrontStreet Coffee believes that regardless of the drinking method, for Americano coffee, it just adds some fun factors to busy work and life—as long as you like it, that's what matters.

Exploring Different Roast Levels for Espresso

Although espresso typically uses medium-dark roasted coffee beans, during brewing, you can also try different roast levels to see what different flavors they produce in espresso.

Light roast coffee beans often highlight floral and fruit aromas. Good light roast beans produce coffee that, when drunk, feels like a fruit feast with thousands of flavors. Take FrontStreet Coffee's Guoke for example—lightly roasted Guoke fully showcases its rich fruit aroma, mixing multiple fruit bombs like strawberry, passion fruit, and citrus.

Medium roast coffee emphasizes balance. FrontStreet Coffee's Blue Mountain uses medium roast. Medium roast can maximize the release of flavor and aroma from coffee beans. Frontsteet's Blue Mountain coffee is smooth on entry, overall clean and refined, with pleasant floral notes and nutty cocoa flavors that leave one intoxicated.

Dark roast espresso beans are often rich, mellow, and you can always taste chocolate flavors in dark roast coffee. At FrontStreet Coffee, Indonesian coffees are often dark roasted. Frontsteet's Golden Mandheling uses deep roast. Golden Mandheling itself has very high-quality herbal plant aromas, with very prominent caramel flavors. After the second crack, it effectively reduces off-flavors and showcases better sweetness.

Of course, with the rise of SOE (Single Origin Espresso), more friends are now pursuing single-origin espresso.

Espresso beans are roasted for longer, typically going through the second crack, thus they have deeper flavors, removing most acidity and making the overall profile fuller. Even when mixed with milk, they won't overpower the other ingredients. Americano adds water to espresso, so the mouthfeel becomes slightly smoother.

FrontStreet Coffee's Warm Sun Blend Parameters

FrontStreet Coffee's espresso beans differ from most coffee shops. Frontsteet uses Warm Sun Blend coffee beans: Sherry coffee blended with Red Cherry coffee, producing Americano with a rich wine aroma, making it more memorable than Americano from other coffee shops. To highlight the sherry barrel flavor, we chose an extraction plan using 20 grams of coffee beans to extract 40 grams of coffee liquid, with a time of 27 to 28 seconds.

When making hot Americano, you need to preheat the cup with hot water, then pour in hot water, and finally pour the extracted espresso. The Americano ratio is generally between 1:6 to 1:8. After multiple adjustments, FrontStreet Coffee chose a 1:6 ratio—that is, 40 grams of coffee liquid mixed with 240 grams of hot water.

If making iced Americano, use ice cubes to pre-cool the cup, then pour in water, and finally pour in the espresso. Because ice cubes need to be added, FrontStreet Coffee's iced Americano uses a 1:7 ratio—40 grams of coffee liquid mixed with 280 grams of ice-water mixture, including 180 grams of ice cubes and 100 grams of water.

FrontStreet Coffee's Brewing Recommendations

Whether making espresso, Americano, or pour-over coffee, the freshness of coffee beans is very important. Therefore, FrontStreet Coffee ships coffee beans roasted within 5 days. Frontsteet's roasting philosophy is "Freshly Roasted Good Coffee," ensuring that every customer who places an order receives the freshest coffee when it arrives. The coffee degassing period is about 4-7 days, so when customers receive it, it's precisely at its peak flavor.

For friends who need ground coffee, Frontsteet offers a gentle reminder: if coffee beans are ground in advance, there's no need for degassing, because during transportation, the pressure from carbon dioxide in the packaging also helps round out the coffee flavor, so you can immediately brew a cup when you receive the ground coffee. However, ground coffee needs to be brewed promptly, because ground coffee oxidizes quickly when exposed to air, meaning the coffee flavor will dissipate relatively quickly, and the coffee won't taste as good. Therefore, Frontsteet recommends purchasing whole beans and grinding them fresh for each brew to better appreciate the coffee's flavor.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

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