[deltaqueue]

Getting a bit pedantic, but a few corrections:

1. That origin is just urban legend. Americanos started in the 70's.

2. Per ounce, you're technically correct about the strength of espresso vs. drip/brewed coffee. But brews have variable strengths, and most Americans drink 12, 18, and 24 ounce drip coffees (which ends up being more caffeine than even a quad shot of espresso).

[gamblor956]

Regarding #1, the urban legend legend is itself an urban legend. The only sources for "Americanos" originating in the 1970s is a dictionary entry and Wikipedia, neither of which are further sourced or authoritative.

Numerous historians, including coffee history specialists stick with the WWII origin. Indeed, http://atwar.blogs.nytimes.com/2013/08/16/the-marines-secret... *provides a picture of a Marine drinking an "Americano" style coffee in 1944 and documents the role of coffee in the US Military back to at least the civil war. See also http://www.vanhoutte.com/en-ca/c-the-coffee-blog/coffee-cult....

[mseebach]

2: I mean "strength" in a broader sense than caffeine content. I get more jittery from drip coffee (or french press, my personal poison of choice) than I do from espresso - I seem to recall having read that a shot of espresso contains less caffeine than a cup of regular coffee because of the quick extraction. But espresso has a much more intense (stronger) flavour.