Why Italians Hate Americano Coffee: The Truth Behind “Dirty Water” & Espresso Culture

 When people talk about coffee culture, Italy inevitably comes up. To me, Italy has always felt like a somewhat special place—and that sense of “specialness” largely comes from its almost obsessive devotion to food traditions, or rather, an uncompromising loyalty to them. I once came across a discussion on Quora about this very topic, and one highly upvoted response perfectly captured the Italian mindset when it comes to protecting tradition and cuisine. In Italy, the highest compliment you can give a dish isn’t “This tastes like something from a fine-dining restaurant,” but rather, “This tastes like my mom made it.” Yes—Italians are deeply committed to what they call “the taste of mamma,” a form of emotional loyalty rooted in culture and memory.

So when it comes to adding hot water to espresso to make an Americano, many Italians see it the same way you might react to someone putting durian or pineapple on a pizza: simply unbearable. It’s viewed as a kind of cultural sacrilege. In that same popular Quora answer, it was mentioned—half jokingly, half seriously—that many Italians refer to American coffee (including drip coffee) as “dirty water.” In their eyes, coffee is espresso. Anything that isn’t espresso is, by definition, inferior. Even today, plenty of Italians still don’t appreciate drip coffee at all. And although drip coffee actually contains more caffeine than espresso, they find it thin and watery, preferring instead the intense, concentrated flavors produced by espresso.

There’s a viral video online that imagines what would happen if a barista served an Italian a cup of Americano. The man in the video practically loses his mind. To Italians, taking a perfectly good espresso and “ruining” it with hot water feels downright criminal. It’s like taking a high-quality Scotch whisky and diluting it with water. In fact, American coffee doesn’t enjoy particularly high acceptance across Europe in general—Europeans still overwhelmingly favor traditional Italian-style coffee. This largely comes down to fundamentally different coffee philosophies. One baseline truth must be acknowledged: in Italian eyes, espresso is the soul of coffee—rich, bold, and crowned with crema.

Espresso isn’t just a drink; it’s the center of social life, art, and everyday routine. That’s also why Italy has the concept of standing cafés. Espresso is meant to be consumed quickly. You stop by in the morning, exchange a few words, knock back two or three sips of espresso, and move on. In contrast, American coffee culture leans toward a more utilitarian mindset: coffee as a functional beverage. By diluting espresso with hot water, the focus shifts to volume—something filling, energizing, and meant to be sipped slowly over time.

There’s also a deeper historical reason why Italians often look down on American coffee. On one hand, after coffee was introduced to Italy in the 16th century, the country gradually developed its own distinctive brewing techniques and equipment. It’s fair to say that when we talk about modern coffee culture, Italy deserves more than half the credit—it laid the foundation for what we know today. Italians take immense pride in this heritage, and that national pride makes them reluctant to compromise or overturn tradition. On the other hand, the Americano itself is often seen as a “World War II leftover.” At the time, American soldiers stationed in Italy found espresso too strong and asked for it to be diluted with water. This practice was already viewed back then as a distortion of tradition—if not a mild cultural offense.

There’s an Italian saying that goes something like, “Great ingredients only need simple preparation.” Italians believe that high-quality coffee beans, when extracted under high pressure by an espresso machine, already achieve perfect balance. There’s no need for additions or dilution. Over-diluting coffee, in their view, destroys its aroma and layered complexity.

In a way, I find this cultural commitment genuinely moving. Italians aren’t stubborn in the sense of being closed off or resistant to progress; rather, they hold themselves to extremely high standards and consciously protect the roots of their culture. Drinking coffee is an everyday ritual for nearly every Italian, but they don’t see it primarily as a stimulant. Instead, it’s a brief pause in daily life—standing at the bar, downing a quick espresso, exchanging a few words with the barista or a familiar face, then getting back to work. It’s a small but meaningful break, a moment of living in the present. Italians, after all, are known for being relatively relaxed and present-focused.

That said, Italians are far stricter with their own people than with foreigners. Today, many cafés do offer Americanos, and you can even order a cappuccino in the afternoon—largely to cater to tourists. Still, there’s a bit of mischievous humor left: in some regions of Italy, people jokingly refer to American coffee as “sock-washing water” (acqua sporca, literally “dirty water”), a playful jab at what they see as its weak, diluted flavor.

Why Cafés Filter Crema From Americanos | Clean Taste vs Traditional Espresso

 This question is something I’ve noticed quite frequently over the past year while café hopping. Of course, it’s not a new topic for me—I’ve already touched on it multiple times in previous articles. Personally, I’ve encountered it so often that I’ve almost become “desensitized” to the idea of filtering crema from an Americano. But if we take a more rational step back, the reason many cafés now promote over-extraction–style Americanos is fairly clear: they’re chasing a cleaner, more stable, and smoother mouthfeel, while trying to avoid unpleasant flavors.

From my point of view, over-extraction–based Americanos and traditional “espresso + water” Americanos follow fundamentally different extraction and brewing logics. In that context, removing the crema can be a 1 + 1 > 2 kind of optimization. However, if it’s just a standard espresso shot that’s brewed normally, then filtered for crema, and only afterward diluted with water, I personally feel it would be better to leave the crema intact. After all, that crema is the soul of the espresso.

So why do so many cafés filter out the crema when serving an Americano? It’s undeniably a widespread and discussion-worthy phenomenon in today’s specialty coffee scene. By “crema,” I’m referring to the oily substances in coffee beans (along with some ultra-fine coffee particles). Strictly speaking, this isn’t true oil. Rather, it’s a stable, oil-like foam formed through emulsification under high pressure—what we commonly call crema.

Not long ago, I talked about how crema is often considered the soul of espresso, and I believe many people still hold that view. In traditional Italian coffee culture, a perfect espresso is expected to have a thick, fine, brown crema on top. It’s seen as a marker of freshness and successful extraction, contributing to a richer mouthfeel and longer-lasting aroma. In some evaluation systems, the color and thickness of the crema are even key scoring criteria. What we’re seeing now is, to some extent, a departure from that tradition—a redefinition of how we understand espresso’s role as a base in beverages like the Americano.

I think this shift also reflects how people’s flavor preferences have evolved. The industry has gradually moved away from the classic pursuit of “intense, bitter, and heavy-bodied” coffee toward a preference for “clean, sweet, and transparent” flavors. Under this new paradigm, crema can sometimes work against the desired profile. Crema contains a relatively high concentration of compounds such as quinic acids, which can introduce sharp, lingering bitterness and astringency.

This becomes even more apparent now that many espresso programs favor light or light-medium roasts, aiming to highlight fruity notes, floral aromas, and bright acidity even in espresso. In such cases, the bitterness and harshness associated with crema can easily overshadow the coffee’s elegant origin characteristics.

In China, drinking espresso straight is still relatively uncommon, but I’d still like to point out one thing: if you are going to drink espresso on its own, it’s important to stir the crema thoroughly into the liquid before drinking. Otherwise, the crema can actually detract from the overall mouthfeel. Also, the flavor of crema changes over time. Fresh crema tastes very different from crema that has been sitting for a few minutes—it oxidizes and breaks down, becoming less pleasant. In that sense, the problem isn’t always the crema itself, but sometimes the way we approach drinking it.

Another key consideration is consistency. The amount of crema varies from shot to shot, which means each Americano can look slightly different and deliver a subtly different initial taste. If there are roasting defects, crema can further amplify undesirable flavors such as burnt bitterness, smokiness, or rubbery notes. By filtering out the crema, cafés can make every cup look clear and uniform, while also reducing the amplification of flavor flaws in the finished Americano.

On top of that, cafés today are highly visual spaces. The appearance of a drink matters. When espresso is poured directly into water, the crema floats on the surface, and that foamy layer isn’t always visually appealing. Sometimes it breaks apart awkwardly or clings to the sides of the cup. To many consumers, that’s the very definition of “not photogenic.” It’s only natural, then, that cafés would try to avoid this and gradually adopt crema filtration as a standard practice.

Seen this way, filtering crema from an Americano is essentially a deliberate choice—a form of flavor selection and mouthfeel optimization. It also introduces a new layer of dialogue at the point of ordering. If you’re someone who loves crema, it’s worth asking whether the café filters it by default. And if you enjoy the richness and heavier body that crema brings, you may want to ask the barista not to filter it out.

In the end, there’s no right or wrong when it comes to flavor and texture—only personal preference. In that sense, the Americano has gained yet another dimension of choice. And perhaps, on a deeper level, this trend reflects a more nuanced understanding of quality within the industry, as well as a growing respect for the diversity of consumer tastes.