Iced Americano Recipe (Not Watery)
This Iced Americano Recipe is a great way to enjoy a classic coffee drink, but served cold instead of hot. It’s refreshing on hot summer days. Learn how to make the perfect iced Americano.
An Iced Americano is a coffee drink at its finest. The bold espresso gets chilled and slightly watered down by the ice. If you love a strong, black coffee drink, then you’ll love an Iced Americano.
A regular Americano is made with brewed espresso and water (usually around 1/3 espresso and 2/3 hot water). Just picture an American tourist in an Italian coffee shop. The American is used to drinking regular brewed coffee that is much less potent than espresso. By adding water to brewed espresso, it makes it less intense. Hence, the Americano!
The legend around the creation of the Americano is not that far off. The story goes that American soldiers stationed in Italy during World War II wanted a coffee drink that reminded them of regular brewed coffee made with water.
Iced Americano Benefits
- Serve bold espresso with ice cubes for a delightful change from regular espresso or a hot Americano.
- If you love black coffee, then you’ll certainly love the rich flavor of espresso that is used to make the perfect Americano.
- On a hot summer morning, there’s nothing better than an energizing Iced Americano. You can adapt it your needs by making it decaf or adding your favorite sweetener or milk.
Americano Ingredients
Espresso shots make the base of an iced Americano. You’ll need two shots of espresso to make one iced Americano coffee.
Ice cubes help cool down the shot of espresso and keep the cup of iced coffee cold.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
How to Make an Iced Americano
Step One
Brew your espresso. You can use an espresso machine, a Moka pot, a Nespresso machine, or your favorite method.
You’ll need a double shot for this recipe, or about two ounces of hot espresso coffee.
Please see the recipe card at the end of this post for the exact ingredients and measurements.
Step Two
Fill a glass with ice cubes.
Step Three
Pour the espresso over the ice cubes and serve immediately.
I hope you agree that this iced version of an Americano beats a cup of hot coffee when it’s warm outside. It’s sure to become one of your favorite drinks!
You might also like my Iced Mocha Recipe!
Recipe Tips
- Feel free to add milk and sugar to your cold coffee drink once it’s made. A traditional iced Americano is served plain, but you can adapt it to your taste.
- You can use decaf espresso if you want to reduce the caffeine content to almost zero (please note that even decaf coffee usually has a few milligrams of caffeine).
- Pro tip: don’t add any cold water to your iced Americano as it will water it down too much. Let the ice do that.
- Feeling fancy? Try this Espresso Martini!
Recipe FAQs
Yes you can. If you want to buy coffee beans that are roasted specifically for making espresso, you can buy espresso beans. But, regular coffee beans will work fine too. See my list of the best organic coffee beans.
Yes of course! It is personal preference. An Americano is traditionally served black, but you can feel free to add cold milk and/or sugar to make it taste to your liking. See my favorite vegan creamers.
Most regular coffee pots sold in the United States are for making brewed coffee. You would have to buy a specialty espresso machine or device if you want to make espresso. Espresso is made with high pressure water as opposed to regular brewed coffee which uses a drop method.
For making iced coffee drinks other than an Americano, see my recipe for iced coffee. In that post, I share how to make coffee ice cubes to help prevent the coffee from becoming too diluted.
A lot of people like to use coffee syrups, but I prefer just to use regular sugar or another sugar substitute. You don’t want to add fake ingredients to espresso. Hot Americanos are enjoyed by coffee lovers plain, with no sweeteners.
More Refreshing Drink Recipes You Might Like
- Butter Coffee
- Cucumber Lemon Water
- Hibiscus Tea Recipe
- Sparkling Kombucha Lemonade
- Rosemary Coffee
- Iced Coffee Recipe
- Mojito Mocktail
Or, check out my entire index of beverage recipes.
Don’t Miss These Coffee Posts!
Iced Americano Recipe (Not Watery)
This Iced Americano Recipe is a great way to enjoy this classic coffee drink, but served cold instead of hot. It’s refreshing on hot summer days. Learn how to make the perfect iced Americano.
- Total Time: 12 minutes
- Yield: 1 1x
Ingredients
- 2 shots espresso (2 ounces total)
- 1 cup ice cubes
Instructions
- Brew your espresso.
- Fill a glass with ice.
- Top the ice with the brewed espresso.
- Add any sweetener or milk (optional), and serve immediately.
Notes
- Feel free to add milk and sugar to your cold coffee drink once it’s made. A traditional iced Americano is served plain, but you can adapt it to your taste.
- You can use decaf espresso if you want to reduce the caffeine content to almost zero (please note that even decaf coffee usually has a few milligrams of caffeine).
- Pro tip: don’t add any cold water to your iced Americano as it will water it down too much. Let the ice do that.
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook Time: 2 minutes
- Category: Beverage
- Method: Espresso machine
- Cuisine: Italian
- Diet: Low Calorie
Nutrition
- Serving Size:
- Calories: 1
- Sugar: 0 g
- Sodium: 1.2 mg
- Fat: 0 g
- Saturated Fat: 0 g
- Carbohydrates: 0 g
- Fiber: 0 g
- Protein: 0.1 g
- Cholesterol: 0 mg
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About the Author: Carrie Forrest has a master’s degree in public health with a specialty in nutrition. She is a top wellness and food blogger with nearly 10 million annual visitors to her site. Carrie has an incredible story of recovery from chronic illness and is passionate about helping other women transform their health. Send Carrie a message through her contact form.
Love love love this yummy drink!