en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caff%C3%A8_americano
2 corrections found
Its first use in English appeared in the Jamaican newspaper The Sunday Gleaner in 1964.
This is contradicted by Merriam-Webster, which records an English use of “café Americano” in 1943, more than 20 years earlier.
Full reasoning
Merriam-Webster’s dictionary entry for café Americano gives its first known use as 1943. Merriam-Webster also supplies the earlier English citation: “When you order coffee in a restaurant, you must tell the waiter whether you want the weak ‘cafe Americano,’ or the strong, black ‘cafe Puertorriqueno.’” — Evening Star (Washington, DC), April 11, 1943.
Because that is an English-language citation from 1943, the statement that the drink term’s first English use appeared in The Sunday Gleaner in 1964 is incorrect. Even if 1964 is an important citation in some other source, it cannot be the first English use if a documented 1943 example already exists.
2 sources
- CAFÉ AMERICANO Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster
First Known Use 1943 ... The first known use of café Americano was in 1943.
- Café Americano - 11 Terms from the Coffee Shop | Merriam-Webster
When you order coffee in a restaurant, you must tell the waiter whether you want the weak "cafe Americano," or the strong, black "cafe Puertorriqueno." - Evening Star (Washington, DC), 11 Apr. 1943
a short americano with equal amounts of espresso and water (lungo).
A lungo is not an Americano made with equal parts espresso and added water. It is a longer espresso extraction, where more water passes through the coffee during brewing.
Full reasoning
The parenthetical identification of this drink as “lungo” is inaccurate.
A lungo is not made by pulling a normal espresso shot and then adding water in the cup, which is how an Americano is prepared. Official coffee-brand materials distinguish them clearly:
- Nespresso explains that an Americano is made by extracting espresso first and then adding hot water, while a Lungo is made by pulling the espresso shot longer so more liquid is extracted directly through the grounds.
- illy likewise describes lungo as “a slightly longer Espresso coffee” with a less concentrated taste.
So a drink made with equal amounts of espresso and added water would be a kind of short Americano, but it would not be a lungo.
2 sources
- Americano, Long Black | Nespresso
Americano: extract espresso into the cup first, then add hot water ... Lungo Coffee: espresso is extracted by pulling the shot longer ... without adding extra hot water.
- iperEspresso Lungo Capsules - Box of 100 capsules - illy
How We're Brewing: A slightly longer Espresso coffee, with a balanced but less concentrated taste.