What is an Americano?
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With over twenty plus types of coffee in cafes and coffee shops, it can get confusing. Wondering “What is an Americano?” The Americano is an espresso with hot water added on top. Some coffee shops serve you an espresso in a larger regular cup with a pot of hot water. This is so you can dilute it to your liking.
The espresso is an intensely flavoured coffee, and a very strong coffee. A lot of people find it too intense and bitter for their taste.
The history of the Americano is meant to trace back to second World War. When American soldiers were stationed in Italy, they added hot water to espresso to try and reproduce the flavour of the brewed coffee they were familiar with. Hence the name Americano!
This coffee is a dilute and gentler black coffee compared to an espresso. The edge of the espresso is taken away from the addition of hot water. For some who prefer black coffees, this is certainly one of their preferred options at coffee shops.
Some stores and places use the term Americano and Long Black interchangeably. But to some others, a long black is when an espresso is pulled on top of hot water. Why does this make a difference? In this approach of the espresso being on top of hot water, you still have most of the crema which has a rich flavour and therefore the Long Black tastes different to the Americano.
Want to learn about other types of coffee? Read about a flat white or a latte.