Americano vs. Pour-Over Coffee: What’s the Real Difference?
I’ve shared before that “black coffee” is a general term referring to any coffee made without adding anything besides coffee and water. Drinks like Americanos, pour-overs, cold brew, and drip coffee all fall under the black-coffee category. Among these, Americano and pour-over are the two most common black coffee options in cafés. Because they belong to the same category, many people can’t resist comparing them. Customers in my offline shop often bring this up as well. Usually, pour-over wins in these comparisons—and even in the famous “coffee snob hierarchy” chart circulating online, pour-over sits on a higher tier. But is that really true? Obviously not. First, there shouldn’t be a “snob hierarchy” in the first place. Second, although both drinks are black coffee, I don’t think they’re comparable at all. Their brewing methods and purposes are completely different—they’re not even on the same racetrack. So naturally, there’s no need to compare them. Many people assume pour-over...