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Espresso is a must-have beverage in every café, and many Chinese people's first impression of espresso is that it's bitterly unpleasant. In fact, espresso drinks are not all as bitter as straight espresso. If you want to drink an espresso-based coffee that isn't bitter and suits your taste, the first thing you must understand is the types of espresso drinks. Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) will introduce the common types of espresso drinks found in major cafés, so everyone can gain a further understanding of espresso.

When talking about espresso, espresso is a type you absolutely must know. Why is that? Because other types of espresso drinks are also derived from espresso.

Authentic espresso is made by using near-boiling high-pressure hot water—"92-94°C, 9 bars of atmospheric pressure, 20-30 seconds of extraction time"—passing through a finely ground, evenly tamped coffee puck to produce about 30ml of beverage, with a thick, dense layer of coffee oil foam on the surface called Crema. The color of the crema leans toward golden yellow and brown, and nowadays it can vary in shade depending on the roast level of the coffee. Traditional Italians place great importance on the culture and quality of espresso. To this end, the Italian National Espresso Institute even provides official certification for espresso extraction parameters, making the brewing process data-transparent, which helps preserve the traditional flavor of espresso and allows it to be passed down more completely.

The "es" in espresso actually corresponds to the English "ex," carrying the meaning of fast and convenient. The coffee beans used for espresso are called House Blend, which is the commonly heard blended/formula coffee. As the name suggests, it is coffee beans blended from multiple producing regions. Using blended coffee beans helps balance flavor and stabilize consistency. To ensure the quality of the final brew, before making espresso, a professional grinder is usually used to grind the coffee beans to a fine state, so that the espresso can complete extraction in a short time.

Because espresso has a very rich taste, many people also add granulated sugar or milk to balance the bitterness, which in turn sparked the trend of using espresso as a base. Fancy espresso drinks are blended with syrups, cream, spices, and various other flavorings, creating coffee with diverse flavors and layered mouthfeel, such as Con Panna, Macchiato, Caramel Macchiato, Cappuccino, Latte, Mocha, Caffè Americano… all members of the great espresso family!

Espresso is the base element of many coffee items. Now let's take a look at what common types of espresso drinks there are!

Espresso

 The most commonly seen type of espresso is, of course, espresso itself. Espresso uses dark-roasted coffee beans, and the coffee liquid is instantly forced out through steam pressure. The coffee has a strong taste and intense bitterness, with the charred aroma of dark roasting. It can be said to be the spiritual symbol of the coffee world, and other types of espresso drinks are also derived from espresso. It can be said that if the espresso is not extracted well, the other espresso drinks will not taste good either.

Espresso is fast concentrated coffee. Under the action of high-pressure steam (around 9 atmospheres), when hot water quickly passes through the coffee grounds, the essence of the coffee is fully extracted, completing a cup of coffee that is rich, aromatic, full-bodied, and bittersweet with a caramel note.

To make standard espresso, Front Street's classic espresso blend is used. This is a formula combining beans from three origins: Brazil, Indonesia, and Vietnam. It uses a dark roast, which maximizes the coffee's rich aroma and also allows everyone to easily extract abundant and dense crema. Whether making an Americano diluted with water or a latte paired with milk, it is very suitable. It can be purchased and ordered at Front Street's Taobao store or Front Street's Tmall flagship store.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) generally uses a double shot of espresso (20 grams of coffee grounds) as the base to make a cup of about 40 grams of espresso, with very delicate and rich crema on the surface, also called "Crema."

Americano

The common Americano in cafés refers to a type of espresso drink made by diluting espresso with a large amount of hot water. It is said that during World War II, American soldiers who came to Italy were not used to the strong taste of espresso, so they added a large amount of hot water to dilute it. Later, it became widely popular and became another way of drinking espresso.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s hot Americano ratio is 40 grams of espresso mixed with 180 milliliters of hot water, yielding a 220-milliliter cup of Americano. The ratio of espresso to water is 1:4.5.

Caffe Latte

In Italian, latte means milk, while in places outside Europe it refers to a type of espresso drink with added milk and milk foam. Common latte coffee refers to a combination of 1/5 espresso, 2/5 hot milk, and 2/5 milk foam. This type of espresso drink has a richer taste and can also be flavored with vanilla syrup, cinnamon, or caramel. Different regions also have different proportioning methods. At Front Street, when making latte, a double shot of 40g espresso is used, paired with 260g of milk and milk foam, with a milk foam thickness of 1cm. Of course, latte coffee can be made into beautiful latte art patterns. Under the perfect fusion of milk and coffee, while highlighting the sweetness of the milk, it also expresses the mellow charm of the coffee.

Cappuccino

Also a type of espresso drink composed of espresso, milk foam, and hot milk, cappuccino's proportions are 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk, and 1/3 milk foam. The proportion of coffee is heavier and the taste is stronger. The blended color resembles the robes of Italian Franciscan friars, so it is named after the Italian word for the Franciscan friar.

When making cappuccino, Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) chooses to use a 180ml tulip cup, adds one freshly extracted shot of espresso into the cup, and then adds milk that has been steamed into dense, thick milk foam.

Mocha

Mocha originally referred to a type of coffee bean with a chocolate aroma, and later broadly referred to all types of espresso drinks with added chocolate. The common ratio is 2/5 espresso, 2/5 hot chocolate, and 1/5 hot milk. You can taste both the aroma of coffee and the richness of chocolate at the same time, and the mouthfeel is also smoother. Friends who love chocolate drinks can try this type of espresso.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s mocha coffee recipe is extracted from Front Street's classic espresso blend beans40gespresso + 20g chocolate sauce + 260g hot milk.

Macchiato Coffee

Macchiato is an Italian word meaning "marked." Macchiato coffee originated in Italy in the 1980s. At that time, some customers were in the habit of adding a small amount of milk to espresso, but the milk would quickly disappear into the crema. So baristas wanted to distinguish a pure espresso from an espresso containing a small amount of milk, and used milk foam to "mark" a white dot on top of the crema.

Later, people discovered that in the gradual fusion of milk foam and espresso, one could taste the rich intensity of espresso while also appreciating the dense sweetness of milk, interwoven and blending in the mouth, wonderfully indescribable. Thus, traditional macchiato coffee was born.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee) macchiato recipe: 40g classic espresso blend espresso + 1 spoon of delicate milk foam.

Caramel Macchiato

This is Starbucks' star espresso drink (and has nothing to do with macchiato). In a 355ml medium cup of coffee, there is 1 shot (about 30ml) of espresso, and the other 300-plus milliliters are milk with milk foam, vanilla syrup, and caramel. The taste is sweet.

Caramel Macchiato: When making it, a large amount of milk and milk foam is used, and there is not much difference from a wet cappuccino or a thicker latte. Vanilla syrup and fragrant, silky hot fresh milk, topped with soft, smooth 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.

Dirty Coffee

Many people ask what the difference is between Dirty Coffee and iced latte. Indeed, from ingredients to recipe to appearance, the two have too many similarities. But if you observe carefully, you will find that Dirty is essentially a more particular iced latte. Its biggest difference lies in the choice of vessel and the detailed operation.

The vessel chosen for Dirty Coffee is often a glass cup that can show off the beautiful liquid, and no ice is added to it. What matters is the espresso liquid flowing into the pure white milk, slowly penetrating and slowly blending, forming a beautiful layered effect. As time changes, the pure white milk is gradually "polluted" by the rich espresso. Looking through the glass cup, the drink appears dirty. Besides the visual dirtiness, it actually also contains the collision between cold milk and hot espresso, allowing people to feel the change from hot to cold in one cup of coffee.

Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee)'s ratio for making Dirty is 150g of milk and 40g of espresso. First, take out a pre-chilled glass cup, making sure there is no water in the glass, and pour in the cold milk. Then lock in the tamped coffee portafilter and place the glass with cold milk under the spout (if using a bottomless portafilter, place it directly under the outlet). The outlet should not be too far from the liquid surface. If it is too far, the coffee's own gravity will create stronger penetration and make it easy to "blend." A distance of about 1cm is recommended. Qualified espresso will flow evenly and slowly onto the surface of the milk, "float" on the liquid surface, and slowly sink, forming the dirty effect.

When drinking Dirty, there is no need to stir, and you should drink it quickly. You will find that the hot espresso on top has not yet been cooled by the ice, and the milk below has not yet been "polluted." That transformation from a rich chocolate-flavored hot coffee into a milky, icy, light coffee is simply wonderful.

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