Americano

How much water to how much espresso

Typical range

Why the order of pouring matters a little

CoffeeHQ explanation

Pour water onto espresso and the crema is broken up and mixed through the drink. Pour espresso onto water and the crema stays on the surface, which is how a long black is made. The ingredients are identical and the difference in the cup is modest: a long black looks richer and its first sips carry more aroma.

Water temperature is the more practical concern. Water straight off the boil leaves the drink too hot to taste properly for several minutes, and very hot coffee hides both its faults and its sweetness. Water a little below boiling gives a cup that can be judged, and enjoyed, sooner.

Improving a disappointing americano

Tendency, not a guarantee

Harsh, bitter and ashy

Usually because: The espresso is over-extracted, and dilution has stretched the bitterness across a whole cup instead of softening it.

Change first: Grind slightly coarser or stop the shot earlier. Adding more water makes it weaker, not better.

Work through a harsh, burnt taste

Thin and sour

Usually because: The shot ran too fast and is under-extracted. Dilution removes the body that was hiding the sharpness.

Change first: Grind finer so the shot takes longer, then dilute as before.

Work through sour coffee

Weak and watery, but not unpleasant

Usually because: Simply too much water for the amount of espresso in the cup.

Change first: Use less water or a double shot. This is the one americano problem that is solved by changing the ratio.

Work through weak coffee

Compared with the drinks it is mistaken for

Tendency, not a guarantee

• Filter coffee — Brewed at drinking strength through paper, which holds back oils and fine particles. Usually cleaner and lighter in body, with more separation between flavours.
• Long black — The same two ingredients with the espresso poured last, and often with less water, so it is shorter and keeps its crema.
• Lungo — All the water goes through the coffee rather than being added afterwards. That extracts more, including more bitterness, so it tastes quite different from a diluted shot.

The wartime story

Accounts differ

The usual explanation of the name is that American soldiers in Italy during the Second World War diluted espresso to make something closer to the coffee they knew. It is a plausible story and it is repeated almost everywhere, but it rests on anecdote rather than on contemporary records.

What can be said safely is that the name means American-style coffee in Italian, and that diluting espresso to drinking strength is the practice it describes.

What to do next

• Americano vs. filter coffee — the two look alike and are made in completely different ways; this sets out what that does to the cup.
• Dial in espresso — an americano is only as good as the shot under the water.
• Espresso ratio calculator — check what ratio your shot was pulled at before deciding how much water it can take.
• Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.