Popular knowledge: What are the differences between American coffee, black coffee, instant coffee and Italian coffee?

There are many types of coffee classification, and the above types are not at the same level of classification. The classification can basically be based on the origin, type of coffee tree, method of processing coffee berries, method of coffee extraction, etc. Americano is actually a classification of coffee after coffee extraction. Let's listen to the details below.

1. Classification by origin (country)

Kenyan coffee, Ethiopian coffee (Sidamo, Yirgacheffe), Vietnamese coffee, Jamaica (Blue Mountain), Indonesia (Sumatra), etc. Among them, high-quality coffee generally comes from Panama, Kenya, Ethiopia and other African and Central and South American countries. The reason why coffee is mainly concentrated in this region is that coffee is extremely susceptible to frost damage. The temperature and humidity in tropical regions are most suitable for the growth of coffee.

2. Classification by coffee tree species

According to the major types, coffee can be simply divided into Arabica (generally better taste) and Robusta.

3. Classification based on coffee cherry processing methods

After the cherry-shaped coffee fruits are picked, they need to go through the process of peeling and pulping to obtain green coffee beans.

(1) Sun-dried coffee beans (N2 nature): A more natural processing method. Most of the time, they are exposed to the sun in a very rough manner, but they can also be processed in a more sophisticated manner. The sun-dried beans in boutique coffee are the result of sophisticated processing. Generally, good sun-dried beans have a more outstanding fruity flavor.

(2) Washed coffee beans (W2 wash): The washing process is rather complicated and will not be discussed here. This process is generally only used for higher quality coffee beans. The characteristics of washed beans are a clean taste and bright fruit acidity.

(3) Honey processed (also called semi-washed) (H2 honey) coffee beans: Honey processing combines the above two methods, and the resulting beans have the characteristics of both methods in taste.

What is the difference between Americano, black coffee, instant coffee and espresso?

4. Classification by roasting degree

Generally, there are shallow, medium and deep grades;

Roasting, as the name suggests, is the process of turning raw coffee beans into mature coffee beans. This process will produce the Maillard chemical reaction, also known as "browning", "non-enzymatic browning phenomenon", or more simply, "burning". When we usually bake bread, roast meat, make braised pork, and roast malt in the process of brewing beer, the chemical reactions that occur in between are all Maillard reactions.

The darker the roasting degree, the darker the color of the coffee beans. In fact, it is the same as baking bread. The longer it is roasted, the more yellow the bread becomes, until it turns black.

5. Classification by baking goals

It can be divided into single origin coffee (single origin beans) and blended coffee (blended beans).

6. Classification by coffee extraction method

(1) Italian coffee: The coffee concentrate extracted by an Italian coffee machine under high pressure is called Italian espresso. If you want to make Americano, latte, or cappuccino, you must first have this small cup of Italian espresso. Some people call coffee brewed in a moka pot Italian coffee, but strictly speaking, this is only the representative way Italians make coffee at home, not real Italian coffee.

(2) Drip coffee (hand-brewed coffee): Use V60, Chemex and other extraction tools to extract a cup of coffee from coffee powder by pouring hot water under normal atmospheric pressure. The electric American coffee machine for home use also imitates this principle (strictly speaking, the coffee produced by the American coffee machine for home use is not American coffee. American coffee is diluted Italian coffee, which requires the high temperature and high pressure extraction of the Italian machine mentioned above.

(3) Siphon coffee: coffee extracted by heating it with a siphon pot.

(4) Immersion coffee: Representatives of this extraction method are coffee made with a French press and iced coffee.

What is the difference between Americano, black coffee, instant coffee and espresso?

What is the difference between Americano, black coffee, instant coffee and espresso?

7. Sort by what you do with the coffee you extracted

(1) Black coffee: Coffee that is directly extracted is called black coffee (Espresso) without any modification.

(2) Coffee drinks developed on the basis of espresso: After a cup of espresso is made, you can add milk products, water, or even wine and cocoa to create a different cup of coffee, which is what we call an espresso-based drink. This is the type of coffee you hear most often in Starbucks and even in most coffee shops around the world.

Americano:

45ml Espresso + 250ml 90℃ hot water

Coffee latte:

30ml Espresso + 200ml hot milk; the weight of espresso, milk and milk foam is 1:2:1; Latte will have a stronger milk taste, and latte only needs a thin layer of milk foam, which is usually flush with the mouth of the cup

Cappuccino:

30ml Espresso + 200ml hot milk; the weight of espresso, milk and milk foam is 1:1:1; cappuccino has more milk foam, a solid and dense taste, and a stronger coffee flavor; the milk foam of cappuccino will be higher than the mouth of the cup, appearing full and bright; the coffee will not overflow even if you shake it left and right

Caramel Macchiato:

The drink is made by adding espresso, vanilla and pure caramel to the fragrant hot milk, blending three different flavors. The classic macchiato is a small cup of espresso topped with a large spoonful of dense milk foam. Nowadays, it seems that adding caramel on top seems to be more popular.

Flat White:

It has more espresso and less milk foam than latte, but the cup is smaller, so it contains less milk and the coffee flavor is stronger.

Milk foam thickness: Cappuccino>Latte>Flat White

Cafe Mocha

Made from Italian espresso, chocolate sauce, fresh cream and milk

Traditional mocha is made by adding fresh milk foam and chocolate sauce to latte, and can also be considered as cappuccino with chocolate sauce added.

(3) Other common

Capsule coffee

Capsule coffee is made by grinding coffee beans into coffee powder and then putting them into aluminum capsules, which eliminates the problems of ordinary coffee beans or coffee powder becoming sour and oxidized after contact with air. Put a coffee capsule into the capsule coffee machine, and it will make a cup of Italian espresso in 25 seconds. It can be made into various Italian coffee dishes at will.

instant coffee

Instant coffee is a dry coffee extract obtained by evaporating the water in the coffee extract. Instant coffee can be quickly dissolved in hot water, and it takes up less space and volume during storage and transportation, and is more durable.

Drip Coffee

The ground coffee powder is placed in a non-woven bag and packaged. When drinking, just hang it on the mouth of the cup and brew it with boiling water. (Use drip method to complete coffee brewing)