# Americano



## Thecatlinux

Just throwing out there for ideas about how others make an americano

At the moment I am adding water from the brew head to a double espresso .

how do you make yours from an espresso ?


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## frandavi99

Water from the steam arm (on hot water setting obv) with espresso on top.


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## 4515

5oz cup, double espresso poured over hot water from the Cherub


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## Mrboots2u

frandavi99 said:


> Water from the steam arm (on hot water setting obv) with espresso on top.


As above ......


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## froggystyle

double shot then top up with kettle, to taste!


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## Soll

5 oz cup with double espresso topped up with hot water from which ever machine I'm using, either at home with the Strega or at work with the Cherub and if I need a lift I add a little honey


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## spune

Boil water in the kettle, pour into cup, shot on top. Boom.


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## Thecatlinux

spune said:


> Boil water in the kettle, pour into cup, shot on top. Boom.


think i i have used the kettle once since I have got my machine, and that was to make an aero press .lol


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## MrShades

Double shot then a further 2oz of hot water from the kettle - I never take it from the Duetto (don't have the steam boiler on most of the time - and don't want to use brew water)


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## Xpenno

spune said:


> Boil water in the kettle, pour into cup, shot on top. Boom.


Same here. Tastes best to me


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## Obnic

Double shot extracted into hot water in preheated cup.


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## Scotford

Obnic said:


> Double shot extracted into hot water in preheated cup.


This.


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## Thecatlinux

Nice hot cup 2:1 extraction of rave signature, brew water decanter end off before extraction and then added after ratio of 50/50 allowed to rest with saucer over cup for about two minutes.

Orientate iphone so picture is not upside down.


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## spune

^ Oh yes, preheated cup, naturally!

But I do enjoy milk, which has to be cold. Warm milk is a no-no.


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## Tiny tamper

Ok guys I'm confused I thought espresso over water was a long black, and the water over espresso is an Americano???


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## froggystyle

Not sure how it would matter which went in the glass first...


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## Glenn

Try a side-by-side taste test

Water first, espresso next retains a lot of the structure, whereas adding the espresso first and then pouring in the water destroys the body.


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## johnealey

Glenn said:


> Water first, espresso next retains a lot of the structure, whereas adding the espresso first and then pouring in the water destroys the body.


Same as above, retains the crema.

John


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## spune

I think crema also contains bitter compounds (see Mr Hoffman and his blog) so water on top is inclined to mix in those compounds. Espresso on top retains the crema and so the drink 'underneith' might be less bitter. In theory. Anecdotally I would say I agree!

I like the idea or a side by side test though, Glenn.


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## Thecatlinux

Well my chief taste tester prefers water over espresso, so I am amassing brownie points, will do a side by side test on tomorrow's batch. But I was adding espresso to the water before but never done side by side test.


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## Thecatlinux

Tiny tamper said:


> Ok guys I'm confused I thought espresso over water was a long black, and the water over espresso is an Americano???


Ill go along with that.


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## hotmetal

I thought long black was just the antipodean term for Americano. But I might have got the wrong impression. Sometimes these terms start as one thing and gradually acquire specific meanings.


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## DavidBondy

hotmetal said:


> I thought long black was just the antipodean term for Americano.


That's exactly what I thought! Why the bloody Aussies have to bugger about with well established drink names is beyond me. An espresso is an espresso not a bloody short black!


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## jeebsy

Have seen it called a short black on some menus. Long black makes sense to me though


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## Dave.wilton

I do a "long black" too ie espresso over water. I take water out the group head and let the temp recover whilst I prepare my shot. 6oz cup


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## jeebsy

Dave.wilton said:


> I do a "long black" too ie espresso over water. I take water out the group head and let the temp recover whilst I prepare my shot. 6oz cup


Why not the water wand? Do you not have the steam boiler on normally?


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## Dave.wilton

jeebsy said:


> Why not the water wand? Do you not have the steam boiler on normally?


I only fire up the steam boiler in the morning. Save a bit of energy in the afternoon by only heating the main boiler.


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## Thecatlinux

Hmm.. I'm really enjoying foundry's rocko as an Americano at the moment, I am drawing the water from the boiler into my large motto pitcher to try and take some heat out of the water.

17g in 35grams and then adding 125grams of cooled brew water,

i am cooling the water as it seems to be bringing more of the sweetness out of the coffee , still plenty of chomp ness left in the coffee but I thing it might want diluting a little more.

The coffee always seem to come across more fruity as it chills in the cup , a question I've always wanted to ask is why ? but not got round to it .

now here is a question for my fellow members to ponder , should I dilute my drink by splitting the shot in essence having a single or should I use a bigger cup and add more water ?

enjoying the chomp ness but searching for more sweetness and fruit .

I know a lot of people are enjoying this coffee and just thought I would post up and see if others would share their experiences and opinions .


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## urbanbumpkin

I've found that you get more of the flavours if it's cooled slightly. I have no idea why, but I just put it down to taste buds being suppressed by higher temp liquids.


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## jlarkin

Thecatlinux said:


> Hmm.. I'm really enjoying foundry's rocko as an Americano at the moment, I am drawing the water from the boiler into my large motto pitcher to try and take some heat out of the water.
> 
> 17g in 35grams and then adding 125grams of cooled brew water,
> 
> i am cooling the water as it seems to be bringing more of the sweetness out of the coffee , still plenty of chomp ness left in the coffee but I thing it might want diluting a little more.
> 
> The coffee always seem to come across more fruity as it chills in the cup , a question I've always wanted to ask is why ? but not got round to it .
> 
> now here is a question for my fellow members to ponder , should I dilute my drink by splitting the shot in essence having a single or should I use a bigger cup and add more water ?
> 
> enjoying the chomp ness but searching for more sweetness and fruit .
> 
> I know a lot of people are enjoying this coffee and just thought I would post up and see if others would share their experiences and opinions .


The SCAE did some research that showed sweetness was most intense perceived in 37C and 44C samples (from a wider range, I didn't find the full thing yet for explanation) but tallies with your experience and those of people doing the longer Sowden brews etc.


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## Thecatlinux

I've got myself at point where I don't even warm my cups anymore , I'm amazed how much temperature influences the result in the cup


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## nufc1

I too prefer it slightly cooler and have stopped warming the cups. I add water from steam arm to espresso then leave to cool for a few minutes.


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## risky

Add me on the preferred cooler list. Even both espressos I had today I didn't heat the cup and it was much more pleasant IMO. Realised while doing it I normally heat the cup with boiling water, however this causes the cup to be much hotter than if it had warmed on the top of the machine.


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## jeebsy

Drinking the coffee really hot is a good way of masking bad coffee


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## bronc

The last couple of weeks I've started having my espresso in a flat white cup. Helps cool it faster and also dissipates the crema. If I drink the coffee right after the extraction while it's hot all I can tell is whether it's bitter, sour or balanced. When it cools down I can actually taste stuff.


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## Mrboots2u

bronc said:


> The last couple of weeks I've started having my espresso in a flat white cup. Helps cool it faster and also dissipates the crema. If I drink the coffee right after the extraction while it's hot all I can tell is whether it's bitter, sour or balanced. When it cools down I can actually taste stuff.


Ala Tim Wendleboe .....


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## jonners

I'm resurrecting this thread to report an interesting finding: I normally make an Americano by pulling a double shot into a cup of hot water that I've boiled in the kettle and allowed to cool slightly. I discovered that if I heat the water in the microwave instead of the kettle I get a drink that has more body and depth of flavour, and a noticeably thicker and darker crema. My wife thought she was drinking a different coffee until I told her what I had done.

I have my own theory as to why there is a difference, but first I would like to hear from anyone else who cares to try it and explain it.


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## kennyboy993

jonners said:


> I'm resurrecting this thread to report an interesting finding: I normally make an Americano by pulling a double shot into a cup of hot water that I've boiled in the kettle and allowed to cool slightly. I discovered that if I heat the water in the microwave instead of the kettle I get a drink that has more body and depth of flavour, and a noticeably thicker and darker crema. My wife thought she was drinking a different coffee until I told her what I had done.
> I have my own theory as to why there is a difference, but first I would like to hear from anyone else who cares to try it and explain it.


I can't report the same experience though on the few occasions I've reheated an americano in a microwave I've noticed blobs of what I assume is coffee oil surfacing on top.

If I remember correctly on the occasion I didn't mix the drink with a spoon afterwards - it tasted more bitter after the reheat

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## jonners

To be clear: I didn't reheat the americano in the microwave, I just microwave-heated the water into which I pulled the espresso shot. So the differences were just between kettle-heated water and microwave-heated water.


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## ashcroc

jonners said:


> To be clear: I didn't reheat the americano in the microwave, I just microwave-heated the water into which I pulled the espresso shot. So the differences were just between kettle-heated water and microwave-heated water.


While it's extreamly rare, be careful of superheated water.


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## Hasi

ashcroc said:


> While it's extreamly rare, be careful of superheated water.


what the heck!


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## Planter

Scared stiff to reheat a cup of tea again now.

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## Jony

Planter said:


> Scared stiff to reheat a cup of tea again now.
> 
> Sent from my LYA-L09 using Tapatalk


 Tea how dare you!


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## Planter

Jony said:


> Tea how dare you!


Haha. Can't deny it. I do love a tea. If I drunk as much coffee as I did tea I expect my resting heart rate would be around 200bpm 

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