• Umechan@reddthat.comOP
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      1 year ago

      As I mentioned in my other comment, I assumed they were the same, but several sites said they were different things. “American coffee” is a weak brewed coffee, and Caffe Americano (アメリカノ) is a diluted espresso, which is actually stronger than most brewed coffees, at least in terms of caffeine content. Japan has アメリカノ too, and in my experience it’s much more common.

  • Umechan@reddthat.comOP
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    1 year ago

    I thought maybe it was supposed to say Americano, but it’s not the same. There’s an explanation here. It’s made from light roasted beans, and they say it most likely got it’s name from Americans in post-war Japan brewing coffee with lots of water or diluting it further before drinking.

    I’m not American, but the name sounds a little judgemental to me.

    • IDe@sopuli.xyz
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      1 year ago

      the name sounds a little judgemental to me.

      The only way it really sounds judgmental is if you get hung up on the word “weak”.

      • Umechan@reddthat.comOP
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        1 year ago

        Weak has a very negative tone to it. Using weak to describe food or drink is rarely, if ever, used in a positive way.

    • breadsmasher@lemmy.world
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      1 year ago

      It seems as well to refer to light vs dark roast? For example some coffee shops sell “Blonde” coffee which is much lighter

        • eramseth@lemmy.world
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          1 year ago

          This was semi-debunked by James Hoffman semi-recently.

          Technically yes lighter roast has more caffeine in the beans because less is burned off.

          However, you use more darker roast because lighter roast is heavier (because darker is effectively more dry). Also because the darker roast is more roasted, the caffeine in the beans may be more easily accessible/dissolvable.

          I think roughly it evened out in the end.

  • circuitfarmer@lemmy.sdf.org
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    1 year ago

    There seem to be multiple Japanese names for things that are tied to some other nationality with unclear logic.

    I’ll never forget being at the train station in Kawaguchiko and seeing a フランスドッグ (France Dog) on the menu. It was a hot dog on a stick inside of batter (like a corndog), but with cheese also inside the batter layer.

    I wonder if the French know.

  • dreadedsemi@lemmy.world
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    1 year ago

    Often called American, actually. It is weaker than blend. This is first time I see written as weak. Not common term

    • Umechan@reddthat.comOP
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      1 year ago

      It appears to be somewhat common. When looking it up, I found several sites like this one that explained how to say アメリカンコーヒー in English.

      • khaosworks@startrek.website
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        1 year ago

        When I was at a hotel breakfast buffet in Tateyama, that was the label on the coffee machine, too: “American Coffee (weak)”.