Basics
How to Make an Americano
A double espresso lengthened with hot water — the ratio, the right water temperature, and why we pour the shot on top of the water.
Ingredients
- 1 double espresso (18 g in, 36 g out)
- 120–150 ml hot water, just off the boil (about 90 °C)
Steps
- Warm a 200–250 ml cup. Pull a double espresso following our espresso recipe.
- Heat the water to just below boiling; if it has boiled, let it rest for thirty seconds.
- Pour the hot water into the cup first, then pour the espresso on top. This keeps the crema intact and the flavour brighter.
- Taste, then adjust: less water for a stronger cup, more for a longer, gentler drink. It needs nothing else.
Tips
- The water is most of the drink, so use filtered water — chlorine or hard tap water will show.
- Espresso over water is technically a long black; water over espresso is the classic Americano. Try both and pick a side.
- For an iced version, pour the shots over a full glass of ice and top with cold water.
The Americano is the simplest drink on any espresso menu and the easiest to get slightly wrong. It is a double espresso lengthened with hot water — nothing more — and the whole recipe fits on a napkin. But the order you pour in, the temperature of the water and the ratio you choose all change the cup, and once you notice the difference you will never go back to the version where someone fills a mug from the hot-water tap and drops a shot in.
Where it comes from
The story most people tell is that American soldiers in Italy during the Second World War found espresso too strong and asked for it watered down to something closer to the filter coffee they knew from home. Whether or not that is exactly how it happened, the name stuck, and the drink turned out to be a good idea on its own merits: all the sweetness and body of a well-pulled shot, in a size you can sit with for half an hour.
The ratio
Our house Americano is a double shot (about 36 g of espresso) with 120 to 150 ml of water, which lands somewhere between a strong filter coffee and a very long espresso. There is no wrong answer here. If you like the intensity of espresso but want it to last, use less water; if you want something to drink alongside breakfast, use more. The only real rule is that the water should be hot but not boiling — around 90 °C — because water straight off the boil scalds the crema and flattens the aroma.
Water first, or espresso first
This is the detail that divides cafés. Pour hot water into the cup and then the espresso on top, and the crema survives as a thin layer that carries most of the smell; the drink looks and tastes livelier. Pour the espresso first and the water on top, and the crema breaks up, giving a smoother, softer, slightly less aromatic cup. The first version is sometimes called a long black, the second the classic Americano. We serve ours water-first because we think the crema is worth keeping, but it is a matter of taste, not correctness.
Making it good
Because there is nowhere for a bad shot to hide, the Americano is a fair test of a café’s espresso. At home, the same applies: start with the espresso recipe above, and only when the shot tastes good on its own should you add water. Use filtered water — it is the majority of the drink, and hard or chlorinated tap water is easy to taste. And drink it fresh; unlike filter coffee, an Americano does not improve as it cools.
Ours is made with a double shot of Calibre Coffee beans, water first, every day on Sultanahmet Square. If you would like the reference cup — or the iced version on a warm afternoon — see the menu.