Italian coffee refers to the concentrated liquid extracted by an Italian coffee machine. In most cases, the coffee concentrated liquid is not used for direct production. Of course, sometimes some customers order Italian coffee for the sake of refreshing and strong taste. This is not common. Italian espresso is made from coffee in a ratio of 1:2, and its concentration and taste can be imagined.
Italian concentrate with water added is what is commonly known as Americano. Adding different programs of milk or milk foam is latte or cappuccino, which is commonly known as milk coffee. Both American-style and Pour over(V60) coffee are called black coffee. The difference is that American-style is made by adding water directly to the Italian concentrate, while Pour over(V60) coffee is brewed with coffee powder by hand. There is no need to use an espresso machine or the process of adding water to dilute. Let’s talk about Americano coffee in detail.
How to make Americano coffee?
Americano can be said to be the simplest Italian coffee, because Americano only consists of two parts, espresso and water, while iced Americano has more ice cubes. But don’t relax just because of Americano. The simplest part is also the most technical part. Americano is often the espresso that most tests a barista’s espresso extraction skills.
Compared with milk coffees such as latte, Americano has less impact on the taste of coffee, so the taste of the coffee beans itself can be best perceived. Many barista friends will choose Americano when going to other cafes. Firstly, it is convenient and fast, and secondly, they can know the quality of the coffee.Closer to home, we just said that making American coffee is simple. It only has 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.
When making hot Americano coffee, you need to preheat the cup with hot water, then pour in hot water, and finally pour in the extracted espresso. The ratio of Americano coffee is generally between 1:4 and 1:6. If you like a rich and balanced taste, you can choose a ratio of 1:5, that is, 40 grams of coffee liquid mixed with 200 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, the ice American style chooses a ratio of 1:7. 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.
Why is Americano bitter?
Many customers also report that they drink Americano coffee that is bitter. So is Americano coffee bitter? In fact, coffee is not only bitter, but also sour and sweet. We can taste the sour, sweet, bitter and salty taste of coffee, and different varieties, processing methods and other factors affect the proportion of these last few flavors, making it easier for us to perceive one or more of them.But what would be the reason for excessive bitterness in Americano coffee?
Reason one:The taste of the coffee beans themselves
Black coffee like Americano is mainly affected by the taste of the coffee beans themselves, so the first reason why Americano is bitter is that the espresso beans you choose may have a rich and thick taste.
The rich flavor of espresso beans comes from the flavor of the region where they are produced and the darker degree of roasting. For example, the classic blend of Front Street coffee beans combines Brazilian coffee beans with Mandheling coffee beans. Mandheling gives this blend the main tone of dark chocolate, spices, and caramel. Brazil provides a nutty tone and higher body, while a small amount of Robusta is responsible for increasing the concentrated oil. After being roasted to a medium-dark level, it has a wonderful balance, low acidity and mellow roasted flavor.
If you can’t stand the bitterness of coffee, buy the Front Street Strawberry Candy Italian Blend.Different from the traditional dark roast blend, Front Street Strawberry Candy is a coffee blend specially made for espresso and moka pots. It uses medium roasting and combines single-origin coffee from the three major production areas of Costa Rica, Ethiopia and Colombia. The flavor has delicate aromas of roses, grapes, preserved fruits and almonds. The cream is smooth, American-style sour and sweet, and refreshing. It is suitable for those who do not like bitter coffee.
Reason 2: Over-extraction
In addition to bean selection, the bitterness of American coffee also comes from errors during extraction, such as uneven extraction caused by channeling effect, or over-extraction caused by grinding too finely.
In order to ensure the stability of the coffee and the taste of the coffee every day are within the ideal range, the barista needs to adjust the parameters of the espresso before opening the door every day, based on the daily state of the coffee beans. For example, today’s parameters are 20 grams of coffee powder to extract 35% coffee liquid, and the extraction time is 25 seconds. Compared with the previous 20 grams of coffee powder to extract 40 grams of coffee liquid, today’s parameters reduce the bitterness by reducing the tail section, achieving a more balanced taste.
Recommended American coffee beans
What is the core of Americano coffee? It is espresso, and most of the flavor of Italian coffee comes from the espresso part. Latte, Americano, etc. are all coffee drinks that are very influenced by the flavor of espresso. The taste of espresso coffee comes first from the selection of Italian coffee beans, and secondly, it is affected by extraction, so it is very important to choose good Italian coffee beans. If you want to easily make American coffee that tastes as delicious as in a cafe, Front Street recommends using Italian blended coffee.
1. Front Street Boutique 100% Arabica coffee beans
Front Street Boutique Blend 100% Arabica Coffee Beans is an Italian coffee bean that has been with Front Street Coffee stores for many years. If you want to blend a stable Italian coffee bean, you must start from a balanced and high-yielding coffee-producing country. Therefore, when formulating this Front Street Boutique Blend 100% Arabica Coffee Beans, Front Street Roasters chose the two producing countries with the highest and most stable Arabica coffee bean production in the world - Colombia and Brazil.
Washed Colombian coffee beans give this Front Street boutique blend of 100% Arabica coffee beans soft acidic, dark cocoa, and caramel tones, while Brazilian coffee beans are responsible for providing the mellow taste of this coffee beans, as well as the rich aroma of roasted nuts. Therefore, when this Italian coffee bean is made into espresso, it will have a very obvious dark chocolate flavor, a solid and mellow taste, and a nutty aftertaste.The balance of coffee beans and the distinct flavor of dark chocolate in this Italian blend make it perfect for either black coffee or milk coffee.。
2. Front Street black cocoa blended with coffee beans (100% Arabica)
Front Street Premium Blend 100% Arabica is a very stable and high-quality Italian blend of coffee beans, which is very suitable for many independent cafes as daily products, while Front Street Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) is the second option provided by Front Street - high cost performance. The operation of cafe stores is inseparable from costs, and it is necessary to provide stable coffee production while keeping costs down as much as possible.
Front Street Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) coffee beans are a more cost-effective coffee bean, derived from the selection of Brazilian and Yunnan coffee beans for blending, with a ratio of 70% Brazilian and 30% Yunnan coffee beans. Coffee beans from both Yunnan and Brazil tend to have nutty tones. At the same time, Brazilian coffee beans give the Front Street Black Cocoa Blend (100% Arabica) a more solid taste and rich oils.
3. Front Street Commercial Blended Coffee Beans
Front Street Commercial Blend This coffee bean is different from the other three blends. Front Street Commercial Blend is based on the choice of opening a store. The main notes of Front Street Commercial Blend coffee beans are Colombian and Brazilian. On this basis, Front Street Coffee also adds Robusta coffee beans.
The purpose of this is to add more oil to the coffee, which not only makes the American style taste more mellow, but also has almost no sour taste. It can also be used by baristas when making latte art. Although it is not a 100% Arabica variety, mixing in a small amount of Robusta can increase the body, oil, and rich coffee taste of the coffee beans, making it the best choice for businesses to open stores.
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
