A cappuccino
I don’t know about you, but I’m confused about coffee. I get anxious when it’s approaching my turn in line at the Starbucks counter or the Dunkin Donuts drive thru. And most mornings it’s too early for pre-caffeinated stress.
“Do I want a grande, venti, or a what-the-heck was that called?"
"I’m confused, wait – that guy in front of me ordered something I never heard of before and now I can’t remember my order. What did you just ask me? Oh, my name. Yes, I remember my name. Please put it on my cup…. Although, give me a minute to think about what exactly I want in my cup. You know – that thing – that beverage I ordered the other day – the one with the foam on top?"
"Did you just call my order? I don’t remember what it was. Good thing my name is on the cup!”
A cappuccino with extra foam
Do you have an inner coffee dialogue that goes something like that? Or am I the only one?
Oh, and forget about it if you go to one of those fancy schmancy coffee houses where only the best baristas work! The menu options alone require translation.
So here I am to help! Take a snapshot of this on your phone and save it. It will serve as your quick reference guide that you can look at while you wait in line, looking cool – like you’re just checking your text messages, while that girl in front of you orders her no-foam, soy latte (wouldn’t that just be coffee with steamed soy milk?) in her signature cup.
A cappuccino topped with whipped cream
How did I acquire this knowledge? I asked around, googled, a lot, tried tons of coffees, and finally satiated my curiosity so I can look like one of the cool kids ordering a cuppa.
Please keep in mind that there ARE variations from establishment to establishment, but there is some consistency. Mostly, the naming changes occur just so coffee houses and brewers demonstrate some trendy creativity.
An espresso - however I prefer mine served with a lemon twist.
And when you get this list down-pat, you can add your own twists – soy milk, non-fat milk, “dry” (just foam, no milk), with or without whipped cream, extra foam…oh you name it – if you can order it, it exists!
A latte
Hopefully, this will take the confusion out of your coffee and encourage you to explore some new drinks instead of your old standby. It’s amazing the things they can do with steamed milk! Well… until at least the next coffee concoction comes out – then, hit me up to add a caffeinated column to this chart.
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Name
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What it is
Hot steamed flavored milk
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More Details
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons sugar Few drops vanilla extract |
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Coffee
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Brewed black coffee
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Can be served with cold milk or cream and/or sugar added
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Espresso
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Concentrated fine ground espresso strong coffee made with very little water, (generally 1 oz.) under pressure, served in a small cup that shows an orange crema at the top. Traditionally served with a lemon twist that can be twisted and then the oils of the outer rind rubbed around the rim of the cup to enhance flavor.
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Latte
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Two shots of espresso where steamed liquid milk is poured from the jug while holding back the froth with a spoon; and then it’s topped off with just a dollop of froth.
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The strongest espresso is at the bottom, topped with a layer of milk infused coffee created by the free pour of hot milk, and then finished with a thin layer of the thickest froth.
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Cappuccino
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An espresso where a deep layer of steamed stiff froth is spooned on the top, and then topped off with a pour of the steamed (non-frothy milk)
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Generally, it’s 1/3 espresso, topped with 1/3 hot milk, topped with 1/3 thick foamy steamed milk to be proportionately correct.
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Mocha (or Caffé Mocha)
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A chocolate flavored coffee beverage. Espresso and hot milk flavored with cocoa powder. Hot chocolate, with a shot of espresso added, and milk froth (or whipped cream) on top. Garnish can be a dusting of cinnamon or cocoa powder.
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Macchiato (or Caffé Macchiato)
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An espresso drink with a small amount of foamed milk. This drink has the highest ratio of espresso to milk. Technically, it’s an espresso with heated milk, dotted with espresso. This is achieved by actually pouring the frothy milk first, and then a shot of espresso down the center, so the finish looks like a dot of espresso stained milk in the middle of a bull’s eye. But there are variations.
Dunkin Donuts makes it with a layer of frothy steamed milk at the bottom, topped with 2 (or more) shots of espresso down the center (gently to form a layer of coffee flavored foam at the bottom of the cup) and then this causes a thick, white, milky foam to rise to the top with an espresso stained center. |
The result is that there is coffee flavored milk at the bottom, topped with espresso, and then finished with froth that has an espresso dot in the center. The bottom two layers are the opposite of a latte. Hot milk at the bottom with espresso on top. A latte generally has more milk in it.
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Latte Macchiato
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An upside down latte; Start with a thick meringue texture of steamed milk at the bottom of the cup; add two shots of espresso, slowly, down the center of the cup so a tiny espresso “dot” forms at the top; The drink has a layered appearance. The top layer is pure foam, the middle is pure espresso and the bottom layer is coffee-flavored foam created by some espresso in the middle trickling to the bottom of the cup.
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Essentially, this is not new. This is really just your macchiato. Some baristas call a macchiato, a latte macchiato. Starbucks coins it as a latte on the bottom with a macchiato on the top. Ok…. (I must mention the Starbucks Latte Macchiato is my new favorite coffee drink.)
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Doppio
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2 shots of espresso; why not just call this a double? Or double espresso? It’s the same thing.
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Caffé Americano
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Shots of espresso and filtered hot water that basically dilute the espresso to the strength of a strong coffee.
An Americano is made by brewing the espresso first, and then adding filtered hot water to it, to create the desired strength and amount of beverage. The Americano can wind up being larger than a lungo. In a pinch, if you order an Americano, it can substitute for “regular coffee”. “Regular coffee, what’s that!??” I learned this when searching for a plain ol’ cup of coffee in LA – and they didn’t have any! You can ask for an Americano and then add a splash of cream or sweetener. It may be sacrilegious to a coffee connoisseur, but sometimes you gotta do what you gotta do! |
Pour 2 shots of espresso and add some filtered hot water.
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Crema Coffee
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Crema is the orange caramelized coffee that floats to the top of an espresso shot. It tastes sweeter than the dark coffee part. This is just that orange, caramelized part. This is also known as “crema”.
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Lungo
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An espresso made with twice as much water “to stretch it”; It’s like a watered down espresso. The difference between this and black coffee is the type and grind of beans used, and the strength of the beverage. (Lungo means “long”; think making the espresso longer or last longer.) Also, the Lungo is made by steaming twice as much water into the coffee grinds.
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Ristretto
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A short shot of espresso made generally with half the amount of water. So this is the opposite of a lungo. This is a more concentrated espresso. (Ristretto means “restricted; think “restricting” the amount of water.)
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Make an espresso using a ½ ounce of water with a scoop of espresso coffee.
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Vanilla ice cream with a shot of hot espresso poured over it (You’ll never look at coffee ice cream the same way again!) The contradiction of hot and cold, with the hot espresso gently melting the outer layer of ice cream (or gelato) creates a wonderful mouth sensation.
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Generally smaller than a latte; Ristretto espresso shots with a velvety micro foam of milk added in a free pour, usually down the center so the coffee is finished with a white “dot” in the middle. To me, it looks like a coffee milkshake dotted with a white center.
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