A cup of coffee is a good excuse for a friendly meeting, an indispensable attribute in business negotiations and just a good way to relax after a hard day at work. At the same time, everyone compares coffee based on their own criteria, choosing the best for themselves.
When visiting a cafe, you can get confused by the huge variety of types of coffee. We are offered mocha, latte, espresso and other types of coffee. In restaurants and cafes, coffee drinks are prepared by baristas using special expensive equipment. They know all the intricacies of preparing this or that drink, so coffee in specialized establishments is of excellent quality and taste.
The price range for all types of coffee is approximately the same, but the taste can differ radically.
So how not to get lost in such abundance and make the right choice? Very simple! It is enough to know what ingredients it consists of and how this or that coffee drink is prepared. Today we will also compare the most popular types of coffee, namely latte, cappuccino, Americano and espresso.
What is the difference between a latte and a cappuccino, espresso and Americano: difference, difference
Latte is a coffee drink that is traditionally served for breakfast. It contains espresso (3 parts) and milk (1 part). The peculiarity of this coffee cocktail can be considered the method of preparation. The drink is poured as follows: pour one part of coffee and three parts of foamed milk heated to a temperature of 70˚C into a glass or large cup. But they do this as carefully as possible to prevent mixing of liquids. Milk is the bottom layer, followed by coffee, and milk froth on top.
Various syrups can diversify the taste of a latte, the addition of which is also permissible when preparing this drink. Art decorations on the foam are considered the height of skill in serving a drink.
The standard serving of latte in Europe is 200 ml, in America – 500 ml.
Latte
Latte macchiato is a type of latte that means “milk with a stain.”
At first, latte macchiato was exclusively a children's drink, but over time it fell in love with adults and gained popularity in Europe. The drink is prepared by adding espresso to milk, the airy foam is decorated with grated chocolate, and served in a tall transparent Irish glass.
Americano
The history of this drink is very interesting. During World War II, Italian espresso was too strong for American soldiers, and they asked bartenders to make coffee like in their homeland.
But enterprising Italians simply diluted espresso with boiled water, reducing its strength. Over time, the drink has undergone changes and Swiss baristas suggested adding coffee to water, and not vice versa. Due to this, an appetizing foam was formed.
Typically, Americano is prepared in a filter coffee machine. The standard serving is 120 milliliters. Although this coffee drink is considered diluted, it contains quite a lot of caffeine, which is worth taking into account for people who care about their health.
Here are the most popular coffee drinks. To choose the best option for yourself, you need to try them all and compare these types of coffee yourself. And it is best to do this in specialized institutions.
They have expensive equipment, clean water, high-quality coffee beans and professional baristas who know how to use what ingredients to make first-class coffee.
Many people try to make coffee drinks on their own, but it is not so easy. This process requires strict adherence to proportions and cooking rules. Also, an important component of all, without exception, quality drinks is clean water. Only in this case will you enjoy real coffee.
Video: How to make the right latte
Cappuccino is prepared from espresso and foamed milk, taken in a 1:2 ratio without adding sugar or other sweeteners. The difference between latte and cappuccino is also that latte requires hot milk, while cappuccino requires chilled milk (4˚C).
Both drinks must be prepared so that there are no air bubbles in the foam. But if the foam of a latte is light and airy, then the foam of a cappuccino is dense.
Latte and cappuccino differ in taste and aroma. Latte is delicate and light, while the taste and aroma of cappuccino is quite pronounced.
The “layering” of drinks is ensured by different densities of liquids: the densest milk is always at the bottom, and the lightest and least dense foam is always at the top. It is important that the liquids are not mixed during the cooking process.
Latte and cappuccino foam will only turn out airy if it is prepared using a special machine.
Cappuccino
Four Main Differences
1. Espresso – strong concentrated coffee with a minimum amount of water; Americano is less saturated, it contains half as much water.
2. There is always foam in a cup of espresso, but not always in an Americano.
3. The basis of an Americano is a shot of espresso diluted with hot water.
4. Espresso has a pronounced taste and aroma, while Americano has a much weaker taste.
Coffee latte, cappuccino, espresso, Americano... Do you know exactly how they differ from each other and how they are prepared?
Coffee is the favorite drink of millions of people in the world. For some, the morning begins with its wonderful aroma; for others, coffee is a reason to meet with friends. Arriving at a coffee shop, we look at the menu and see a lot of coffee drinks on it - espresso, latte with blackcurrant syrup, flat white coffee, cappuccino, mocha...
How do you decide which one you like? To do this, you need to understand what each of them is. So:
Video: How to make espresso correctly
To prepare 1 cup of strong aromatic espresso you need 7 g of coffee and 30 ml of water. To prepare espresso doppio, the amount of coffee is doubled, but the amount of water remains the same. Esperso lungo has a mild taste and weak aroma, since only 4 g of coffee per 30 ml of water is used to prepare it.
Espresso
The hallmark of good coffee is the foam on the surface. If there are holes in the foam, it means that the cooking technology has been violated.
Americano is essentially espresso diluted 1:1 with water. The taste of Americano is not as bright and pronounced as espresso, but its lack of bitterness and minimum caffeine have made this drink popular among adherents of a healthy lifestyle.
There are two ways to prepare Americano:
- In Italian. Coffee is brewed in a coffee maker for no more than 25 seconds. After this, add hot, but not boiling water (1:1) to the drink. If you brew coffee longer, the Americano will become overly bitter and strong. The foam is not preserved.
- In Swedish. Bring water to a boil and remove from heat. In 20-25 seconds, brew the espresso and add it to a cup of pre-prepared water. Americano prepared this way has a milder taste. The coffee foam on the finished drink is preserved.
Americano
Espresso – harmony with a unique taste
From Italian the name of classic coffee is translated as “expressed”, “squeezed out”, as it is prepared under pressure of 9 bar and has a rich taste. To brew it, baristas grind the grains, compact them tightly into a holder, and run hot water through it.
When the drink is brewed, air bubbles form a thick foamy cap on the surface of the cup, which in color resembles a light nut. Extraction time – 30 seconds. If you cook for less time, the liquid will lose its richness. If you increase the time, you will get a bitter taste.
Read more in the article “Espresso Coffee: What It Really Is.”
In what glasses are latte, cappuccino, espresso and Americano served?
Coffee is served in cups or Irish glasses:
- latte – 60 ml, latte macchiato – 250-300 ml or in an Irish glass 240-360 ml
- cappuccino – in a cup that flares upward 180 ml
- espresso – in a cup with thick walls 60 ml
- double espresso – 100 ml
- espresso-lungo – 90-100ml
- espresso corretto – 250-500ml
- espresso-romano – 60 ml
- espresso macchito – 60 ml
- Americano - 150 ml.
In what glasses are latte, cappuccino, espresso and Americano served?
Turkish coffee - small secrets of making
Everyone knows how to make Turkish coffee at home. But, there are several secrets that, if followed, will make the drink smell better.
- Water. If you use cool water, you need to cook it over high heat. If it's hot, do it over low heat.
- Caffeine. If you want to make decaffeinated coffee, add a few cardamom seeds to the drink. They will remove caffeine and enhance the taste benefits.
- Cooked. To enhance the smell of roasted beans, heat the coffee in a Turk before making it, and then add water.
- Velvety taste. To enhance the natural flavors, add a piece of butter to the drink, almost on the tip of a knife.
- Caramel. To give your coffee a caramel flavor, add a teaspoon of cane sugar to the pot before brewing and heat. The sugar will caramelize and add a unique flavor to the drink.
What is the difference between espresso and Americano?
Perhaps this is not a fundamental issue for the average consumer, but a person who understands will always distinguish espresso from Americano and will certainly demand in a cafe that the corresponding drink be brought to him in the appropriate container and that it has the appropriate temperature and appearance.
What is tastier than a latte or cappuccino, espresso and Americano?
To choose the most delicious drink, you need to remember your own taste preferences:
- Anyone who loves a sweet coffee cocktail with milk and airy foam will love the delicate latte. Sweet syrups are often used to prepare it.
- Dense milk foam and the absence of sugar in cappuccino give the drink sophistication and a special rich aroma, which can also be appreciated by coffee lovers.
- A lover of strong black aromatic coffee needs to choose between espresso and espresso-doppio.
- For those who like weak coffee without milk, you can try Americano or espresso lungo.
Choosing a coffee brand
Conventionally, coffee can be divided depending on what you want to get from its consumption:
- The goal is to wake up and get a boost of energy - choose coffee with a high caffeine content. Usually these are cheaper varieties, for example, they include grain brought from Vietnam,
- The goal is to enjoy a fragrant drink, to get maximum taste pleasure - in this case, purchase more expensive varieties. These include grain from Colombia and Kenya.
Regardless of the purpose for which you purchase coffee, it should give you pleasure.
What is stronger than a latte or cappuccino, espresso and Americano?
The strongest coffee is espresso . The only thing stronger than espresso is espresso-dopio , which is prepared using twice as much coffee.
Americano is a diluted espresso, so it certainly cannot be called strong.
It is believed that Americano was invented by the Italians. During the war, they prepared coffee for the American military, which they were accustomed to at home. At a time when Americans rejoiced at the taste and aroma of the drink, Italians laughed at them, because they believed that in America people could not know what real coffee tastes like.
Lattes and cappuccinos are made by adding milk to espresso using a special technology. These two drinks taste very different. A cappuccino is stronger than a latte, so it has a stronger bitterness and aroma.
What is stronger than a latte or cappuccino, espresso and Americano?
Differences from regular coffee
Regular natural coffee can be brewed in a coffee maker, Turk, or even a saucepan.
Espresso coffee can only be prepared in coffee machines with a pressure of at least 9 bar.
Hot water, which passes under pressure, extracts 15% more aromatic substances from ground beans than when brewing in a Turk or coffee maker. Thanks to this, the taste of the classic drink is richer than the usual one.
Which has more milk: cappuccino or latte?
Cappuccino contains equal parts milk, foam and espresso. A latte contains 2 parts milk, 1 part foam and 1 part espresso. This means there is more milk in the latte . Accordingly, this drink contains less caffeine, since it contains less coffee and more milk than cappuccino.
One of the versions of the origin of cappuccino tells the story of the Capuchin monks, who fell in love with the “devil’s drink” (that’s what religious people called coffee) so much that they could not refuse it. To “cleanse” coffee of negativity, the monks decided to add milk and hand-whipped foam to the drink. In honor of the creators, the drink was named “cappuccino” (similar to “capuchin”).
Cappuccino and other types of coffee with milk
In a “correct” cappuccino, the foam is so strong that the sugar does not sink into it
Cappuccino
is a coffee drink in which a third part of espresso, a third part of boiled milk and a third part of frothed milk are mixed (milk for cappuccino is frothed using steam). It is because of the lush foam on top, slightly reminiscent of the hood of a Capuchin monk, that this drink acquired its name.
The foam prevents the aroma from evaporating and helps the cappuccino stay warm longer. First prepare the espresso, and then carefully pour the frothed milk into the center of the cup. In a well-prepared cappuccino, the foam is so strong that if you put a small spoonful of sugar on it, it will not sink. Although the Italians themselves always drink cappuccino without sugar, and only before lunch. The standard serving is 150 ml.
Flat white coffee
- a drink based on one part of double espresso, diluted with two parts of boiled, but not foamed milk.
This coffee, the highlight of which is a rich coffee taste with a noticeable milky note, is gaining more and more popularity among coffee lovers. A wonderful cocktail with vodka is made using cooled flat white coffee.
Torre
- a layered drink, in many ways reminiscent of a latte and cappuccino at the same time. This is espresso covered with fluffy milk foam, drier and denser than cappuccino.
Mocha
– a mixture of espresso, hot chocolate, milk and whipped cream. Ideally, for every portion of espresso there is a portion of hot chocolate, boiled milk and whipped cream.
Most often, chocolate syrup is added to mocha instead of hot chocolate, making mocha the most nutritious of coffee drinks. It has much more caffeine than regular espresso.
Where is there more foam in cappuccino or latte, espresso and Americano?
There is a lot of foam in cappuccino . It is thick and dense so much that it can support the weight of 5-6 g.
The foam in the latte is light and airy and there is also quite a lot of it in the cup. It is fluffy and tender, completely different from the foam in a cappuccino. Latte foam is so light that you can make figures, three-dimensional patterns and inscriptions from it. This decor will last for at least 10 minutes, if, of course, the latte is prepared correctly.
Americano, prepared according to the classic recipe, does not have foam. To maintain a dense foam on the surface of the Americano, you should prepare it in Swedish: add espresso to the water.
Foam in latte
Those who still haven’t been able to make a choice should try all types of coffee. Once you recognize the taste and aroma of “your” coffee drink, you will fall in love with it forever.
Drinks based on ground coffee
Filter coffee: Coffee that is prepared by first placing ground beans in a filter and then adding water. Coffee drips down. It can be prepared either in so-called pour-overs (for example, Chemex) or in drip coffee makers.
Cold brew: Cold brew coffee. Cold water is used, and the process itself takes longer.
French press coffee: One of the most common methods. Ground coffee is poured with hot water and left for 2-4 minutes, although many brew it longer.
Coffee brewed in moka: When brewed in moka, extraction occurs using steam pressure. It's technically not a traditional espresso because the pressure isn't strong enough, but it's the best alternative to an espresso machine if you want to brew espresso.
Instant Coffee: Coffee that is brewed in huge volumes and then dried either by cold brew or spray drying. Instant coffee has a negative reputation in specialty coffee circles because it is often made from cheap, low-quality beans.
Hybrid coffee brewing method
This is a relatively new method of preparing coffee that cannot be classified into either of the two categories. It cannot be classified as a filter preparation method: although the hybrid method involves filtration, it also includes extraction under pressure.
AeroPress: Excellent brewing method. It's light, fast, and the resulting coffee tastes outstanding. Depending on how much water you choose to add, the AeroPress can create an espresso-like drink or a fuller cup of strong, perfectly brewed coffee.
In this article, we wanted to go through all the drinks and brewing methods to create an overview. Next, we will look specifically at each method and each coffee drink.
How to tell coffee by foam
The first thing we recommend paying attention to when determining the type of coffee is the presence and quality of the foam.
This is an indispensable condition for properly prepared espresso. A dense but flexible foam made from 10 small bubbles is the hallmark of high-quality espresso. It remains virtually unshakable even after stirring the drink with a spoon and means that the coffee is very strong.
Americano ignores the foam rule. It’s not that it’s completely absent: when making Americano in Swedish (when espresso is poured into a cup of boiling water), the foam is not destroyed and remains as dense as when making traditional espresso, but the second method is Italian (when espresso diluted with boiling water) does not leave the foam any chance.
Blend – from the English word mixture
Typically, factories that produce coffee do not store coffee beans. It is delivered by suppliers in batches. Each batch undergoes thorough testing. Not only the quality of the grain is checked, but tasters also taste it.
After checking, the grain is roasted. There are three degrees of roasting:
- For Sweden and America, the grain is lightly roasted;
- For European countries, the grain undergoes a medium degree of roasting;
- For Italy and France, the grain is heavily roasted.
Next begins the process of blending, that is, mixing different types of coffee. Each manufacturer comes up with its own individual bouquet of aromatic varieties. And consumers choose which blend they like best.
The downside to packaged ground coffee is that during grinding, the coffee bean heats up and the aromas escape. Manufacturers use special technologies that prevent the mill from heating up. As a result, the effect of freezing grain and preserving aromas is achieved. Of course, there is nothing better than freshly ground coffee.
Espresso from “A” to “Z”
This coffee became the basis for all other types of subtypes of the drink: latte, moccacino, cappuccino, and the similar Americano is made by first brewing espresso.
Therefore, for the “parent” of all coffee drinks, everything is important: the quality of grinding of the beans, the temperature of the water when brewing and the temperature of the finished coffee when serving, the thickness of the walls of the cup and its volume.
The accepted feature of espresso: a strong, concentrated drink prepared in a coffee machine by passing hot water through ground coffee.
The quality of grinding grains must meet certain requirements: not very large and not very hard, perfect if the grinding is done specifically before production.
Espresso is served in a small cup with thick walls, while maintaining the temperature of the drink: it should not be lower than 75-85 degrees. You have every right to ask the waiter who brought you warm rather than hot espresso to change your drink.
The coffee bean is the beginning of coffee
All coffee begins with a coffee bean. Suppliers are from over 40 countries. Colombia is the largest producer. Second place is occupied by African countries (Kenya, Ethiopia, Tanzania).
The most widely consumed varieties are Arabica and Robusta. Coffee bean is a natural product. Its production depends on weather conditions. The quality of grain differs every year. To say unequivocally that a particular type of coffee is good or bad would not be fair. It is important what quality the harvest was harvested in a particular season.
The first coffee machines, Italy and Luigi Bezzuru.
The first type of coffee brewed in a coffee machine and subsequently acquired worldwide fame was espresso. Actually, even the name of this drink is due to its method of preparation. It is generally accepted that the first creator of a compact coffee machine is Luigi Bezzuru. It was he who patented his discovery in 1902 and, by concluding a contract with the DesiderioPavoni company, made this drink accessible to everyone. However, in fact, it all began in sunny Italy 17 years before the story of Luigi, when back in 1885 Angelo Moriondo created the first experimental version of the coffee machines popular today. But he was not destined to become famous thanks to his invention. And all because the device he created was too large and could not be purchased or transported by most coffee shops and restaurants. That's why Luigi got all the glory.
