How To Make A Perfect Americano Coffee With A Nespresso Shot

It might not look like it, but there's a difference between a cold brew, an iced coffee, and an iced Americano. The same thing goes for a long black coffee and an Americano. It all comes down to how they're prepared. An Americano is possibly the most arduous of the group, made from water and a fresh shot of espresso. But, you hardly need a fancy machine to make one. In fact, you can make one just as rich and velvety smooth with your Nespresso machine. 

Americanos are probably the most strenuous of the least strenuous coffee drinks — which is just a complicated way of saying they're much easier to prepare than they seem. A hot Americano will call for a cup of boiling water, which you can prepare using either the stove top or a tea kettle, and a Nespresso shot. While an iced Americano will call for the latter and a glass of ice water. However, to make the best Americano at home, you're going to want to use the best Nespresso pods: The Dharkan or the Palermo Kazaar pods.

Both of these pods are ideal for your at-home Americanos because they're intense — a necessary characteristic knowing they're going to be diluted with two to three times the water. You can add more or less depending on your taste preference, just always remember to pour the water over the espresso and not the other way around. That is, unless it's iced.

Iced Americanos are no different than any other iced coffee drink in that they're challenging to keep iced. But, while they are certainly temperamental, there is a way to mitigate the melting, and that all starts with timing of when you pour your Nespresso shot into your cup of ice water. Much like how baristas are taught to pour the espresso last when they're preparing iced lattes, when it comes to making a perfect Americano coffee at home the timing of when you pour your Nespresso shot matters. Only, rather than pouring the water over the shot as you do with a hot Americano, you're going to want to do the opposite.

There's a reason why baristas never pour fresh espresso over ice. Knowing that, the first step to making an iced Americano that stays iced is the same as with any other iced coffee drink: Pouring your iced water first, and your Nespresso shot last. If it's a particularly hot day outside, you can go even further to keep your Americano from melting. One tip is to chill your glass inside the fridge prior to pouring your drink, just to cool it down a bit and further reduce the melting rate. If you want to get really fancy, you could experiment with making coffee ice cubes — that way, when the ice does eventually melt, it only makes your Americano taste stronger.