What is Americano, you ask – or more specifically what’s caffè Americano? Well OK, I’ll answer, but not only will I answer this question, but I’ll also tell you how to make Americano at home, and answer lots of other Americano questions, some of which you probably didn’t even realize you had :-).
So to dive right in answer the question:
What is Americano?
What’s Americano is a very simple question to answer. Caffè Americano is espresso mixed with hot water. That’s that, question answered, enjoy the rest of your day.
But wait, it’s not quite that simple, is it? Now you know what Americano is, there are other obvious questions that follow this one, such as who invented Americano, how did it get its name, how do you make it at home, does it matter if you put the espresso in first or the hot water, what’s Americano vs drip coffee or long black, where’s the TV remote?
I can’t answer the last one, but I can answer the rest.
Americano probably has zero to do with American GIs and WW2.
One of the things you’ll probably read as you’re researching Caffè Americano is that Americano has its roots in WW2 when American GIs were visiting Italian cafes and were asking for hot water to dilute their espresso, to give them the kind of bigger, less intense cup of coffee they were used to back home.
Apparently, Italian baristas named the drink after the Americano Soldiers, and that’s where “Caffè Americano” came from, which basically means American coffee.
I don’t quite buy this. I didn’t buy it at first because it didn’t quite seem to make sense, to me at least, that during the Second World War, American soldiers would be basically acting like tourists while in Italy.
I think most of us (most of us who, like me, don’t have any real understanding of what went on in Italy during this time) would have a completely different image in our minds of what life would have been like for American soldiers in Italy during WW2. However, I did a bit of research, and it seems I was completely wrong!
The US Military, it seems, actually encouraged soldiers to act like tourists in Italy, and even presented all US soldiers with a special “Soldier’s Guide to Italy” with sections including “relations with civilians”, “towns and villages” & “Food and drink”. So maybe I’m wrong?
Still, I don’t think I am wrong about this, because there’s something else that doesn’t make sense about Americano coming from WW2, and that is that it seems to imply that Italians only learned about Americans and their drinking habits during and/or after the Second World War, as if this was the first time that Americans had visited Italy in any kind of numbers, but this is very inaccurate.
American tourism pre-dates both WW1 & WW2, in fact, it even pre-dates espresso.
I can prove this with the fact that the Americano cocktail was named after American tourists who were keen on this Campari and sweet vermouth based aperitif, way back in the 1860s.
So we’re supposed to believe that about 80 years or more after this, Italian Baristas were shocked to learn that Americans liked their coffee taller and less intense? Well, who knows, maybe – but I think it’s far more likely that the term “Caffè Americano” was already a familiar term among Baristas who already knew how Americans usually liked their coffee.
What makes Americano Americano?
If you’re ordering your Americano at a cafe’, then what actually makes it a caffè Americano will depend on what else that coffee shop has on the menu where espresso mixed with hot water is concerned.
You will sometimes hear people saying that Americano has to be served espresso first, hot water second – but this isn’t correct, it’s simply that Long Black is made hot water first, espresso on top – so in cafes where both are on the menu, this is used as the main way to differentiate the two drinks.
Americano simply means espresso and hot water, in my opinion, it really doesn’t matter whether you put the water in first or the espresso in first, it’s simply that most people would call a drink made that way, a long black – since that’s the way that long blacks are made.
Just because that is the way long black is made, doesn’t by default mean that Americano can’t be made that way. The label “caffè Americano” for espresso mixed with hot water has been around a lot longer than the term long black has been used as a label for espresso mixed with hot water.
How to make Americano:
In the video above, I demonstrate making an Americano both with an espresso machine (The Breville Dual Boiler) and using an Aeropress.
If you have a traditional espresso machine, like the Breville dual boiler, Gaggia Classic, or any other manual traditional espresso machine, making Americano couldn’t be simpler, you just pull a shot of espresso, and add hot water to taste.
You can make an Americano style coffee with Aeropress, by simply making an espresso-style shot and mixing that with hot water, and this is actually how the Aeropress was designed to be used. While many people use them with the “inverted” method, where you use it upside down in a way that produces a cup quality more akin to pour over, Alan Adler who invented Aeropress, designed it to make espresso-style, concentrated coffee to be diluted with hot water for Americano style coffee or to be mixed with steamed milk for cappuccino or latte style drinks.
Watch me making espresso style coffee using the AeroPress:
If you want this in a step by step form, no problem :-):
Americano with an espresso machine
Step 1: Pull a shot of espresso
Step 2: Decant into a larger cup or glass
Step 3: Top up with hot water, tasting as you go so you can stop when you’ve got the strength perfect for you
Step 4: Enjoy.
Just a quick aside. You can if you prefer, just pull the shot straight into the hot water. While some will say this is a long black, to that I would reply that long black is simply the label for coffee mixed with hot water that came from Australia & New Zealand, while in Italy, the USA and many other parts of the world, this is known as an Americano.
As I mentioned earlier, just because a long black would usually be made this way around, hot water first, that doesn’t mean that if you decide to make your Americano this way around, you have to call it a long black. It’s just another label for espresso mixed with hot water.
Americano with an Aeropress
Step 1: Put the filter into the filter holder, and rinse the filter.
Step 2: Put the filter onto the Aeropress, and place it on top of your cup.
Step 3: Add approx 16-18g of ground coffee into the Aeropress (grinding your own is the best bet, but pre-ground if you must)
Step 4: Pour hot water (personally I would wait a couple of minutes after boiling, but each to their own) onto the ground coffee up to, or just over, the 1 cup mark.
Step 5: Stir approx 10 times with your Aeropress paddle, chopsticks, or a spoon, or something spoon-like or chopstick-like, has anyone invented the chopspork yet?
Step 6: Plunge, but don’t give yourself an internal injury by applying herculean force, just resting your arm on the plunger should be fine.
Americano with other coffee makers is a similar affair, for stovetop or moka pots, for example, you just make your espresso style coffee using the stovetop and add hot water.
So there you go, you came here wanting to know simply what is Americano, you now know this and lots more :-).
Wait, you have more questions about Americano, well that’s OK because I have more Answers about Americano, so here you go:
Kev’s Americano What the FAQ
I notice that there are lots and lots of questions being asked about Americano, and while some of them may make me question the meaning of life itself, I do have to remind myself that you don’t know what you don’t know. There was probably a time when I didn’t know the difference between an Americano and a latte, or the difference between Americano and black coffee.
What is espresso?
There was probably a time when I didn’t even know what coffee was, but that was probably a long time ago. I’m told that my first words were “get that bottle out of my face, I want espresso!” OK, I made that up.
How is an Americano different from regular coffee?
As with some of the espresso vs coffee related questions, this is a bit of a trick question, as there’s really no such thing as just “coffee” or “regular coffee”, it’s simply that many people in the USA when they hear the term “coffee” think of the coffee they’re most used to drinking, which in most states would be drip coffee or French Press coffee.
Americano is made by diluting espresso with hot water, so you have the flexibility to make it as strong or as diluted as you’d like, by just adding whatever volume of hot water you prefer, to your espresso. Compared to drip coffee, Americano is usually stronger or more intense, and heavier in mouthfeel. Compared to French Press coffee, Americano can be more similar, it depends on the French press method being used, as some French press coffee can be described as less clean than Americano, and can leave you with bits of ground coffee in your mouth, which wouldn’t happen with espresso.