Starbucks has a wide menu of very delicious coffee drinks, and most of them are the type of drink we’d love to be able to make at home.
Today, we’re learning how to make a simple yet delicious drink: the caffé americano.
This drink has a very funny story, so let’s take a minute to learn about its history and how it is made before jumping right into the recipe.
Caffé Americano History
As you may have suspected from the name, Italy is in fact involved here. The drink was created by Italians in order to please American palates. How did this come about?
It goes way back to WWII. In Italy, espresso had already been a thing for decades when these American soldiers came to be stationed in their country. They were also coffee lovers, but the type of coffee they were used to was drip coffee, much lighter and with a lot more water.
Italians, on the other hand, wouldn’t think of drinking such a thing. But they felt bad for their allies, seeing as they really were as fond of coffee as them, so they tried to make a type of coffee that would satisfy Americans.
The solution was simple: add water to espresso. Instead of having to brew coffee (took a long time and they already had espresso machines there), they would try to make espresso more like brewed coffee.
And it worked! Americans all started to order that same coffee and the Italians affectionately nicknamed it “American coffee”; caffé americano.
At its core, the Americano is a very simple coffee. But what started as something that tried to emulate drip coffee has become something with a very different identity; very soon, the Americano went from a makeshift coffee to a coffee that had a personality of its own.
And it’s because you can’t simply make drip coffee by adding more water to espresso. They are very different at their core, which is why the americano went on to become a popular drink in many other countries.
Espresso, after all, has a very unique taste, and that is obvious even when buried with extra water. It’s still a very savory coffee unlike any other.
How to Make Starbucks Caffé Americano?
There is a little bit of a dilemma here. Do we use a more American roast, because it is an American drink? Or do we go for a darker, more Italian roast since it is a drink that was invented in Italy?
Whatever your choice, make sure it fits your taste. Starbucks does it with the traditional espresso roast, which is a dark brown that would be considered medium. It is a neutral blend for espresso that is strong without going overboard. It is a classic roast, frankly, and nowhere near Italian roasts.
Ingredients
- 14 grams ground coffee (classic espresso roast)
- 250ml hot water
- Sweetener of choice
Instructions
- Brew your coffee as you normally would, then pour it in a mug or a glass.
- Heat up water until it boils. Then, turn the stove off and let it rest for one minute.
- Pour the water.
- Sweeten if needed and enjoy!
Easily one of the easiest recipes you can make at home and it’s so good, too. You can always get your americano on and it takes little to no effort at all. Not to mention, it’s ready in under a minute or two, which makes it a favorite recipe for making at home in the morning or during a lazy evening.
FAQs
Can I add milk to an americano?
No. An americano, by definition, does not have any milk in it whatsoever. It would be like asking if you can add water to a latte—no you cannot. It would turn it into a completely different drink and, not to mention, it wouldn’t taste good.
The original combination of coffee and water is good as it is and you shouldn’t try to mess with it further. You can add flavoring like syrups, sweeteners, and so on… but not milk. It would turn into a texture nightmare and would not taste good at all.
Can I make an americano with instant or brewed coffee?
Also no.
Technically, you can make americano with instant coffee but the flavor would be too far off. It’s good in a pinch, but it’s better not to try this unless you really can’t get freshly brewed espresso.
As for brewed coffee, that would be a little paradoxical. After all, you’re making an americano, which is a drink made with espresso that was born to mimic brewed coffee. See the problem?
It wouldn’t be an americano anymore. It’d just be brewed coffee! The americano also has a very unique flavor because it is made using espresso, so you’d be missing the whole point of drinking americano instead of brewed coffee.
Do I need an espresso machine to make an americano?
Unfortunately, yes. There is no real way to make an americano unless you’ve got an espresso machine.
You don’t need to have a retro machine; one of them single-serve machines is enough. Capsule espresso is still espresso and will make for a good americano. There are even capsules and brew sizes in Keurig and Nespresso machines that automatically make an americano for you, so there’s that.
And like we mentioned earlier, there’s also instant coffee. It really isn’t the same, but it’s technically still espresso. Simply add more water than you would usually do and it is, technically, an americano.
How much caffeine does an americano have?
An americano is made using espresso as its base. A regular one is made using two espresso shots. Assuming those two shots are extracted using the standard amount of ground coffee, which is about 7 grams per shot so a 14 grams total, a cup of americano should have about 120 or 130 milligrams.
A shot of espresso made with 7 grams of coffee has about 65mg of caffeine, but this can vary depending on the type of coffee and how much coffee you use.