How Does an Italian Coffee Latte Differ From a Cappuccino?

Almost every drink on a coffee shop menu starts with one shot of espresso, extracted at roughly a 1:2 coffee-to-water ratio with water near 94°C. From there, the differences come down to what gets added and in what proportion: an americano is espresso plus hot water, while a latte and a cappuccino are built by adding steamed milk and milk foam in different amounts.

Coffee shops generally pull their espresso from freshly roasted blend beans rather than single origins, because blending beans from several regions keeps the flavor steady from day to day. Grind size, even distribution and tamping all matter, since a fine, level coffee bed is what allows the pressure to push through evenly and produce a concentrated shot that still reads clearly through milk.

Walking into a coffee shop, faced with the many choices of latte, cappuccino, mocha, americano, and more, have you ever found yourself unable to tell them apart? In fact, all of these espresso drinks are based on espresso, then evolved by adding milk, water, or other ingredients in different proportions. Compiled by Front Street Coffee, this article systematically sorts out the recipe ratios and flavor characteristics of common espresso drink types, starting from the extraction principles of espresso, explaining one by one the differences in the methods of americano, latte, cappuccino, and mocha, and sharing Front Street's store output parameters and blend bean choices, helping you easily understand the menu and find the flavor you like.

Standing at the bar of a coffee shop, facing the dazzling array of options on the menu—latte, cappuccino, macchiato... do you often find it hard to tell exactly how they differ? This time, Front Street Coffee has specially put together a guide to espresso drink types, which can both help you understand the differences between various coffee flavors and clearly explain the mixing ratios.

Types of Espresso Drinks

The various espresso drinks we usually see are all, without exception, based on espresso, then mixed with milk, water, or other ingredients in different proportions, creating a rich and varied range of products.

To extract espresso, an espresso machine with pressure-boosting capability must be used. Coffee shops generally choose freshly roasted espresso blend beans or single-origin beans, grind them to an extremely fine degree, put the coffee grounds into the portafilter basket, distribute and tamp them evenly, then lock it onto the group head.

Then the extraction button is pressed, and hot water at about 94°C quickly passes through the coffee bed under pressure, extracting a highly concentrated espresso liquid at a 1:2 coffee-to-water ratio. Because the concentration is high enough, even after water, milk, or other ingredients are later added, the coffee's flavor can still be clearly perceived; combined with its fast production speed, espresso has been deeply favored by consumers since its birth.

When Front Street Coffee extracts espresso, it uses espresso blend coffee beans. The reason is that blend beans can combine coffee beans from multiple producing regions and make up for the lack of stability in single-origin beans—coffee is, after all, an agricultural product, and its quality and flavor fluctuate each year due to terroir and climate.

What Front Street Coffee stores use for daily output is their own blend, freshly roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend Coffee Beans," composed of Ethiopian natural Yirgacheffe and Honduras Sherry. The extracted espresso has notes of fermented wine aroma, berries, vanilla cream, and nutty caramel, with a rich and smooth mouthfeel and highly recognizable flavor. Whether used to make espresso milk coffee or americano, it can present a fascinating vanilla cream aroma and fermented wine fragrance.

Each time espresso is extracted, different basket specifications also impose corresponding limits on the amount of coffee grounds they can hold. When Front Street Coffee makes a single shot (1 shot), it uses 10-11g of coffee grounds, extracting 20-25g of coffee liquid, taking about 22 seconds; for a double shot, it uses 19-20g of coffee grounds, extracting 35-40g of coffee liquid, taking about 29 seconds.

How to Make Americano

During World War II, American soldiers came to Italy and were not used to drinking the espresso made by Italian coffee machines, so they added a large amount of hot water to dilute the taste.

This practice struck Italians as quite novel, so they called this way of drinking it "Americano," which in Italian means "American." When Americans heard this slightly teasing name, they not only did not mind, but rather enjoyed it, and so the term Americano spread, specifically referring to the method of drinking espresso diluted with hot water.

There is no hard standard for how much water to add to an americano; it can be adjusted entirely according to personal preference for strength. When Front Street Coffee makes americano, it usually uses a double shot of espresso (40g), mixed with 200ml of hot water or an ice-water mixture.

How to Make Latte

Caffe Latte is Italian, referring to coffee latte, while Latte in Italian means milk. If you tell a barista in an Italian coffee bar that you want a "Latte," the other person will most likely look confused and then hand you a glass of milk. If you want to drink a coffee latte in Italy, you have to say "Caffe Latte" to get an authentic Italian coffee latte.

However, a latte ordered in Italy may very likely have no milk foam, because milk frothers appeared relatively late and only began to become widespread in the United States in the 1950s to 1960s at the earliest. Before that, latte was simply espresso with milk added directly, without milk foam.

In terms of composition, a latte consists of one-fifth espresso, two-fifths hot milk, and two-fifths milk foam. Its flavor features espresso and milk as dual protagonists, and carefully savoring the harmony and balance after the two blend is precisely the most unique charm of a latte. When Front Street Coffee makes latte, it usually uses a double shot of espresso (40g), adding 250ml of hot milk or cold milk frothed to a smooth milk foam.

How to Make Cappuccino

The difference between cappuccino and latte is that the former has a higher proportion of espresso, consisting of one-third espresso, one-third hot milk, and one-third milk foam. Cappuccino can also be sprinkled with cocoa powder or cinnamon powder for extra flavor. In taste, coffee flavor dominates, with milk playing a supporting role.

When Front Street Coffee makes cappuccino, it usually uses a double shot of espresso (40g), adding 180ml of hot milk frothed to a thick, dense milk foam.

How to Make Mocha

Mocha was originally the name of a famous port in Yemen, and coffee beans produced in nearby countries and regions were mostly exported from here. These coffee beans had a rich chocolate flavor, and later mocha coffee also came to broadly refer to special coffee bean varieties with chocolate aroma. Later still, after the port was demolished, Europeans, in order to drink the same flavor, added chocolate sauce or cocoa powder on the basis of milk coffee, gradually evolving into the espresso mocha coffee we are familiar with today.

When Front Street Coffee makes mocha, it usually uses a double shot of espresso (40g) plus an appropriate amount of chocolate sauce or cocoa powder, then adds 250ml of hot milk or cold milk frothed to a smooth milk foam.

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.