I’m an avid coffee enthusiast… which explains why I run a coffee roasting start-up company. Not only do I enjoy running the business and hearing the feedback from people who experience truly fresh roasted coffee for the first time, I also like visiting coffee shops and enjoying new coffees myself.
One of the most frequent questions I hear in coffee shops is “what’s the difference between a cappuccino and a caffe latte?”. I’m also frequently asked on email and Twitter how to make certain coffee or espresso-based drinks and what proportions are needed to achieve the best taste. I happened to come across Lokesh Dhakar’s blog who posted a great illustrative picture (shown below) which describes the different ingredients for making these drinks and the layering involved.
This is a great resource for the home barista or anyone new to espresso-based drinks who wants to know exactly how to replicate those $5 specialty drinks (now you can make them at home for a fraction of the price). Enjoy and share with your friends via the link below.
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Cool. I like a flat white, but never knew what it was called. Not the biggest fan of foam. I wonder how many coffee bars in the Houston area will know what it is if I order one.
Wow, I need to print this out and put it next to my coffeepot. What a great way to explain it!
@michael: there may be a few that know what a flat white is but probably just the independent coffee bars!
@melissa: definitely a guide you want to have handy next time you’re trying to make an espresso drink @ home – thanks for the posts!
So, the technical term for those lattes our customers ordered and stressed, “no foam – I hate the foam!” was flat whites. It’s hard steaming milk so there’s absolutely no foam! LOL Many a time, those people would hand the drink back to the new baristas so they’d scoop off the microscopic layer of bubbles with a spoon.
I always thought mochas and other drinks containing syrups should go in espresso > syrup > milk > toppings, but our company had us put the syrup in first. Now they’re melting chocolate chips in milk and pouring that instead of using syrup. I worked at Caribou.
@gardenwife: I like the idea of melting chocolate chips in milk as a natural sweetener!
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