As a representative of Italian milk coffee, the thickness and frothing degree of cappuccino's milk foam have always been a core concern for coffee enthusiasts. Starting from the classic 1:1:1 recipe, this article traces the evolution of cappuccino across different historical periods, analyzes the reasons behind the change in milk foam thickness from 2.5cm to 1-2cm, and explores the influence of latte art culture on the form of takeaway cappuccino. At the same time, drawing on the practical experience of Front Street Coffee, it explains how a small cup size, filling to 11/10 (slightly above the rim), a rich coffee flavor, and dense milk foam together constitute the essential characteristics of cappuccino, helping readers understand the positioning and identification methods of this classic beverage in the modern coffee environment.

Cappuccino is one of the most familiar Italian milk coffees to the public, belonging to the same family as latte. But there is one essential difference between the two: latte is not a drink unique to Italy, whereas cappuccino is an authentic Italian proper noun.

Today, almost every café that serves milk coffee offers both products at the same time. Interestingly, in some stores that support takeaway, whether a customer orders a latte or a cappuccino, the cup they finally receive looks almost identical, and it is impossible to tell the difference with the naked eye alone. Cappuccino has already changed, and the difference between it and latte seems to be only that the milk foam is slightly thicker.

What exactly does a traditional cappuccino look like?

The history of cappuccino can be traced back to before the birth of the modern espresso machine, and the earliest known documentary record appears in the 1930s. The name Cappuccino comes from the visual effect of the coffee's surface, where a ring of white milk foam surrounds brownish-yellow crema; when viewed from above, it closely resembles a Franciscan friar wearing a religious habit, and the Italian name for this habit is Capuchin.

When organizing classic cappuccino methods, Front Street found that the most widely circulated recipe is "1:1:1," meaning equal amounts of coffee, milk, and milk foam. Converted using a conventional cappuccino cup size of 180ml, the espresso is the Italian standard of 2 shots totaling 60ml, and the milk and milk foam each also occupy 60ml. Made according to this ratio, the finished milk foam thickness can reach 2.5cm; after two sips, you are still drinking foam, and by the time you truly reach the coffee liquid, the concentration is already very high.

Therefore, Front Street believes that "1:1:1" is indeed a cappuccino recipe, but it belongs to the production ratio before the advent of the modern espresso machine in 1947. A true espresso machine had already appeared as early as 1905, but that was an early model with an extraction pressure of only about 3-5 bar; the espresso it pressed out had almost no crema or only an extremely thin layer, and its concentration was far inferior to today's. In order to fully bring out the coffee flavor of cappuccino, the amount of the coffee base had to be increased, and occupying one third of the cup volume seemed very reasonable.

In that era, there was still no steam wand that could be used to froth milk. When making latte, one only needed to heat the milk and mix it with coffee, without producing milk foam. But making cappuccino required physical means to create fine foam. The essence of cappuccino lies precisely in the full, dense mouthfeel brought by fine milk foam. During operation, milk with a small amount of milk foam is first poured into the cup and blended evenly with the coffee, poured to two thirds of the cup, then a spoon is used to scoop the fine milk foam into the center of the cup, piling it up until it exceeds the rim to a level of 10/10 full; finally, the white milk foam in the center is drawn by the spoon into a small pointed tip, resembling the white pointed hat worn by a friar.

When the modern espresso machine with stronger pressure came out, the quality of espresso achieved a qualitative leap, and the cappuccino recipe derived from it naturally had to be adjusted accordingly. Italians improved it according to cappuccino's appearance and flavor mouthfeel, and the base was mostly changed to 1 shot, that is, 30ml.

Also using 180ml as the standard cup size, there is no hard-and-fast rule for the specific amount of milk foam, but the mouthfeel is required to be dense and fine, so the milk foam thickness is usually controlled at around 1-2cm. Since the steam wand could already froth milk foam, in order to improve production efficiency, the step of scraping milk foam with a spoon was also omitted, so the "small pointed hat" shape no longer appeared; however, the standard of exceeding the rim to a level of 10/10 full was still retained.

It can thus be seen that a small cup size, exceeding the rim to a level of 10/10 full, a rich coffee flavor, and the full, dense mouthfeel brought by thick milk foam together constitute the signature characteristics of cappuccino.

The milk foam has become thinner, and exceeding the rim to a level of 10/10 full has also disappeared

Most of the cappuccino we drink today has a poor mouthfeel because the milk foam is not thick enough, and the cup is no longer filled beyond the rim to a level of 10/10 full, which often makes it difficult for consumers to distinguish cappuccino from latte.

One of the reasons for the thinner milk foam is the popularity of latte art culture. At first, latte art appeared only on latte, using milk foam to draw patterns on the coffee surface, and later gradually developed into making some simple decorations on cappuccino as well. Because thick milk foam has poor fluidity, under the influence of the latte art trend, baristas deliberately froth the milk foam thinner when steaming it, in order to increase its fluidity.

As for why today's cappuccino is no longer filled beyond the rim to a level of 10/10 full, Front Street believes that on the one hand it is because when taking away, there is concern about coffee spilling, so it is not filled to the brim; on the other hand, after the milk foam becomes thinner, its surface tension weakens, making it difficult to support a level of 10/10 full.

Finally, what Front Street wants to say is that the so-called classic cappuccino is not about replicating an ancient recipe. In fact, with the continuous changes in coffee bean varieties, coffee equipment, and public taste preferences, cappuccino has always been evolving. The purpose of these changes should be to preserve the core traits of cappuccino: "a small cup size, 10/10 full, a rich coffee flavor, and the full, dense mouthfeel brought by thick milk foam."

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