In praise of the cafe americano, the neglected option on the coffee house menu

[FunkyHiFi]

Cafe americano: espresso + hot water. That's it...but that's all that ya need. (y)

I've been asking around and almost no one has heard of this, even though I've been buying it since around 1997 and just want to spread the word. Btw I like this coffee because it tastes good, not because I'm Mr. Super Patriot. :)

Anyhoo.....this is what I order about 90% of the time when I'm at a coffee house. Strong but smooth - a Starbucks' "tall" cup includes two espresso shots - and better to me than most regular drip or french pressed coffees. I've tried 3 shots in a tall cup, but that nearly blew out a couple arteries :D since I hadn't eaten for several hours, so eating a scone or a having a bag of Chips Ahoys sitting nearby probably would have help prevent that!

[Adam]

Do you water down beer to?

Drink espresso straight, in a tall cup! :p

I had a friend who went to Italy, he sat with his friends at a coffee place and used his best "Italian learnt on the plane on the way there" to ask for a latte.

He got a cup of milk. hehe. Obviously the waiter knew he was english and his friends who asked in English got what they wanted. Latte meaning milk in italian, he got that.

I suppose it was a bit cruel by the waiter. Not sure what you'd get if you asked for an americano though - probably saliva.

[Splashleigh]

this is what we call a long black. i needed a translator when i went to nyc and i asked for a long black and the waiter stared blankly at me and i stared blankly back. i didn't know how else to describe it....espresso and hot water would have been more useful than repeating long black just louder and slower over and over.

[hardnox71]

espresso and hot water would have been more useful than repeating long black just louder and slower over and over.

CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH? LOOOOOOOOOONG BLAAAAAAAAACK, PLEEEEEEEEEAASE!!

:D

[ms.peachy]

I didn't know people were unaware of this option.

If I have a cake or other sweet thing in the afternoon, I usually have an Americano with it. I wouldn't have espresso with a cake because it's too much to have two richly flavoured things together for me. The Americano is a good contrast with a cake, especially something more dense like a cheesecake or chocolate cake. In the mornings I'll have a latte; milky coffee is definitely more of a breakfasty thing. Can't do coffee after about 4 otherwise I am up in the middle of the night going 'great, now what.'

[MC Moot]

I can respect the Americano...I need room for cream, it’s a bit much otherwise...but nothing can compete with Cafe con leche de Espana... (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x265/mcmoot/cafe.jpg)

[M|X|Y]

four teaspoons of folgers crystals, two teaspoons of quik, one of sugar - 1/4 hot water, 3/4 milk, fuck everything(y)

[MC Moot]

four teaspoons of folgers crystals...(y)

Sanka! (http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x265/mcmoot/sanka.jpg)...but seriously those starbucks instant coffee one shot packs are the best thing to happen for campers and backpackers in many years...

[M|X|Y]

But sanka is decaf, isnt it? .. I drink coffee to live, not to sleep

[M|X|Y]

I think i may have permanent heart, pancreatic and brain damage from the couple of years i had an expresso machine and used to make quadruples, mix with melted chocolate (or sometimes herseys syrup) and ice it... crack cocaine you can sip

[Helvete]

I had trouble ordering a Mocha in New York. I say Mock-a, they say Moh-kah.

[jabumbo]

i hate starbucks coffee


if i'm getting something not just regular coffee, i go for the cappuccino

[gbsuey]

Who's not heard of an americano? I'm a total luddite and that's all i'd order. I drink fresh black coffee at home so that's what i want if i'm out too. Espresso in a tall cup??? I don't get the espresso thing, i like a whole big cup of it, so it's gonna need some topping up with hot water. Bought a tin of that same stuff that's in the starbucks sachets today, it was on offer, it's stupidly expensive otherwise but if it's as good as the starbucks instant is i'll be happy.

[yeahwho]

I am an unbearable ass most of the time but when it comes to coffee I set new ass standards. I roast my own beans (from sweet marias (http://www.sweetmarias.com/prod.greencoffee.mvc.php)) and drink the best.

I rarely venture beyond my own brew but when i do it's always the americano. Lately I've been going to work early so I can do a few miles walking around downtown Seattle, I'm parking in front of the original Starbucks at Pike Place Market and when I'm done walking I've been getting an americano every morning.

It's awesome and I join you in praise.

[FunkyHiFi]

So there are other people out there doing the americano thing - whew. :)

CAN YOU UNDERSTAND THE WORDS THAT ARE COMING OUT OF MY MOUTH? LOOOOOOOOOONG BLAAAAAAAAACK, PLEEEEEEEEEAASE!!:D

this is what we call a long blackSounds like a good name for this. I ought to try it out on my local baristas next time I go there.

I wouldn't have espresso with a cake because it's too much to have two richly flavoured things together for me.Same here. But I love coffee with something sweet/crunchy/dry like a scone or cookies. And Fiesta, a grocery store chain here catering to Hispanic people (and many other cultures) has a good selection of Hispanic (Latin American? I'm not sure exactly) pastries which aren't as sweet as other bakeries' baked goods and they go great with coffee.

Do you water down beer to?Now that you mention it, I dilute 1 part beer with............don't worry, I wouldn't ever do such a thing. ;)

Cafe con leche de Espana This sounds good, since I like lattes (tall cup with two shots and sometimes with caramel or hazelnut flavoring).

I had trouble ordering a Mocha in New York. I say Mock-a, they say Moh-kah.I have a good buddy who grew up around there and *I* have trouble understanding some of the things he says!

four teaspoons of folgers crystals, two teaspoons of quik, one of sugar - 1/4 hot water, 3/4 milk, fuck everythingThis sounds like it tastes good but holy crap it's so STRONG! I wonder if my car would run on it...............:)

I roast my own beans (from sweet marias) and drink the best.This is dedication folks. (y)

those starbucks instant coffee one shot packs are the best thing to happen for campers and backpackers in many years...I was amazed at how close this stuff was to "real" coffee but the price, $1 per packet, is a bit hard to deal with.

i hate starbucks coffeeYea I'm not a huge fan myself and find many of their drip coffees to taste strange or outright crappy. Their americanos though are almsot always consistently good, no matter which location I visit, with a French roast-like taste which is why I order them so much. Their Pikes Place cheapo coffee they started selling last year for $1.60 (for a tall) is decent and get that when I'm in between paychecks.

One of the strongest coffees I've had so far was at the Houston Greek Festival a couple years ago. Whew! It was almost like espresso, jet black and I had to sip it slowly. It came with a lot of sugar added though which made it easier to deal with. Overall I enjoyed it and later went & got a second cup. Btw they poured it from a large cooking pot and it turned out they added the ground coffee directly to the heated water i.e. no filtering system used at all.

[Adam]

One thing I will give praise for - america knows how to do coffee.

I get frustrated that coffee is so bad over here. I just generally use ground in my cafeteria but I would say 99% of people use instant nescafe-type crap. I have my favourite blends (equal exchange or co-op) and when I make anyone a coffee they are surprised of how good it tastes.

It really isn't anything special it's just not that instant crap you serve everyone else :mad:

Don't really use starbucks and like all that much, but when I do go it would normally be a strong black coffee of some sort, most other people I know will go for the milkiest, sweetest luke warm syrup type drink they can.

UK are slow when it comes to how coffee should be. I love the idea of roasting my own.

[Drederick Tatum]

shout out to flat white.

[gbsuey]

One thing I will give praise for - america knows how to do coffee.

I get frustrated that coffee is so bad over here. I just generally use ground in my cafeteria but I would say 99% of people use instant nescafe-type crap. I have my favourite blends (equal exchange or co-op) and when I make anyone a coffee they are surprised of how good it tastes.

It really isn't anything special it's just not that instant crap you serve everyone else :mad:

Don't really use starbucks and like all that much, but when I do go it would normally be a strong black coffee of some sort, most other people I know will go for the milkiest, sweetest luke warm syrup type drink they can.

UK are slow when it comes to how coffee should be. I love the idea of roasting my own.

So you would have an americano...that's what they give you if you want a big black coffee! I use my caffetiere every day, can hardly abide instant coffee but those starbucks things are pretty good so i bought that tin of kenco millicano stuff yesterday. Just drinking it now instead of second huge fresh coffee and it's not great. The starbucks stuff looks like really finely ground coffee, which is 'cause it is i guess....this looks like instant coffee but smaller bits. Sucky.

[Adam]

I was joking when I said I only drink espresso.

My stupid ideals often get in the way sometimes, if a coffee shop was on the agenda I'd vote somewhere independent. Same with cinemas, restaurants and whatever really. Often they just name what things are rather than copying popular brand names so I don't get to always learn what an americano is - I knew it was a coffee but before this thread I'd of assumed a white strong coffee.

[Lyman Zerga]

stfu, im running out of coffee and have to wait till monday for more
this will be the longest weekend of my life

[Adam]

stfu, im running out of coffee and have to wait till monday for more
this will be the longest weekend of my life

How hard is to score coffee where you live?

[Lyman Zerga]

How hard is to score coffee where you live?

im getting coffee money on monday

[Helvete]

It's Austria, literally NOTHING is open past about 1pm on a weekday.

[Adam]

^I can imagine

I remember staying at a friends in Belgium and she was saying how it's even illegal to have washing out on the line on a Sunday. We was on our way back from pukklepop and something looking to do on the sunday as I think the festival finished on the saturday.

Smoking pot in a this massive forest she lived near and then driving back to the eurostar was the solution (it doesn't matter driving intoxicated on the continent I learnt because everyone else is).

[miss soul fire]

Our best coffee goes to overseas.:(


Coffee is bad for the bones, so I'm not drinking it any longer!

[TAL]

I've never had a cup of coffee (y)

[gbsuey]

The smell of fresh ground coffee is just about the best thing ever, on a par with fresh basil, cut grass, tomato plants and the ocean. (y)

[Helvete]

And gasoline, pussy and cocaine.

[gbsuey]

I read a statistic recently that a lot of people who do coke have actually never done any actual coke. But it does smell good yeah. Gasoline, no....pussy, in the same way that you blokes are physically unable to give yourselves a blow job i just don't get that close, not that i've tried. ;)

[venusvenus123]

Our best coffee goes to overseas.:(


Coffee is bad for the bones, so I'm not drinking it any longer!

apparently it helps prevent you going senile so I'm keeping it up!

I order an Americano in places where I know the cappuccino option is going to be milky slop.

shout out to flat white.
I call it FAT white as it's usually a bit too creamy for me. Good when it's done proper tho.

I invested in my own coffee machine so I don't continuously get ripped off/disappointed by the daily grind out there.

[p-branez]

One thing I will give praise for - america knows how to do coffee.



really? Going abroad, I hear American coffee ridiculed for being weak & watered-down. I suppose there are many categories of coffee, and one trip I was in Sweden, where they take coffee very seriously.

I buy those big containers of Maxwell House or Folgers. Going cheap is my bargain with drinking coffee in the first place.

[Adam]

^I kinda mean more to do with people doing their own. Like when you go round to peoples houses not to coffee shops.

Going round to people houses here and you'll get shit.

[p-branez]

True. Even if it's Maxwell House, at least I brew coffee instead of pouring a slim package into hot water.

[Gareth]

i feel as though soy bean milk has been neglected by the entire western world.
please correct me if i'm wrong.
what a tasty drink.

[p-branez]

It is tasty.

But it is more expensive. And, in my American estimation, it is seen as part of an "alternative" lifestyle.

[Gareth]

cheap as chips in asia.
and as mainstream as usher.

[HEIRESS]

I've been rocking the pour over method when going to coffee shops lately, a little douchebaggy, but it tastes so good!

I am also a sucker for a well made caffe latte.

At home I only drink stove-top espresso with tons of heated up milk/cream added.

my beau likes french press, but I only roll that way when camping usually.

Oh! In the summer I also adore iced americanos. with LOTS of cream.