How To Make An Americano (Recipe Tips and Hacks)

While it seems that a caffè americano is very popular in North America and other parts of the world, it hasn’t quite caught on in Italy yet.

Standing in a crowded café in Rome recently, I ordered an Americano coffee and, to my surprise, the entire room fell silent. Everyone turned to stare. The barista smiled and poured me a double shot. I mimicked adding hot water to it, but he didn’t seem to know what I meant. I certainly caused a stir in that coffee bar.

I often drink Americanos at home – and it took some practice to get it right. So, what is a caffè Americano exactly and how is it done right? Simply put, it’s an espresso-based brew with hot water added to it. The water slightly dilutes the espresso, giving you the volume of a drip, but with an espresso taste.

Read on to learn how to make the perfect tasting Americano yourself.

How to Make an Americano Coffee

Making an Americano might seem like you’re just pouring hot water into an espresso, but there is more to the recipe than that (1) – much more, for some coffee lovers. And the difference between a caffè Americano vs. regular coffee will become clear.

For your caffè Americano recipe, you will need:

• An Espresso Machine
• Espresso Coffee Beans – You can make an Americano with non-espresso beans, but it’s not really an Americano and it won’t taste the same.
• Coffee scale – Because accuracy is critical.
• Grinder – Grinding the beans just before making the coffee is important for the quality of the brew.
• Hot Or Almost Boiling Water – Hot, hot, hot – you will add hot or almost boiling water to the espresso to make your Americano.
• An espresso tamper – You’re making an espresso first, so you need to tamp.

If you need any of the equipment listed above, head to our gear page. If you’re looking for the right coffee beans, visit our coffee bean hub here.

Step 1: Get The Good Beans

Coffee beans are a personal thing. But, to make a good Americano, you need good espresso beans. While making an Americano actually dilutes the espresso shot, the process seems to amplify any flaws in the coffee (2), so get a bean that you know you like.

Step 2: Measure

Measure out your beans. Most people don’t make an Americano with a single shot (3). It is recommended that you measure for a double (14-18 grams).  If you are a fan of the Americano, a single shot is probably not strong enough. 

Step 3: Fine Grind The Beans

Your grinder is a key tool for making great espresso, which is the first step to a great Americano. As you know by now, this coffee beverage is made with one or two (depending on personal preference) espresso shots. So you’ll need to grind your beans as you would for making a shot of espresso – go really fine (4).

If you make an Americano with a less-fine grind, it just doesn’t work. Not fine enough of a grind and it’s an #AmericanoFail.

Step 4: Tamp It Good

Tamping is an important part of the process. Some machines these days tamp automatically for you. Others don’t. It’s okay if your espresso machine doesn’t tamp the beans automatically.Whether it’s automatic or you’re going to do it the old-school way, now is the time to tamp.

If you need more tips on tamping, this guide has you covered.

Step 5: Put The Portafilter Into The Machine

I figure if you want to make an Americano, you already know to do this. However, you know what happens when you assume… right? So, once you have tamped, please put the portafilter into its spot on the machine.

Step 6: Make The Espresso

Every machine is different – so do your thing and brew a shot of espresso with your machine. Here are some tips if you’re a novice. There’s really nothing like the aroma of a fresh double shot of espresso being made, is there? It’s like happiness aromatherapy.

Step 7: Get Into Hot Water

When making an Americano, there is some discussion about how hot the water should be. And it is personal to your preference. Too hot and it takes too long to cool down and that affects the taste. Too cold and it brings the quality of the espresso down a bit as well. Overall, about 70-76 degrees Celsius works well.

You can use your kettle to get the water to that temperature or add the water out of your steam boiler tap.

Step 8: Pour The Espresso Into The Water

The ratio of water to espresso is one of those things you will want to tweak to suit your personal taste. Typically, you mix 1 part espresso to 2 parts water (5). It is recommended you pour the espresso into the water, rather than the other way around to prevent burning the coffee. The espresso seems to blend better with the water this way.

Experience shows that pouring the water into the espresso disrupts the taste and messes up that beautiful crema you worked for so diligently (6). Make it a slow pour into the hot water in your cup. It feels wrong to rush the process – and in this case, slow is better. Check out this great video on how to do this here.

Step 9: Enjoy your hot Americano!

Typically, an Americano is served black, but the world is not typical and neither are coffee fans. If cream and sugar is your thing, fill your boots. Once you have poured the espresso into the water, sit back and enjoy.

Bonus Step – Ice it up

If you want an iced Americano, the process is just a tiny bit different. Instead of hot water, add some cold water (You can use about 1.5 to 1 water to espresso – this is to account for the ice). Next, you pour your espresso into the cold water and add ice – Etvoilà!

Iced Americano for those dog days of summer. Check out a video on how to do this here:

You may be wondering what the difference is between iced Americano vs. iced coffee – and there is a difference.

An iced Americano is typically made as an Americano and is drunk without milk or sugar. For the Fat Americano, on the other hand, coca cola is used instead o water. An iced coffee can be almost anything you want it to be – from putting the most basic coffee that you made in the morning into the refrigerator and having it over ice later that day, to some wildly imaginative concoctions that are simply delicious.

You can also make Nitro coffee-like version. See our guide on how to make Aerocano to learn more.

Lighter Texture, More Volume

I find that when you bring up Americanos, it can create an interesting discussion. A few of my friends (and the people in the coffee bar in Rome) don’t understand adding water to an espresso shot. They just don’t get it. For me, there are days when I want a bit of a lighter texture and more volume – and the Americano Coffee hits that spot perfectly!

Want to try other brew methods? Find more ways to make great coffee here.