Is coffee labeled fancy just espresso with added water, milk or cream?

Fancy coffee refers to drinks built by extending espresso as a base, not only milk coffees with latte art. The range runs from an Americano diluted with water to Irish coffee with alcohol and cream. Any drink made by giving espresso a second treatment falls under this system.

The style emerged when pressurized espresso machines first appeared and beans were low quality and roasted very dark, producing a harsh, concentrated shot. Adding water, sugar, milk or dairy made the cup drinkable. Today the drinks are grouped into the water-added, milk-added and cream series, and espresso bean choice shapes each one.

Many people, upon first hearing the term "fancy coffee," mistakenly assume it refers specifically to milk coffees with latte art patterns on the surface. In fact, fancy coffee encompasses a much broader range—it generally refers to all coffee drinks made by extending espresso as a base, covering everything from a simple Americano with added water to Irish coffee with alcohol and cream. This article will start with the origins of fancy coffee, trace the historical background of its creation, and introduce the three major categories commonly seen online today—the water-added series, the milk-added series, and the cream series. It will also share bean selection advice for making espresso, including the flavor characteristics of several Front Street espresso beans, helping coffee enthusiasts gain a more comprehensive understanding of this coffee system.

The term "fancy coffee" frequently appears in various coffee articles. Because the name contains the word "fancy," many friends new to coffee tend to interpret it literally—for example, thinking that fancy means coffee with latte art patterns on the surface, or that fancy means coffee that can have latte art made on it. But that is actually not the case.

Fancy coffee doesn't just refer to milk coffees that can have latte art—what it truly encompasses is all coffee drinks in the espresso system that have undergone a "second creation." At the narrow end, a diluted Americano counts; at the broad end, an Irish coffee with added alcohol and cream also counts. In summary, it's all coffee derived from espresso as a base. As for why fancy coffee came about, Front Street needs to turn the clock back to the era when pressurized espresso machines first appeared.

In the early days when pressurized espresso machines were first introduced, the coffee beans people used for extracting espresso were generally of low quality and roasted extremely dark. The espresso extracted this way, under the combined effect of low quality, dark roasting, and high concentration, tasted very harsh, and most people found it hard to drink directly. So it became necessary to dilute the concentration to make the bitterness less intense.

Thus, various new methods emerged one after another—adding water, sugar, milk, or dairy products to espresso. These drinks extended from espresso, because of their wide variety and different preparation methods, came to be collectively called fancy coffee, including the Americano we talked about yesterday. It can be said that fancy coffee was the earliest coffee specialty drink, adjusting the taste of coffee by adding different ingredients, or lowering the barrier to entry for drinking—calling them the first generation of specialty drinks is not an exaggeration.

Over time, these coffees gradually settled into traditional classics. Currently online, these classic fancy coffees are mainly divided into three major categories. Let's take a look at what specific categories there are.

Making fancy coffee requires a dedicated espresso machine. Because of the pressure-boosting function, espresso not only has a rich mouthfeel but also forms a dense layer of coffee oil foam on the surface, known as Crema. The crema tends toward golden and brown colors, and its aroma presents different flavor characteristics depending on the coffee beans used. When making espresso, it's recommended to choose medium to dark roasted coffee beans for a higher success rate.

1. Fruity-style Americano beans: Front Street Strawberry Candy Espresso

Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso beans are composed of three producing regions—Costa Rica, Colombia, and Ethiopia—covering three processing methods: natural, washed, and honey. They present flavors of rose, grape, orange, cream, and almond, with a light mouthfeel and pleasant sweet-tart balance, very suitable for summer drinking.

2. For a rich and full-bodied Americano bean, Front Street Commercial Blend is the top choice

Using Front Street Coffee Commercial Blend coffee beans, which select Colombian coffee beans, Brazilian coffee beans, and Robusta coffee beans, the brewed coffee has caramel sweetness, nutty and cocoa-type, dark chocolate flavors, balanced acidity and sweetness, with a slight bittersweet note and a lasting finish.

3. For a well-balanced Americano bean, go with Front Street Specialty Blend

Using Front Street Specialty Blend coffee beans, which select Colombian coffee beans and Brazilian coffee beans, the extracted coffee has a soft slight acidity, clean sweetness, and nutty aftertaste. The overall feel is not too harsh, mild and balanced, with a medium level of crema.

I. Water-Added Series

This series is simple to understand—it refers to espresso-based coffee categories made by adding water, such as Americano, Long Black, and Sparkling Americano.

II. Milk-Added Series

There are a great many coffees in this series—after all, the varieties of milk coffee are countless. Traditional ones include Latte, Cappuccino, and Piccolo, while newer ones include Dirty and Flat White.

In addition, the many espresso drinks that add syrup on this basis can also be included in this category, such as Caramel Macchiato with added caramel syrup, and Mocha with added chocolate syrup.

III. Cream Series

This refers to coffees that add cream during the coffee-making process, such as Con Panna with cream plus espresso, Vienna with cream plus "Americano," and Irish coffee with added distilled spirits.

Strictly speaking, fancy coffee could be divided into even more series, but there's not much need for that—just having a general understanding is fine. In this article, Front Street mentioned "specialty coffee drinks." I believe everyone will be more interested in that, so let's save it for next time, when Front Street will have a good chat about it.

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