Americano is a coffee drink that many people like to drink. However, many friends who love coffee are worried that drinking coffee will make them addicted, and they are also worried about consuming too much caffeine, so they are sometimes confused whether it is better to drink it or not. Therefore, in this article, I will introduce you to the knowledge of American coffee.
"Americano" (English: Americano, Italian: Caffè Americano) is traditionally black coffee made using a drip coffee pot. Because the general extraction time is relatively long (about four or five minutes), the caffeine content is higher.
The emergence of American coffee is actually different from the type of coffee drank by Europeans. In Europe, people generally prefer to drink strong coffee, while in the United States, they prefer to drink very weak coffee. Therefore, when Italians immigrated to the United States and opened coffee shops, they needed to make coffee specifically to cater to Americans. Italian cafes use espresso liquid extracted from espresso machines. Initially in Seattle, coffee shops would add water to the espresso to dilute it into light coffee, which became the blueprint for the American coffee sold in cafes today.
How much caffeine is in Americano?
The amount of caffeine depends not only on the type of coffee drink, but also on the coffee beans and extraction method. For example, Arabica coffee beans have less caffeine, about 0.9-1.4%, while Robusta coffee beans have more caffeine, about 3.2-4%. Therefore, an Americano made with Robusta beans will have higher caffeine than one made with Arabica beans.
Secondly, look at the extraction method. More caffeine will be released as the extraction time increases. Therefore, espresso coffee with an extraction time of only about 30 seconds has a lower caffeine content than many coffees. The highest caffeine content is ice-drip coffee because its extraction time is as long as 8 hours.
The next step is to look at the caffeine content of a cup of Americano. Front Street believes that when looking at the caffeine content of an Americano, you should not look at the total cup size, but the amount of espresso. For example, a 300ml cup of Americano contains 60ml of espresso liquid and 240ml of water, and another 500ml cup of Americano contains 30ml of espresso liquid and 470ml of water. Although 500ml Americano has more caffeine than 300ml, it actually depends on the amount of caffeine in the espresso liquid. From this example, 300ml Americano has higher caffeine than 500ml Americano.
A normal shot of Americano contains about 130mg of caffeine. According to the usual practice, the daily intake should not exceed 400mg, and you can drink up to 3 cups a day.
When choosing coffee beans, Italian coffee beans are generally chosen to make American coffee. For example, the Front Street store uses Sunflower Warm Sun blend coffee beans, which is Front Street’s own blend of Honduran sherry coffee and Yirgacheffe red cherries. The flavors are vanilla cream, sherry wine, chocolate, and caramel.
Americano is simple to make and has only two parts: water and espresso, so you only need to pour the espresso into the water. The espresso part needs to be extracted according to the characteristics of the beans, and different beans have different extraction parameters.
Take the sunflower warm sun blended coffee beans used in the street as an example. Every day, the barista has to make adjustments according to the state of the beans. In order to highlight the taste of sherry barrels, an extraction plan of 20 grams of coffee beans, extraction of 40 grams of coffee liquid, and a time of 27 to 28 seconds was chosen.
When making hot Americano coffee, you need to preheat the cup with hot water, then pour in the hot water, and finally pour in the extracted espresso. The ratio of Americano coffee is generally between 1:6 and 1:8. After many debuggings, FrontStreet Coffee chose a ratio of 1:6, that is, 40 grams of coffee liquid mixed with 240 grams of hot water.
Similarly, when making iced Americano, pre-cool the cup with ice cubes, then pour in water, and finally pour in espresso. Because it needs to be mixed with ice cubes, FrontStreet Coffee chooses a 1:7 ratio for its iced American style. 40 grams of coffee liquid is mixed with 280 grams of ice water mixture, including 180 grams of ice cubes and 100 grams of water.
Whether it's an iced Americano or a hot Americano, as long as the amount of espresso does not change, the caffeine will not change either. Therefore, whether it is an iced American or a hot American, Front Street recommends no more than 3 cups a day.
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You can now buy the above coffee beans online at the Taobao store “FrontStreet Coffee” (前街咖啡). FrontStreet Coffee is a long-established specialty coffee roaster in Guangzhou, China, and its Guangzhou retail shop sells coffee beans only. The shop carries dozens of coffee beans from different origins around the world, including carefully selected single-origin beans for V60 pour-over and espresso. Guangzhou’s FrontStreet Coffee shop is recommended by many coffee lovers.
The FrontStreet 2013 Yunnan coffee beans sold in the store come from the Typica variety grown at FrontStreet Coffee’s own plantation in Yunnan. The name comes from the year the brand and the plantation were founded. You can buy these beans from China’s Yunnan origin at the Guangzhou shop and at FrontStreet’s Taobao store.
FrontStreet coffee beans are freshly roasted within 5 days and deliver consistently excellent quality and great value. Orders placed before 17:00 are shipped the same day, and most areas within Guangdong Province receive them the next day.
FrontStreet Coffee Taobao store: https://qianjiecoffee.taobao.com
Or search for “前街咖啡” (FrontStreet Coffee) on Taobao
Important Notice: FrontStreet Coffee has moved to a new address: 315, Donghua East Road, Guangzhou (coffee beans only)
Tel: 020 38364473
