a brief overview
A brewed drink prepared from roasted coffee beans, which are the seeds of berries of the Coffea plant.
Coffee plants are grown in over 70 countries in the world, but most coffee comes from regions around the equator.
Coffee drinking is thought to have originated in Yemen during the 15th century.
coffee brewed under pressure
Espresso is a concentrated coffee beverage. You can make it by pushing a small amount of near-boiling water through finely ground, compacted coffee beans.
Espresso is, as a result, thicker and more concentrated than regular coffee. It also forms the base for lattes, cappuccinos, macchiatos, and Americanos.
Contrary to what you may think, any bean or roasting level can be used to make espresso.
espresso + steamed milk
In English, it's called a latte, but that's just a shortened form of the Italian caffè latte, meaning "milk coffee".
Caffè lattes and latte macchiatos are different. With caffè lattes, milk is added to espresso, rather than the other way around, so there is a stronger coffee flavor in caffè lattes.
A latte macchiato is steamed milk with half a shot of espresso poured over it.
espresso + hot milk + foamed milk
Cappuccinos are like lattes, but they have much less steamed milk. Espresso is poured into a cup, followed by about an equal amount of hot milk, and the top third is milk foam.
Sometimes they are topped with cinnamon.
Caffè macchiatos, by the way, consist of espresso with a small amount of milk.
espresso + microfoam (steamed milk)
Flat whites originated in Australia. They are prepared by pouring microfoam over a single shot (in Australia) or a double ristretto shot of espresso (in New Zealand). Microfoam is just steamed milk with a glossy or velvety consistency because of the small bubbles in it.
The distinguishing factor when it comes to cappuccinos and flat whites is the microfoam. Cappuccinos have a thick layer of foam, but a flat white has milk or microfoam but no froth, so the layer of microfoam in a flat white is "flat".
A Ristretto shot is a short shot of espresso coffee made with the normal amount of coffee but half the amount of water.
espresso + hot water
A caffè americano, or Americano for short, is espresso with added hot water.
a product of tracy's coffee addiction