So you’re questioning what is an Americano coffee, or what is “Caffe Americano” to use its proper Italian title? It’s an important distinction, by the way, to state that we’re talking about Americano coffee here. If you were simply asking what’s an Americano, the response to that is that it’s a mixed drink, which I’ll get to when speaking about where Americano originated from.
Ah, I fancy a cocktail now, it’s three in the afternoon however, and it’s a weekday, much better not. Also, I don’t keep alcohol here in the studio, which is most likely a good idea. I have generous amounts of coffee though naturally, which is also a good idea.
Anway, as well as responding to the question about what is an Americano, I’m also going to tell you (and show) how to make a Caffe Americano at home with or without an espresso machine, and I’m likewise going to get on my soapbox and describe why most declares concerning the origins of Americano merely can’t be correct!
What is an Americano Coffee?
OK, so I’ll simply jump straight in and answer this question, as it’s probably why you came to this post in the very first place. What’s Americano coffee, or Caffe Americano, is an actually simple concern to answer– it’s espresso mixed with hot water.
It implies American (style) coffee, in Italian. Italy is, of course, the birthplace of espresso, and Italians would generally consume their coffee black as lungo, espresso, or ristretto, or with milk as coffee, caffe latte, or Caffe macchiato. There wasn’t originally a name in Italy for what it’s called when you dilute espresso with water, in truth, I’m sure there was, however I do not understand any Italian swear words;–RRB-.
Italians at some point discovered that Americans like bigger cups of more diluted black coffee, so the term “Americano” was coined, which implies espresso blended with hot water.
If you’ve checked out that this originated from American soldiers during the second world war requesting their espresso to be topped up with hot water, this is a myth that I will well and truly bust, shortly. This isn’t just a viewpoint, by the way, I have some solid proof that makes it really clear that this old chestnut about the history of Americano isn’t right.
Prior to the invention of the Americano, the three standard black coffees that you ‘d be served by the majority of Italian baristas, are all just different espresso ratios, indicating the ratio of ground coffee to espresso.
What is called an “Espresso” is usually an espresso plucked a ratio of around 1-2 (for example 17 grams of ground coffee beans to 34 grams of espresso), while a ristretto is a restricted shot of espresso pulled at a ratio typically of 1:1, and a lungo is a long shot of espresso, pulled at a ratio of (usually) 1:3.
All “Caffe Americano” implies, is to water down espresso with warm water for a more “American style” coffee.
How does Americano vary from comparable kinds of coffee?
Some would state that Americano coffee should be made in a specific method order to distinguish this coffee from similar coffees that are made with espresso and hot water, but I state otherwise. In my humble viewpoint, Americano is the initial Italian label for watering down espresso with hot water.
There are other espresso-based beverages that have been produced considering that the Caffe Americano, which are also labels for espresso blended with warm water, namely the long black, which is a more modern-day take on Americano in which the espresso is added to hot water, for a more extreme taste.
Naturally then, if a coffee shop puts long black on the menu along with Americano, in order to differentiate the Long black from the Americano, they would typically make the Americano espresso first and water 2nd, and sometimes there are other distinctions such as the number of shots used and/or the volume of the beverage.
However does this mean, then, that Americano must be made by pulling the shot initially and then putting the hot water into the espresso? No, not as far as I’m worried. Americano simply indicates espresso blended with warm water to make a more “American design” coffee, that’s it.
If you wish to call it long black if it’s made with the warm water first, then that’s great, call it whatever you like, call it Dave if you want, it doesn’t bother me, however in my modest viewpoint, if you blend espresso with hot water, you’re making an Americano.
How to make Americano in your home
The real origins of Americano– Nothing to do with WW2 The minute you start searching for information on Americano, you’ll discover people discussing the second world war, with American soldiers sent to Italy during the war, not having the ability to manage the intensity of espresso and asking for it to be diluted with hot water, which Italian Baristas ended up calling”Caffe Americano”or “American style coffee” as a result. In my YouTube video above, I stated that I didn’t think this to be the reality, as it just didn’t ring true to me, however I’ve considering that made a discovery that proves that this definitely is a myth.
Before I came across this evidence that this story is a misconception, I didn’t think it was quite right for a number of reasons.
The first reason was I thought that definitely American soldiers wouldn’t have been travelers in Italy during the 2nd world war, hanging out being in coffee shops? I did some digging, and proved myself wrong on this point, as I mentioned in the video above.
It turns out that some American GIs had in fact commented in letters house, that they did in fact seem like travelers. Likewise, a booklet had actually been handed to United States and British soldiers, called “The Soldier’s Handbook to Italy”, which apparently was composed like a tourists guide book to Italy for soldiers, which indicated that soldiers may have in fact been doing touristy things like sitting in coffee shop’s drinking coffee.
I still didn’t think this Americano origins story to be true, however, simply due to the fact that I’m fairly particular from the research study I’ve done that American Baristas would have already penned the expression “Caffe Americano” prior to the 2nd world war.
The common story told about the origins of Americano would have us believe that world war 2 was the first time Americans were going to Italy and making their drinking preferences understood. This isn’t true, though. American tourist had been going on in Italy for a long time by this point, and as I mentioned earlier, the Campari & & sweet vermouth Americano mixed drink was named after American travelers way back in the 1860s.
So as much as this point, I had actually been working on the presumption that “Caffè Americano” was probably currently a thing before the second world war.
However, I then decided that I required to learn more about this soldier’s guide to Italy, and what it said about coffee, I was fascinated– but I could not find any images online of the inside pages, so I wound up buying an original copy. When I received it and offered it a read, I made a couple of discoveries.
Firstly, I found that this isn’t quite the tourism guide that I’ve seen it described as. It’s in fact a really useful, well-thought guide telling soldiers how to finest deal with their upcoming project to Italy. Yeah there are a few touristy paragraphs in there for sure, however the majority of it is very useful guidance, along the lines of don’t catch the clap, do not be fooled by relatively “simple females” asking you for a cigarette, as they might be spies, and don’t show yourself up by getting intoxicated, oh and do not attempt it on with “great Italian ladies” or you may regret it, or you may not live to regret it, is really the warning.
The most stunning discovery for me, however, is this:
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