No matter what season it is, Americano is the most ordered drink in coffee shops. Drinking hot Americano in winter tastes warm and mellow, while drinking iced Americano is refreshing and delicious in summer. So how is this popular drink made? Please come and find out more about it.
Was Americano invented by Americans?
The English word "Americano" for American coffee comes from "Caffè Americano" in Italian, which means American coffee.
It is difficult to know exactly who invented American coffee. One of the most popular theories is that during World War II, American soldiers drank refreshing coffee to get through the boring military life. However, they could not tolerate the bitter and strong espresso, so they diluted it with water to make it drinkable. After World War II, Italians who went to America to make a living brought espresso machines to the area. This "watered down coffee" soon became popular with the popularity of American chain stores around the world.
Americano coffee is a type of black coffee. Since no other excipients such as milk and sugar are added, you can enjoy the original taste of coffee. The coffee beans used in the front street store are self-roasted "Sunflower Warm Blend", which is a combination of 70% Honduran sherry coffee and 30% Yirgacheffe sun-dried red cherry coffee. The whiskey, vanilla, and cream flavors of sherry are combined with the tropical fruits and fermentation of red cherries, making the coffee in the cup rich in aroma and soft in taste.
When producing Americano coffee, Front Street will grind the coffee beans into powder, extract espresso coffee according to a powder-to-liquid ratio of 1:2, and pour it into water for dilution. That is, 20 grams of coffee powder will be used to extract 40 grams of coffee liquid. According to Front Street's many experiments, the ratio of coffee liquid to water of 1:6 is most suitable for expressing the warm aroma. That is, 40 grams of coffee liquid is poured into 240 grams of 88°C hot water, and the hot Americano is finished. If iced Americano is produced, the hot water will be replaced with 120 grams of ice cubes and 120 grams of room temperature water. The taste will be best before the ice cubes melt.
The Difference Between Americano and Long Black
In addition to Americano, Long Black has also begun to be added to the menu by some coffee shops. In Australia, people generally use Black Coffee to refer to black coffee and White Coffee to refer to coffee with milk added. Espresso is called Short Black. After Short Black is added with an appropriate amount of water, it is called Long Black. In China, it is generally translated as Long Black or Australian Black.
In the 1980s, a large number of Italians immigrated to Australia, and at the same time brought espresso machines to New Zealand, Australia, Melbourne and other countries. Australians like coffee with a stronger taste. Obviously, the refreshing Americano is not their "dish". So the Italians made adjustments to the concentrated base and production ratio to cater to the "heavy taste" of Australians.
Front Street read the relevant information and noticed that the most obvious difference between Americano and Long Black is the amount of water added. Americano coffee is made by first extracting espresso and then diluting it with water. The ratio of espresso to water is 1:5~1:8. The coffee flavor of Long Black is stronger than that of American coffee, and the cup size is smaller. The barista will extract two espresso coffees (40g) into a cup filled with 100-120ml of water, and the liquid surface will retain rich crema. Therefore, Long Black is the richest and most mellow when you take the first sip, and the subsequent flavor expression will be clearer and cleaner.
What coffee beans are suitable for making Americano?
Many coffee lovers have unknowingly equipped their homes with a lot of coffee appliances, and friends who are obsessed with Italian coffee have even stocked up on Italian coffee machines in preparation for making their own coffee. Front Street believes that a good cup of Americano coffee requires a high-quality espresso base, so choosing the right coffee beans is very important. Since espresso is a pressurized extraction, small adjustments in parameters will also affect the taste of the final espresso, so Front Street recommends using medium-dark roasted coffee beans.
Italian blended coffee beans are cooked beans made by roasters who carefully select coffee beans from different origins and different flavor tones and roast them together (or roast them separately and then blend them in proportion). The purpose is to highlight the mellow aroma of Espresso, maintain a balanced flavor, and at the same time make the taste of the Italian coffee produced in the store more stable. Front Street's understanding of blended beans is to maintain a stable flavor and balanced taste, so that the blended coffee can present the effect of one plus one greater than two, and the taste can complement each other's strengths, thereby creating a richer new taste of coffee. There are four Italian blended beans on the Front Street bean menu for everyone to choose from:
Classic and mellow type - Front Street commercial blended coffee beans
Robusta washed coffee beans (10%) + Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-dried coffee (60%)
The espresso produced has rich golden oil and nutty aroma. When you taste it, there will be a burnt coffee bitterness, but it will be accompanied by a more creamy and full taste. After swallowing, the bitterness will also dissipate, leaving a fragrant aroma on your lips and teeth.
Slightly acidic and mellow type - Front Street black cocoa blend (100% Arabica) coffee beans
Yunnan washed arabica coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-sun-dried coffee beans (70%)
Yunnan arabica coffee has a soft acidity paired with the mellow aroma of Brazilian Cerado coffee. The espresso coffee has a taste of caramel, nuts, and soft plum sourness.
Balanced aroma - Front Street premium blend of 100% Arabica coffee beans
Colombian washed coffee beans (30%) + Brazilian semi-sun-dried coffee beans (70%)
Adding Colombian coffee to the nutty tone of classic Brazilian coffee, the espresso presents a dark chocolate flavor, caramel sweetness, and a full roasting aroma.
Delicate wine aroma - sunflower warm sunshine blended with coffee beans
The espresso made from Ethiopian sun-dried red cherry coffee beans (30%) + Honduras sherry barrel coffee beans (70%) has a very rich dark chocolate flavor with a strong caramel flavor. The aroma after swallowing is unforgettable. Whether it's an Americano diluted with water or a latte with milk, it has a rich aroma and taste.
Professional coffee knowledge exchange. For more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat public account cafe_style)
For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee on private WeChat, WeChat ID: qjcoffeex
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
