Cafè Americano (also known as Americano or American coffee) is basically hot water added to espresso. Although many of us think we want a good jolt of caffeine to start our day, espresso can be too powerful. By adding a good shot of hot water, the full espresso flavor is preserved, but at a diluted dose of caffeine.
An Americano has about the some level of caffeine as the drip coffee you get from your home coffee maker, but has the full bodied flavor of an espresso from the local café. Whether you make it at home with your own espresso machine, or buy it at your local café, you can decide the strength – espresso to water ratio.
However, be careful when ordering from a café – if you add water to the espresso (espresso on the bottom), it is an Americano, BUT, if you add espresso to the hot water (putting the espresso on top), it is known as a long black.