Latte and cappuccino are both Italian milk coffees, yet they often leave people confused. This article starts from definitions, cup size, milk foam texture, and the coffee-to-milk ratio to sort out the core differences between the two, and answers the question of what coffee beans to use for making a latte. The article highlights several products from the Front Street Coffee Italian blend series, including the Classic Blend suitable for latte art and rich crema, the Commercial Blend, the Specialty Blend emphasizing nutty and chocolate notes, the Dark Cocoa Base Blend, and the Strawberry Candy espresso Italian blend with abundant sweetness and distinct fruity notes, helping coffee enthusiasts make choices based on flavor preferences and serving needs.

What exactly is a latte?

It is written as Coffee Latte in English and belongs to the flavored coffee camp, made by combining espresso with milk. Since the amount of milk added is quite substantial, the finished product retains both the aroma of coffee and milk, and becomes smooth and approachable on the palate.

What is cappuccino then?

The name Cappuccino comes from the Capuchin order and the Italian word for hood, Cappucio. The white hoods worn by the friars resembled the layer of white milk foam on the surface of a cappuccino. It is said that most monks of this order favored this drink, and the name came about from this.

Where do latte and cappuccino differ

If you order a latte and a cappuccino at a café and compare them, you will notice: a latte is usually served in a cup of about 300ml, with thin and delicate milk foam, so it can often present beautiful latte art patterns, and the ratio of coffee to milk is roughly between 1:5 and 1:6, with the overall taste tending to be balanced. Cappuccino, on the other hand, mostly uses a cup of about 250ml, with thick and fluffy milk foam that rises like a mushroom shape, generally without latte art, and the ratio of coffee to milk is 1:4, with the coffee flavor more prominent.

So what coffee beans should be chosen for making lattes and cappuccinos?

For this type of milk coffee, the Front Street Coffee Italian blend series is usually the priority: 1. Front Street Classic Blend, 2. Front Street Commercial Blend, 3. Front Street Specialty Blend, 4. Front Street Dark Cocoa Base Blend, 5. Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso Italian blend.

If we are talking about the beans most suitable for making a latte, Front Street Classic Blend and Front Street Commercial Blend are worth choosing. These two use medium-dark roasting and are blended with a small amount of robusta beans, so during extraction you can get notes of butter, nuts, spices, and dark chocolate. Their rugged style and rich crema are their most distinctive labels. If the barista then pours a delicate pattern, the whole latte easily becomes memorable.

If you prefer layered nutty aromas such as almonds, apricots, and walnuts, Front Street Specialty Blend and Front Street Dark Cocoa Base Blend will be more to your taste. Both contain a relatively high proportion of Brazilian coffee beans, bringing a comfortable bittersweet sensation and a very smooth entry. Front Street Specialty Blend has the nutty, chocolate, and caramel aromas commonly found in Colombian beans, along with moderate acidity; Front Street Dark Cocoa Base Blend incorporates the acidity of ripe plums from Yunnan small-bean coffee, and after being ground into powder gives off a creamy chocolate-like aroma, with a balanced taste and wide adaptability. Besides lattes, it can also handle a variety of Italian drinks.

When the traditional darker-roast flavor starts to feel a bit tiresome, many customers want to try a non-bitter americano or latte, and at this point they can choose Front Street Strawberry Candy espresso Italian blend. Just from the name you can feel its extremely high sweetness. This bean is composed of single-origin coffees from three different producing regions. Front Street Strawberry Candy not only carries rose floral notes, but when made into an americano or latte it also reveals notes of grapes, dried blueberries, sweet oranges, and fruit candy, with a rather distinctive taste.

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