Wouldn't you say that "espresso diluted with water" is just "coffee"? What am I

D

dawnnys

Well-known member
missing? Starbuck's cafe Americano was described to me in that way by a Starbuck's employee.

I'm not a real big coffee drinker, so maybe (?). I just looked it up on the Starbucks website, and that's exactly how they described it too.

What do you order if you go to a specialty coffee shop? My favorite is just plain ol' cappuccino.

 
The method of espresso vs. drip coffee produce different brews. Espresso is less acidic...

So even when diluted with water, the taste difference might be subtle, but noticeable.

Me - I rarely go to Starbucks, but when I have a gift card I have to use up, I order a tall, decaf soy latte.

 
They're correct. In Italy, an Americano is just that -- espresso with hot water added. It's easier

for cafes and restaurants for when customers want a brewed, or American, cup of coffee. But in Italy most places don't have our standard coffeemaker with a pot on a warmer. It seems to have caught on in North America, maybe only for economic reasons. As the linked article says, it's cheaper for a coffee place to have one machine rather than two. Although, really, how expensive was the old Bunn?

http://coffeeinfo.wordpress.com/espresso-and-water/

 
Beans meant for espresso are roasted to a much darker extent which changes the flavor and removes...

some of the caffeine.

 
Removes Caffeine? I did not know that! Learn something new everyday. While I knew expresso was

roasted longer; I mistakingly thought there was more caffeine. Thanks Charlie!

As a side note, when I was in high school, I worked in a gourmet cheese store, I used to love to munch on the dark roasted beans...MUCH better than candy!!I

 
barb--I have been informed that I was incorrect in saying that the longer roasting time...

diminishes some of the carreine. I've searched and found that it could be a myth.

 
It isn't a myth. The longer beans are roasted, the more moisture evaporates from them, taking some

caffeine with it.

"Roasting burns off some caffeine, explaining why lightly roasted beans, such as cinnamon roast, are higher in caffeine than dark Italian (espresso) roasts. Brewing method also affects caffeine content." -- "The Science of Good Food," by David Joachim and Andrew Schloss, 2008 (winner of the 2009 IACP Award for Food Reference/Technical Category)

People often assume espresso has more caffeine in it because the brewing method makes it taste stronger.

 
Espresso also has less caffeine because...

the water is in contact with the ground beans a shorter amount of time than drip.

 
I became a bit more educated on the subject and found that in the north of Italy...

a lighter roast is preferred.

Espresso refers to the brewing method and doesn't require the darkly roasted beans that we associate with espresso to be espresso.

There are differing opinions though. Logic tells one that extensive roasting would lessen the caffeine, but how much is up for debate.

 
That's another fact that I found----robusta are the cheaper beans that are mostly used in mass..

produced coffees.

 
I made a mistake. The young girl at the Starbucks kiosk told me "It's espresso made with water" to

which I asked, "What is regular espresso made with?!" and she started to explain to me what espresso was (I already knew).

I know it's made with water, so that's what confused me. It was later I read about Cafe Americano being "espresso diluted with water". It was good, but I couldn't taste much of difference from any other coffee I've ever had. (In fact, I used to LOVE Burger King's "Turbo" coffee, but they discontinued it. Like I said, I'm not much of a coffee drinker though.

 
Thanks for posting this link, Shaun. Did you read the part about steamed WATER??

Now really - steamed water instead of steamed milk??

I gotta try that!

 
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