Whether American coffee tastes better hot or iced is the same as whether tofu pudding tastes salty or sweet, which has attracted coffee lovers to two factions. At this time, there will always be people who eat melon and say: Obviously it is espresso mixed with water, isn't it the same whether it is iced or hot? It’s really different!
What is Americano?
Americano coffee originated during World War II. The U.S. military in Europe was not used to drinking extremely strong espresso, so they added water to the coffee to dilute it. Therefore, American coffee is essentially to dilute the concentration of coffee to a concentration suitable for Americans to drink at that time.
Later, Italians immigrated to the United States, and Italian cafes emerged in the United States. They promoted American coffee based on espresso, and also expressed the idea of diluting espresso by pouring coffee first and then water in the "watering" sequence. Until now, the making of Americano coffee has not paid much attention to the order. It is nothing more than the difference between retaining the oil and dispersing the oil.
Experimental small theater
In this article, Front Street used Sunflower Warm Sun blended coffee beans (a blend of Sherry coffee beans and Yirgacheffe red cherry coffee beans in a ratio of 7:3) to make three espresso coffees with the same extraction parameters. They added ice water, room temperature water, and 88°C hot water to compare the aroma, flavor, and taste to see what kind of performance the Americano coffee at the three temperatures performed.
The espresso extraction parameters of this experiment: Pegasus E78 espresso machine, Pegasus 900N grinder, grinding degree 1.9, double-head handle, 20g of coffee powder, 35g of extracted coffee (double espresso), extraction time of 27 seconds. The flavor of espresso extracted by this parameter is as follows: whiskey aroma, milk chocolate, vanilla cream, soft sour aroma, caramel-like aftertaste, obvious aroma, and rich taste. The ratio of espresso to hot water used by Front Street in making Americano coffee is: 1:6 (1g of coffee liquid to 6g of water)
|How to make iced American style
Prepare 110g of ice cubes and 100g of room temperature water to make an ice-water mixture, then pour in 35g of extracted espresso liquid. Since the ice cubes are constantly melting, you need to stir when tasting.
|How to make room temperature American style
First pour 35g of extracted espresso liquid into the cup, then add 210g of room temperature water.
|How to make hot American style
First pour 35g of the extracted espresso liquid into the cup, and then add 210g of hot water (88°C water is enough ~ it should not be too high temperature, as excessively high-temperature hot water will easily cause a burnt taste when making American style).
Americano coffee at three different temperatures has its own characteristics
The aroma of hot American coffee whiskey will be very active, with less obvious acidity, more of hazelnut and caramel, and high coffee body.
The aroma of Americano coffee at room temperature is not as obvious as that of hot Americano coffee. The acidity is soft and the taste is smooth. Since the concentrated oil layer has not been washed away, it has more of a vanilla creamy smoothness and a nutty and caramel aftertaste.
The aroma of the iced Americano is the least aromatic of the three, but the acidity is the most obvious. After entering the mouth, it has the aroma of whiskey, the sweet and sour berry taste, and the aftertaste of hazelnut chocolate, with a refreshing and smooth taste.
Human senses perceive taste differently at different temperatures, so the advantage of tasting hot coffee is that you can sense the taste changes of coffee from high temperature to low temperature. When tasting iced coffee, low temperature will reduce the taste buds' perception of bitterness and sweetness, making them more sensitive to sourness. When you are wondering what temperature of Americano you want to drink, just choose according to the taste you want at the moment~
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
