Starbucks Iced Caffè Americano

The Starbucks Iced Caffè Americano costs £4.25 for a Tall and carries 11 calories in a Grande, which makes it the lightest cold drink on the Starbucks UK menu. Espresso shots go over ice and cold water tops it up, leaving a thin layer of crema on the surface.

Cold changes an americano more than it changes a milk drink. Low temperature suppresses the perception of bitterness, so the roast reads smoother and the dark chocolate note comes forward while the dry, slightly harsh finish of a hot americano fades. What is left is clean and faintly sweet without anything sweet in it. The crema survives if the shots were poured over ice rather than stirred through, and it sits as a pale band across the top for a minute or two.

The numbers are the reason it turns up in every low calorie list. A Grande is 11 calories with 1.4g of carbohydrate and 0.1g of sugar. Caffeine climbs with the cup at 89.1mg in a Tall, 133.7mg in a Grande and 178.2mg in a Venti, because each size adds a shot. It is also 45p cheaper than an iced latte at Tall size.

Crema behaves differently over ice than it does in a hot cup. Poured onto water it floats and holds as a pale band; poured onto bare cubes it breaks up and disappears into the drink. That is why a store fills the cup with water before the shots go in rather than after, and why an americano that arrives already cloudy has been stirred somewhere it should not have been. It changes the look more than the taste, but it is a fair signal of how carefully the drink was made.

Fill the glass properly if you make it at home, because a half filled cup melts faster and waters the drink down within minutes. In store the most common change is a splash of milk, which costs about 10 calories and turns it into something closer to a long black. The Cold Brew Coffee is the smoother cold option with far more caffeine, and the Caffè Americano is the hot original.