Starting each morning with a well-made cup of Americano is always a wonderful way to start the day. We’ve gone over a few other popular coffee drinks, so now we’re discussing another espresso based coffee drink, the Americano.
Read More: A Guide to 20+ Popular Types of Coffee
The Americano is a coffee drink that’s straightforward, full of flavor, and elegant. Better yet, once you have the basics down, you can tweak it to your own version to better suit your taste.
Let’s cover what an Americano is, a little history and how you can make it at home (click here to go directly to the steps.) Our aim is to give you a better understanding and appreciation of an Americano compared to other types of coffee.
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What is an Americano?
An Americano, also known as Caffè Americano, is Italian for American coffee. It’s a coffee beverage made with just espresso and hot water.
A shot of espresso (typically one ounce) is made with an espresso machine, where hot water is pressurized through tightly packed coffee grounds to create a concentrated coffee.
The basics of making the drink is by pouring a shot or two of espresso into a cup of hot water. To make an iced version, you would simply pour a shot of espresso into a cup of cold water and add ice. So an Americano is basically a diluted espresso.
But just because it has a less concentrated flavor and is weaker in strength than a shot of espresso, does not mean it doesn’t taste good. An Americano is easy to drink and widely accepted because of its wonderful smoothness and richness.
History of the Americano
The Americano has a rather mysterious origin. According to the most popular belief, the Americano is thought to have originated during World War II when American soldiers in Italy would dilute their espresso with hot water to further increase their rations.
Another story goes that it was invented in Italy during World War II by the American soldiers because they found that the Italian espresso was too strong for their taste. Thus, the watered down espresso became known as the Americano.
Either way, it’s not a common drink for Italians so you’re more likely to find this diluted espresso in American coffee shops rather than overseas.
Americano vs black coffee
A cup of Americano and a cup of regular black coffee look pretty similar from the outside, however they are two totally different beverages, each made in a different way.
An Americano may look like a plain black coffee, however it contains espresso. Since Americano is made with espresso, it tends to have a stronger and richer taste than black coffee. An espresso is made using an espresso machine.
Black coffee, on the other hand, is made using the drip method. It is brewed by letting hot water drip down through coffee grounds and collected in a carafe (like a standard electric Mr. Coffee coffee maker.) This type of coffee is made quickly enough to let you serve a big crowd, providing a boost of caffeine for the whole party.
Americano espresso to water ratio
There are no fixed rules when it comes to the espresso to water ratio for an Americano. However, a good place to start is 1:1.5 espresso to water.
Traditionally a single shot of espresso uses 7 grams of ground coffee and yields about 1 fluid ounce. This means that if a single shot of espresso was made, 1.5 liquid ounces of water should be mixed with the espresso. And for 2 shots of espresso (2 fluid ounces), you would use 3 ounces of water and so on and so forth, keeping the 1:1.5 espresso water ratio.
How to make an Americano
Making an Americano at home is a pretty simple process as long as you have an espresso machine. You don’t really need a fancy espresso machine. A simple one will work just fine.
If your machine isn’t equipped with a hot water dispenser, you’ll just need to boil your own hot water. (And if you don’t have an espresso machine at home but would like to make an Americano at home, use a moka pot. This method will give you the most espresso like coffee.)
Here’s how to make an Americano easily at home in five easy steps:
Americano ingredients
- Coffee bean grinder
- Espresso machine
- 18 grams finely ground coffee
Step 1
Place coffee beans in the grinder and grind them. I used a Breville grinder.
The coffee beans need to be ground extra fine because espresso machines use pressure to brew. If it’s too fine, the resulting espresso will be over-extracted and if it’s too coarse, it will be under-extracted.
Step 2
Dose 18 grams of ground coffee. I prefer a strong Americano so I opted for a double-shot espresso.
Step 3
Distribute the ground coffee well and give it a good tamp. Try to aim for 30 pounds of pressure and tamp it down just firmly and uniformly enough.
Step 4
Load the portafilter into the espresso machine and start the extraction process.
Aim for 25 seconds of extraction time. You should be getting approximately 57 grams (or 2 fluid ounces) of espresso if you chose the right grind size.
Step 5
Using the 1:1.5 espresso to water ratio, dispense 3 fluid ounces of hot water in a coffee cup, and follow by pouring the espresso over the hot water.
Enjoy your Americano!
How to make an Americano with a stovetop moka pot
If you’re using a moka pot instead of an espresso machine, start by grinding the coffee beans finely.
Add water to the bottom chamber of the moka pot (the amount will differ depending on the size of your moka pot.) Place the funnel on top of the bottom chamber and add finely ground coffee beans. Cover the ground coffee by screwing the top chamber to the bottom chamber.
Place the moka pot on the stovetop. Meanwhile, add hot water to a cup. When you hear a gurgling sound as the coffee is brewing into the top chamber of the moka pot, turn off the heat.
Pour two shots (2 fluid ounces) of coffee from your moka pot into the cup with hot water. You have an Americano!
Read More: How to Brew Espresso with a Moka Pot
Americano Recipe
Americano
Here’s how to make an Americano easily at home in five easy steps.
Materials
- Coffee bean grinder
- Espresso machine
- 18 grams finely ground coffee
Instructions
1. Place coffee beans in the grinder and grind them. I used a Breville grinder.
The coffee beans need to be ground extra fine because espresso machines use pressure to brew. If it’s too fine, the resulting espresso will be over-extracted and if it’s too coarse, it will be under-extracted.
2. Dose 18 grams of ground coffee. I prefer a strong Americano so I opted for a double-shot espresso.
3. Distribute the ground coffee well and give it a good tamp. Try to aim for 30 pounds of pressure and tamp it down just firmly and uniformly enough.
4. Load the portafilter into the espresso machine and start the extraction process.
Aim for 25 seconds of extraction time. You should be getting approximately 57 grams (or 2 fluid ounces) of espresso if you chose the right grind size.
5. Using the 1:1.5 espresso to water ratio, dispense 3 fluid ounces of hot water in a coffee cup, and follow by pouring the espresso over the hot water.
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