For those who are just getting into espresso coffee, facing a whole bunch of coffee terms can be confusing, like Espresso, Ristretto, Lungo, Latte, Flat White, and so on. These all belong to the category of Italian coffee. Front Street Coffee will help you understand all the majorItalian coffeeswith just one picture.
Espresso
Espresso is a fast-concentrated coffee. Under the action of high-pressure steam (around 9 bars), hot water quickly passes through the coffee grounds, fully extracting the essence of the coffee, resulting in a cup of rich, aromatic, full-bodied coffee with a caramel note amid its bitterness. Front Street Coffee typically uses a double shot of espresso (20 grams of coffee grounds) as the base to make about 40 grams of espresso, topped with a very fine and rich layer of crema, also known as Crema.
Espressois the foundation of many Italian coffees. It can be said that if the espresso is not extracted well, the other Italian coffees will not taste good either.
Americano
Americano is made by diluting espresso with hot water. It originated during World War II when American soldiers landed in Europe. Unaccustomed to the strong Italian espresso, they diluted it with water, which evolved into Americano. Although Americano is diluted with a lot of water and has a milder flavor than regular espresso, its flavor and aroma are not diminished. Compared to Americano brewed by the filter method, the flavor is completely different. It pairs very well with sweet treats like cookies and muffins, and is suitable for those who do not like the strong intensity of espresso.
The ratio for Front Street Coffee's hot Americano is 40 grams of espresso mixed with 180 milliliters of hot water, resulting in a 220-milliliter cup of Americano, with an espresso-to-water ratio of 1:4.5.
Flat White
Flat White can be understood as a localized version of latte in Australia. Therefore, it is slightly different from the common latte. Flat White originated in Australia and New Zealand. It is a coffee product evolved by Oceanian residents according to their own needs. It is composed of espresso, milk, and a layer ofthin milk foam. Generally, the cup size of a Flat White is smaller than that of a latte, with less milk and a more intense coffee flavor highlighting the richness of the coffee. It is worth mentioning that Flat White is only served hot.
Front Street's daily Flat White ratio is 30g of espresso plus 190ml of milk and milk foam, with a milk foam thickness of 0.5cm.
For the base, Front Street uses espresso, extracting 30 grams of espresso liquid from 20 grams of coffee grounds in 20 seconds.
Latte
Latte is a common milk coffee in Italian coffee. The word "Latte" means "milk" in Italian. At Front Street, when making a latte, we use a double shot of 40g espresso, paired with 260g of milk and milk foam, with a milk foam thickness of 1cm. Of course, latte coffee can be made into exquisite latte art patterns. Under the perfect fusion of milk and coffee, it highlights the sweetness of the milk while also expressing the mellow charm of the coffee.
Cappuccino
Cappuccino was originally an Italian breakfast drink, a variation of Italian coffee. It is made by pouring steam-foamed milk over a relatively strong coffee. Because the milk foam cap on cappuccino resembles the hat on the cloak of Capuchin monks, it got its name. Traditional cappuccino is a blend of espresso, milk, and milk foam in a 1:1:1 ratio, which reduces the bitterness of the espresso and adds the richness of the milk foam, making it more easily accepted. Among Italian coffees, cappuccino has the thickest milk foam, and the dense, fine foam adds a pleasant mouthfeel.
Espresso con Panna
Espresso con Panna is made by adding an appropriate amount of fresh cream to espresso, letting the white, bubbly fresh cream float on the surface of the coffee. When drinking, there is no need to stir; just drink it directly. The sweet fresh cream can dissolve the bitterness of the espresso.
Cafe Mocha
In Italian, "Mo" means chocolate. Mocha coffee means chocolate coffee, a blend of mellow coffee, rich milk, and sweet chocolate. There is a variant of mocha called white cafe mocha, which uses white chocolate instead of milk and dark chocolate. Besides white mocha, there is another variant that mixes two kinds of chocolate syrup, called zebras, sometimes referred to as tuxedo mocha.
Front Street Coffee's mocha recipe is 40g espresso + 20g chocolate sauce + 260g hot milk.
Viennese
This is Austria's most famous coffee, invented by a coachman named Einspänner, also known as "single-horse carriage." It is made by adding fresh cream and chocolate syrup to espresso.
Macchiato
Macchiato is an Italian word meaning "marked." Macchiato coffee originated in Italy in the 1980s. At that time, some customers had the habit of adding a small amount of milk to their espresso, but the milk would quickly disappear into the crema. So baristas wanted to distinguish a pure espresso from an espresso with a small amount of milk by "marking" a white dot of milk foam on top of the crema.
Later, people discovered that in the gradual fusion of milk foam and espresso, one can taste the rich mellowness of the espresso and appreciate the dense sweetness of the milk, interweaving and blending in the mouth, indescribably wonderful. Thus, the traditional macchiato was born.
Front Street Coffee macchiato recipe: 40g espresso + 1 spoon of fine milk foam
Caramel Macchiato
This is a star Italian coffee drink from Starbucks (unrelated to macchiato). A medium 355ml cup contains 1 shot (about 30ml) of espresso, with the other 300+ milliliters being milk with milk foam, vanilla syrup, and caramel, with a sweet taste.
Caramel Macchiato: When making it, a large amount of milk and milk foam is used, not much different from a wet cappuccino or a thicker latte. Vanilla syrup and smooth hot fresh milk, topped with soft, fine milk foam, mixed with mellow espresso, plus smooth caramel sauce, the sweet and rich Caramel Macchiato becomes a great choice for coffee lovers to enjoy espresso.
The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.
