Instant Iced Americano Recipe (Easy + Productivity Boost)
What is an Iced Americano?
So an instant iced americano is one of the simplest recipes in the coffee world it is 1-2 shots of espresso diluted in cold water and ice. The good news is that you don’t need a machine to create your shot of espresso. There are instant ingredients that can be transformed to an awesome shot of espresso. Lets get to it!
Iced Americano Ingredients
4 teaspoons of Nescafé Instant coffee or 1 tsp of Nescafe gold: Nescafe is a wonderful place to start experimenting with our coffee recipes since its very easy to get your hands on one and the taste is very good standard place to start discovering/building up your own taste in coffees
60 ml of warm cold water: we will use warm water because you want to melt the crystals but without burning them and altering the taste of your coffee, for this recipe you will want to enjoy the taste of your coffee in its most unaltered form
Cold Water approximately 180 ml: This depends on how diluted you want your instant iced americano of around half a glass in a good starting point
Ice to your liking: when it comes to ice there are no rules, the only thing you have to think about its the future of your Americano and how fast you usually finish your drinks. If you don’t mind that it waters down a little bit while your ice is melting then off you go! Oh and by the way this is an opportunity to have fun with the shapes of your ice cubes I just got stars and moon ice cube trays recently and I’m no ashamed to admit that I’m having a little too much fun with them lol I used for everything lately.
Sugar free caramel syrup: add a little bit of syrup to your liking and this will definitely elevate your drink flavor notes
Sweetener of choice: I use liquid stevia for this recipe :)
How to Make an Instant Espresso Shot (2 methods)
Espresso shot recipe with Nescafé:
An espresso shot by definition is “a concentrated form of coffee served in small strong shots” and with the Nescafé brand the recipe is: 2 teaspoons (approx. 12 gr) of Nescafé instant Coffee with 60 ml of water.
Espresso shot recipe with Nescafé Gold:
Place one teaspoon (5.6 grams) of instant Nescafe gold into 60 ml of water. This espresso shot gives a beautiful crema (small top foam) at the top
How to Make an Instant Iced Americano (Step by Step)
Step 1: Dissolve your instant Nescafé or your instant Nescafé Gold in 60ml of warm water
Step 2: Pour over the espresso shot over your favorite glass
Step 3: Add your ice cubes to your glass
Step 4: Next, fill your the glass with cold water
Step 5: Add your syrup and sweetener of your choice (optional)
Step 6: Stir everything together and enjoy!
Iced Americano benefits for your productivity boost
Iced Americano not only is super easy to make but its a beverage with some really good benefits. First of all the caffeine content can boost your concentration and consequently your productivity. It has also been linked to accelerate metabolism, again due to the caffeine content, and due to its low calorie nature it is also recommended for weight management if its something you are including in your health goals. So lets set the stage to really dive into the productivity benefits of this instant iced Americano!
First you need to make sure that you have the proper setting too enjoy your iced americano on your productivity time. This means make sure you a have a clutter free space to work on. If this is you desk at home clear all the unnecessary stuff and place your planner and favorite pen on the center. Believe me when you only have a few objects in sight on your workspace its sending a signal to your brain that you need to focus on only the task in front of you and talking about focus this takes me to my next point
Only use your phone to put some music on but have it away from your workspace. The less distractions the better and our phones can be such a big time consumer that you don’t want to have that near you when you mean business. A simple notification can mean more than an hour of scrolling (been there done that, I’m speaking from personal experience.)
Once you have your iced americano and your planner in front of you take a sip and start to brain dump I like to use a mechanical pencil for this step because using a non permanent way to write down my ideas gives me the liberty to just put everything on paper without the pressure of organizing the to do list just yet
Once you have everything on paper go back and start prioritizing your list. Some people like to knock out the hardest task first so they write that on top of the list other like to build momentum and place the easiest things to do first and work their way towards the hardest ones later. Wherever is your personal choice organize your list so you can feel motivated to start. With your several sips of your iced americano throughout this process caffeine should start working its magic on you and by the time you have finished organizing your to do list you will start to tackle it feeling energized and motivated.
I hope you enjoy this coffee drink as much as i do and it becomes your regular companion for your flow state productive hours time and time again :)
Special note! if you would like to do a spin off to your Americano you should definitely try the Nescafé Cafe de la Olla instant coffee, it has wonderful hints of cinnamon that immediately elevates your experience of your iced Americano, be aware it can get addictive ;)
FAQ:
Is an Iced Americano healthy?
As mentioned previously due to its low calorie nature and caffeine benefits the iced Americano can definitely be considered a healthy choice when craving a coffee beverage. Plus with its incredibly easy recipe you can definitely enjoy this fun drink often :)
What is the difference between an iced coffee and an iced Americano?
So the iced coffee is a beverage where you can combine many different ingredients such as different milks, syrups and garnishes such as whipped cream and chocolate shavings etc. While on the other hand an iced americano is strictly 1-2 espresso shots diluted in water and ice but by all means do not let the definitions stop you from experimenting maybe you find that your iced Americano becomes perfect after adding your favorite syrup or a with a sprinkle of cinnamon :)
What is the difference between an iced Americano and a long black if they have the same ingredients?
So while its true that the long black and iced Americano consist on the same ingredients the main difference is in the way they are prepared. on the iced Americano you serve the espresso shot first so that it falls at the bottom of your glass to add right after your ice and cold water. What this does is that the water “breaks” your crema (thin top foam that forms on your shot of espresso) on the other hand the long black seeks to preserve this crema of the espresso so you add your ice and water (usually less water) to your glass first and finish by adding your espresso shot at the top.
They also differ in taste, the long black since it uses less water and by the order of adding the ingredients has a more concentrated taste of the espresso. While the iced Americano uses more water and thus tastes less concentrated bringing you a softer taste of the espresso :)
