Making Americano - do you use an "instant hot water" tap?

by **wecksell** on Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:13 pm

My kitchen sink has an "instant hot water" tap that delivers water at about 180F. (It's my understanding that these things actually use about the same thermalblock as an espresso maker.)

Does anyone here see a reason not to use this for my Americano, thus saving the water in my machine for the espresso only, and saving me from refilling the machine constantly?

Thanks,
Matt

by **zin1953** on Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:34 pm

I use the hot water tap on my espresso machine . . .

by **nitpick** on Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:37 pm

That's exactly what we do, even though the Silvia is plumbed in (no need to fill it). We have our coffee setup in a small pantry in the kitchen with its own dedicated sink that includes an In-Sink-Erator "instant" hot water (actually a very small Stainless Steel hot water heater) tank under the sink. The whole pantry, hot and cold water and the water to the Silvia, is fed from a set of inline filters.

I have the In-Sink-Erator set for about 190F. Making an Americano is as easy as pulling the shot from Silvia and then topping off with water from the hot water on the sink.

by **wecksell** on Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:41 pm

Zin - the whole question is about not draining the water tank on the machine - sure, I could use it, but that'd drain it much, much faster.

I'm pleased to hear that an HB experts like NitPick uses an instant hot tap. For what it's worth, I've taken to putting the water in the cup first, which leaves me with a nice crema...

by **sweaner** on Mon Jan 31, 2011 10:44 pm

You can use any hot water you desire, as long as it tastes good.

by **tano75** on Tue Feb 01, 2011 11:01 am

hi.
i use the hot water outlet on my m/c as it has a fresh water feed to the groups, but, any hot water will do the trick so long as it tastes good.

i also put the water in first to preserve the crema, this method is sometimes called a "long black" as opposed to an americano

by **yakster** on Tue Feb 01, 2011 6:59 pm

Since I don't have a hot water tap at the sink, and don't have a hot water pipe on my La Peppina (unless I put the funny steaming hat on with the steam wand on the inside), I make my Wife long blacks by cleaning the group, putting in the portafilter, and doing about three pulls to fill the glass with hot water before I pull a shot into the water. I have to take my drip tray off to get the cup to fit under the group.

Retaining the crema is a bonus with pulling it this way, but really I do this so that I'll have clean water. If I had a hot water tap at the sink, I'd use it instead.

by **PaulN** on Wed Feb 02, 2011 11:23 am

This is insteresting.

I use a kettle just for ease and poor 2 espresso shots into the mug first then the water. They taste ok / good but not great. Ill try water first next time but im i expecting too much with the size of my mug?

Thanks

PaulN

by **CoffeeOwl** on Mon Feb 07, 2011 2:41 pm

zin1953 wrote:I use the hot water tap on my espresso machine . . .

+1

PaulN wrote:I use a kettle

+1

The bonus of kettle/machine is that you can get water for your americanos as hot as you would like and from my experience it makes a difference, though I was exactly getting the water from hot water tap a bit earlier to let it cool just a tad.

Paul,
it is much tastier when you pull the shot to the hot water.

by **woodchuck** on Mon Feb 07, 2011 3:27 pm

Same here, pull hot water from machine, let cool a couple of minutes, pull a double into the hot water. Hmmm good!

Cheers

Ian


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