Ratio of water/espresso for an Americano - Page 2

Beginner and pro baristas share tips and tricks for making espresso.
User avatar
bean2friends
Posts: 687
Joined: 14 years ago

#11: Post by bean2friends »

I just measured mine - never knew exactly how much water I was putting in. Anyhow, I put 4 ounces of water in a mug and microwave it for 30 seconds. Then, I draw a double shot on top of it (about 2 1/2 ounces). And if I have a little steamed milk left over from my wife's latte, I put that on top. Voila! A good way to start the day.

User avatar
spiffdude
Posts: 359
Joined: 14 years ago

#12: Post by spiffdude »

Hi there, if i recall my last read of Wikipedia on the subject...

Allonge is a shot that is allowed to run past the usual cutoff of an espresso. No water is added to this drink beyond what comes out of the group. It is hence more bitter since over extracted.

An Americano is a shot to which hot water is added, how much water differs.

If you put hot water in the cup first and then pull the shot on top, that is called something like a long black. It is not technically speaking an americano.

Seems to me that some people had a lot of time to find names for combinations of espresso, water and milk!
Damn this forum, I've had too m..muh...mah..mmmm..much caffeine!

Advertisement
User avatar
TheSunInsideYou
Posts: 253
Joined: 12 years ago

#13: Post by TheSunInsideYou »

I use a technique that I actually borrowed from La Colombe, which I'm sure they picked up from somewhere else. Very similar to the Allonge, with just a little adjustment: don't tamp. I just grind into the portafilter, settle the grounds, and lock and load. I let it run for about 75 seconds or so. It's about 6 ounces and has the crema of a long black. I don't drink a lot of Americanos--or whatever you would call that--so I can't specify the taste difference between it and a regular Americano, but I had one this morning with Verve's Santa Ana and it was bright, creamy, smooth, and not overly bitter.

-Dave-
Caffeine is proof that God loves us.

User avatar
Eastsideloco
Posts: 1657
Joined: 13 years ago

#14: Post by Eastsideloco »

I use a technique that I actually borrowed from La Colombe, which I'm sure they picked up from somewhere else. Very similar to the Allonge, with just a little adjustment: don't tamp. I just grind into the portafilter, settle the grounds, and lock and load. I let it run for about 75 seconds or so. It's about 6 ounces and has the crema of a long black.
The above sounds like a Swiss Cafe Crema:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_crema

Here's the standard Metropolis uses for its Americano drinks:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nBZOVlSi3-k

User avatar
TheSunInsideYou
Posts: 253
Joined: 12 years ago

#15: Post by TheSunInsideYou »

Thank for the article. It does mention tamp pressure in there, so perhaps that's what I can call it from now on. Sounds more european. Makes it sound more official than "well I just don't tamp and uh...let it run for a while." :lol:

-Dave-
Caffeine is proof that God loves us.

Al deHyde
Posts: 138
Joined: 14 years ago

#16: Post by Al deHyde »

The differentiation of some of these espresso drinks border on the ludicrous: Water first, water last, water in the middle! :-) I don't see how the resultant taste will vary once things mix.

After doing an initial short HX purge to get the hottest water out (discarded), I load my portafilter, purge more fresh, hot water into a glass measuring cup, lock in the portafilter, pour the desired amount of water into a cup (ca 3-4oz, depending on what the wife wants at the moment, but eyeballed) and start the pump to deliver ~2oz of espresso on top of the heated water. This stirs the contents of the cup fairly well. After the pour, I rotate the cup on the tabletop one turn and deliver the results, which always include a solid layer of crema on the top. Perhaps the order of water->coffee is backwards, but there is no way I will not call this an Americano. If you carefully pour in the hot water into the 2oz espresso, the layer of crema may be slightly thicker, but after the first sip or two, it will be mixed.

A year ago I played around with the Swiss-Austrian Café Crema by coarsening the grind and extracting the whole drink this way. Very nice. There was a distinct difference in this product compared to the taste of an Americano - not better, definitely not worse, just different (but very nice). Pain to go back-and-forth between this and espresso however.

But the great thing with Americanos is you can adjust the ratio to whatever the person drinking it wants, stronger, weaker.

Post Reply