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Why Americano?

You may be wondering why I even ask the question: Why Americano? For most cafes, the Americano is the fastest, most convenient way of making a long, black coffee. In fact, it was created to replicate an American style filter coffee but compare them side by side and you will notice a big difference.

As a Speciality Coffee Roaster with three cafes, there is a certain frustrating anathema to seeing the amount of Americanos sold versus the number of pour overs or batch brews. Reflecting the unadulterated beauty and radiant complexity of our range of coffees is our raison d’être. These coffees represent our journeys to origin and the stories we bring back. Sometimes The Americano feels like a blunt instrument, a sledgehammer to crack a nut, when it comes to unlocking these fragile fugitive flavours. But why then has the Americano become so popular?

WHERE DID IT COME FROM?

We can trace the roots of the name Americano back to the Second World War when American troops stationed in Italy were desperately in need of their caffeine fix. The GI’s, coming from the land of the diner mug, would ask for a coffee and would look at the tiny cup of espresso in shock, horror and dismay. Then with much gesturing they would implore the barista for something longer. So, with a disdainful roll of the eyes, the barista would reply : “Ah…! Americano?!”

So, the Americano is the aftermath of when coffee worlds collided. The fallout from this culture clash is still evident on Barista style coffee menus the world over.

WHAT IS AMERICANO COFFEE?

So how does the barista go about approximating this large coffee drink on a machine which is all set up for delivering short sharp shots? Well espresso machines of course can also dispense hot water. So that usually goes into the cup first, which is then moved over to sit beneath the portafilter, which then dispenses the shot of coffee into the cup. A crema may persist for a short while but not for as long as Espresso. The ratio of coffee to water will vary from one cafe to the next but usually an americano fits into a cappuccino cup at a ratio of around 1:4 or 1:5.

WHAT IS THE ALTERNATIVE TO AN AMERICANO

In a true speciality café there will always be alternatives. No matter how cramped the space there will always be a section of the counter devoted to pour-over or batch filter brew coffees. Manual brews will come in a variety of methods that enable the barista to control the extraction to get the best out of the coffee.

For example in our three cafés in Lancaster you will find siphon coffee in The Hall and Chemex. V60 in The Music Room and in The Castle, Immersion Dripper.

WHY DO WE LIKE TO BREW

As Speciality roasters and baristas we favour these manual brew methods because, if we are to drink coffee like fine wines then their aroma and flavours notes need to be delicately coaxed forth. We are, after all, considering many parallel influences on the coffee beans to the ones we find in the wine world. In our quest for traceability we discover Terroir, variety, process, altitude, which all have an influence on the flavour. Indeed Coffee is actually more complicated a drink than a goblet of red wine, which, beautiful though it may be, only boasts around 400 flavour compounds in the glass, whilst the mighty coffee bean, expertly roasted and brewed, exhibits over one-and-a half thousand flavour compounds.

A CUP OF NOSTALGIA

That is not to say the Americano does not have its place. I personally must confess to the guilty pleasure of dunking a croissant into an Americano and watching the oily slick of butter trace across the surface. For me it is pure nostalgia that takes me back to the days of hitchhiking in France, finding the right café to pause for a moment on the road to nowhere.

Back in the world of today, we are blessed with many Indy coffee shops that can create a beautiful drink nuanced into life on the brew bar. A slightly slower process than the espresso-based option but all part of the new wave coffee ritual, that comes each with its own personality.

To the Regular Joe…

So, if you’re a regular Joe who loves his Americano, next time you’re at the bar, resist the knee-jerk response of going for your usual and go off-piste. Ask your barista what Single Origins do they have on the Brewbar? What would they recommend? There might equally be a bulk-brew on offer, which is just a larger batch filter brew, ready to drink

… and so begins a dialogue that leads to a journey of flavour exploration. You can throw away the crutches of milk and sugar because, like a fine wine the star of this show needs no additives. It should be pure and elegant and endowed with its own narrative, ready for you to download.

Words by Ian Steel (Keeper of the Flame)

Prototype Espresso

Stone Fruit/Floral/Caramel
£10.00
Stereotype Espresso

Cocoa /Brown Sugar/Hazelnut
£8.00
Archetype Espresso

Dark Chocolate/Hazelnut/Molasses
£9.00

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