Since Dirty and iced latte are made with the same ingredients—iced milk plus espresso—and look pretty much alike, both featuring a layered structure created by milk and espresso, Front Street Coffee often gets asked by customers drinking iced lattes: "They're both iced milk plus espresso,Dirtyso what exactly is the difference between it and an iced latte?"Although the two are very similar and use identical ingredients, their preparation process and drinking experience are vastly different. Especially forDirty, there are things you need to pay special attention to both when making it and when drinking it! So today Front Street Coffee is here to share the answer to this question everyone's so curious about: what exactly is the difference between a Dirty and an iced latte! First, let's briefly get to know what an iced latte is, and what aDirty~An iced latte is simply the cold version of a latte. Like a hot latte, it's made with a large amount of milk plus espresso. The only difference is that the chilled milk no longer needs to be steamed into foam—it can be poured straight into the cup and left to merge with the espresso. And to keep the latte cold for longer, we usually add some ice cubes when making an iced latte. Then, before drinking, you stir it evenly with a straw, and only then do you start tasting it.A Dirty is likewise made with iced milk and espresso, and the order of pouring into the cup is the same: first pour the iced milk into a chilled cup, then slowly drizzle the espresso over the surface of the milk. Because the espresso floating on the surface of the iced milk slowly seeps downward and "pollutes" the milk, making the milk look dirty, this coffee was named "Dirty,"Dirtywhich translates to mean dirty. And when drinking aDirty, there's no need to stir—just take big gulps~Actually, from these two brief introductions, we can already see the similarities and many differences between iced latte andDirty in terms of preparation. So next, let Front Street Coffee analyze in detail what differences there are between an iced latte and aDirtyDirty~1. Different cup sizes:The first difference is cup size. Generally speaking, a Dirty's cup size is smaller than an iced latte's. Dirty cups typically range from 180–220ml, while iced lattes typically range from 280–320ml.2. The presence or absence of ice cubes:The reason for the difference in cup size is the presence or absence of ice cubes. As Front Street Coffee mentioned earlier, to keep an iced latte cold for a long time, ice cubes are added for insulation,while a Dirty doesn't need them, because that would diminishDirtythe drinking experience. So this means an iced latte's cup size will belarger than a Dirty's, and aDirty is often jokingly called a "de-iced latte."It's worth knowing that ice cubes aren't a hard requirement. When we don't want ice cubes in our coffee, we can ask the barista for no ice(ice-free)to remove the ice cubes from the iced latte~3. The temperature of the cup:SinceDirtyfor a better drinking experience it doesn't add ice cubes for insulation, it needs to achieve the same effect through other means. For example: a colder cup!By chilling the cup, it gains a certain insulating effect. Compared to a cup stored at room temperature, a chilled cup not only keeps the milk cold better, but also enhances the layering effect between the milk and espresso, because the colder the milk, the higher its density, and the better the layering effect. An iced latte, on the other hand, doesn't have such high demands for cup temperature—chilled or room temperature both work.4. Creating the layers:The layered structure of espresso on top and milk below exists in both iced latte andDirty. It's precisely because of this that many coffee novices can't tell the two apart. But in reality, the nature of their layers is very different.The layers in an iced latte are made for visual appeal. Compared to the monotonous color of coffee mixed with milk, the striking black-and-white appearance is more pleasing to the eye. So when making an iced latte, people deliberately pour the espresso onto the ice cubes, which dissipates the espresso's force and lets it float on the milk to form layers. But since it all gets stirred in the end anyway, whether it's layered or not doesn't really matter.The reason for layering a Dirty, on the other hand, is to give the coffee a distinctive drinking texture and experience. This layering isDirty's main selling point—you could even call it its soul. So when making aDirty, we need to adjust various details to keep the espresso and milk more thoroughly separated. For example, using a chilled cup, the temperature of the milk, or shortening the distance between the espresso extraction and the milk.And if aDirty doesn't achieve the layered effect, then it won't have that distinctly tiered texture and experience—at that point it really could be called an iced latte with the ice removed.The above are the differences between the two in terms of preparation. Next, Front Street Coffee will share the differences between them in how they're drunk and in their mouthfeel.Differences between Dirty and iced latte in how they're drunkAs Front Street Coffee has mentioned throughout, the key—the soul—of a Dirty comes from the layers deliberately created with espresso and milk. Because the milk and espresso are separated, their temperatures and flavors haven't fully merged. If you take a sip of both together, your mouth and taste buds will receive an enormous contrast from the layers: the coldness of the milk, the heat of the espresso,the sweetness of lactose, the bitterness of coffee—they'll collide and interweave in your mouth, creating very rich layers.And to experience this effect, when drinking aDirty we need to take big gulps, so we can simultaneously get the espresso floating on top and the milk at the bottom. But if you only take small sips, you'll most likely only get the espresso on the surface—for those who can't handle bitterness well, this could count as a kind of "torture."An iced latte, on the other hand, isn't so particular, because as Front Street Coffee mentioned in theWhy is the "TOP 1" seller at almost every coffee shop a latte?article, a latte focuses more on making the coffee taste less bitter—that's why a large amount of milk is added to balance the coffee's bitterness!So drinking an iced latte is simple: we just need to stir the milk and espresso evenly with a straw before drinking, and then we can startsavoring the balanced flavor formed by coffee and milk blending together~
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
