I've been trying to get a better grasp on what causes some coffees to be completely black like the first image while others have this sort of "hazy" appearance? I'm still trying to discover what flavors or notes I like when drinking my americanos but when I see coffee that looks like the second image I typically enjoy it more. So what causes that appearance? Also is there a name to describe what I'm looking at instead of using the word hazy?
by cade_impala
20 Comments
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you just like milk and syrups more that coffee
more dilution, ice quality?
Probably a lot of factors. Photoshop and ice quality come to mind first.
I do Starbucks over ice (the only way I can drink Starbucks) and it looks closer to the first but people hate on those beans.
However when I go to a specialty coffee shop and get the same it looks more like your second pick and IMO tastes like shit.
I think it’s because the better coffees don’t stand up well to the shock of the ice and they’re often lighter roasts so would get you closer to your second pick
When have you had an Americano that’s completely black like the first image? It’s usually the second image because if it was made with fresh espresso, there’s going to be crema and gasses in there. And if you mix it up, it will be hazy.
The only time a drink looks like the first is when it’s an iced filter/pourover/brewed coffee. Or cold brew.
Unless it’s incredibly stale espresso that’s just flat.
Age of the coffee beans maybe? Old beans will have less crema/CO2. Could be using more filters to filter out “haze.”
And the picture you showed does not look like iced Americano to me. It looks like highly filtered cold brew or concentrated Japanese iced coffee.
The first image looks more like an iced coffee or a cold brew. I would expect that kind of clarity from coffee that’s gone through a paper filter. An Americano made with espresso would have more body to it.
Roast level, particles dissolved, filtering
From my experience, iced americano will rarely looked like the first image. The first image is almost definitely made from cold brew, or paper filtered coffee whatever the method is. You can have a darker iced americano, but it would still very much cloudy, with darker roast.
First image has +50 contrast, +25 whiteness, +25 blackness, +20 vibrance. The second image has them all at 0.
My guess, while completely unscientific, is thay it probably has something to do eith the amount of emulsified fats/oils in different beans?
The difference is the first image is a product photograph taken by a professional and I’m 99.99% sure is not even coffee. (my SO is a product photographer, I can tell you stories). It’s probably flat cola.
first one is cold brew, or black filter coffee on ice, and the second one is americano ( espresso on water)
https://preview.redd.it/h9ch362aglwe1.png?width=808&format=png&auto=webp&s=5dc36857f3f7f0148423f1105b25b193d6a2aa31
My iced americano
When was the last time your McDonald’s sandwich looked like the picture on the menu?
That’s iced coffee. Wrong picture
Isn’t the first image an Americano cocktail ?
[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americano_(cocktail)](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Americano_(cocktail))
This confusion already got me a painful breakfast in Pisa.
First you might need to understand if you’re drinking iced coffee or cold brewed coffee. The first image looks like cold brew where the second image looks like it’s coffee with milk tbh which often is an iced coffee. Iced coffee is typically served with milk and other things to sweeten it due to the imbalance of acidity in the brew process from hot to cold. Where as cold brew coffee is using cold water and a fridge to sit for extended periods of time to brew and extract the flavors and caffeine from the beans. Cold brew is far superior in my opinion.
My americanos sometimes look like a bit like the 1st one when I use store-bought coffee. But it has no remains of any crema, which leads me to believe the photograph didn’t actually use a freshly americano but instead maybe just water with food colouring for the photoshoot.