What Is the Difference Between Macchiato and Caramel Macchiato?

A macchiato is a small, intense espresso with only a spoonful of milk added to soften the bitterness. A caramel macchiato is a different drink altogether: a large, sweet, milky coffee built on espresso, steamed milk and syrup. The shared name causes the confusion, not the recipes, which is why the small cup can surprise first-time buyers.

The macchiato dates to an era of low-quality, dark-roasted beans whose harsh bitterness needed diluting, so a little milk made the espresso smoother. When making a caramel macchiato, vanilla syrup goes into the cup first, then milk and espresso, with caramel drizzle on top; caramel syrup is an optional swap. For an espresso macchiato, pull a single shot and add a dash of milk foam.

On most coffee shop menus, macchiato is now hard to find. But once you order one, what arrives is often not the large, sweet, milky coffee you imagined, but a small cup of extremely intense coffee. Many people's first reaction is that they've been cheated, but that's not actually the case. Although macchiato and caramel macchiato share the same name, they are essentially different types of coffee. In this article, Front Street Coffee will walk you through the origins and differences between the two, review the historical background of the macchiato's creation, and answer the common question of whether vanilla syrup or caramel syrup should be used when making a caramel macchiato.

Nowadays, few coffee shops list macchiato separately on their menus, but if you happen to order one, you'll find that what arrives is not the large, sweet, milky coffee you expected, but a small cup of extremely concentrated coffee.

Many people's first reaction is: isn't this a rip-off?

Actually, it really isn't. Although macchiato and caramel macchiato both carry "macchiato" in their names, from a certain perspective, they don't belong to the same category of beverage at all. Today, Front Street Coffee will discuss what exactly the difference is between macchiato and caramel macchiato.

Macchiato and Caramel Macchiato

Below are two espressos, one is a standard serving, and the other has a small amount of milk added. Try to guess which one is the one with milk added?

The correct answer is the one on the left. Without looking carefully, you really can't tell the difference. This situation is actually completely understandable—the macchiato was invented precisely because of this need.

In the early days, coffee beans were generally of low quality, and combined with extremely dark roasting, the extracted coffee had a very strong bitter taste. This bitterness was intense and pungent, hard for many people to accept, so other materials were needed to dilute the bitterness, and milk naturally became the first choice.

After adding a small amount of milk, not only was the bitterness diluted and the pungency softened, but more importantly, the texture of the entire espresso became smoother, and the drinking experience was better. So at that time, many people would ask the barista to add a little milk to their coffee to reduce the discomfort caused by bitterness.

But as shown in the question at the beginning, just adding a small amount of milk does not noticeably change the appearance of the coffee. With an extremely high volume of orders, baristas simply had no spare capacity to carefully distinguish. So they came up with an idea: dot some milk foam on the surface of the espresso to make it distinguishable.

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