“I still don’t know the difference between a latte and a flat white,” laughs the 27-year-old matcha fan, waiting for her takeaway.
“And these coffee snobs,” says her 29-year-old friend. “Is there really a difference between instant coffee and other coffees?!” she asks, sipping from the chilled can of Nescafe she’d just bought at the convenience store.
Apparently, these sentiments and questions are more common than thought, which would be a relief for those too shy to ask, and perhaps a surprise to more ardent coffee aficionados who have a doctorate-level knowledge of coffee.
Hopefully, this simplified guide of the most popular styles of coffee will take the stress out of your next fancy dinner where one might vaguely mumble “err, with milk and sugar” when the waiter asks, “And how would you like the coffee?”
Espresso: A pure, single shot of coffee, no milk, no sugar. Espressos are produced by forcing hot, pressurised water through finely-ground coffee beans.
Doppio: A double espresso; two shots of espresso.
Ristretto: an even shorter and more concentrated shot of espresso, still without milk or sugar. The name means “restricted espresso”.
Americano: a shot of espresso in a cup, to which more water is added to dilute the espresso. Americanos may be made with one, two or three shots of espresso according to taste.
Also known as a ‘long black’, the name comes from the time of the Second World War when American soldiers ordered coffee in Italian cafes.
Latte: an espresso in a cup to which warm or steamed milk has been added till the cup is full. Still, no sugar.
Creamier than a macchiato or a cappuccino. Its original name is caffe latte in Italian, literally translated to ‘coffee milk’.
Some lattes have a thin layer of foamy milk on top of the steamed milk, but not as fluffy or frothy a foamy head as found in the cappuccino.
It is often the latte to which flavour shots of vanilla, hazelnut or pumpkin spice are added.
Flat white: A hot latte with no head or topping of foamy, frothy milk. Hence, the flat top, and the name.
Also, flat whites may have two shots of coffee or a stronger coffee taste than a latte. In a latte, the creamier taste is more prevalent.
In some countries, a person may order a ‘three-quarter flat white’, which is a flat white with less milk.
Macchiato: an espresso with less milk than in a latte; macchiato means ‘marked’, hence, an espresso marked with milk. Specifically, steamed milk. No foamy head of milk.
Cappuccino: Like a macchiato, a single shot of espresso, to which a controlled amount of steamed milk is added, topped by a distinct, generous head of frothy milk foam. Chocolate powder may be sprinkled on top of the foam.
If you want to sound more impressive, you could also ask for a ‘dry cappuccino’, which is a cappuccino with more frothy milk foam, or a ‘wet cappuccino’, a cappuccino with more milk.
Pour over: Hot water is poured over coffee grounds that have been placed in a filter in a pour-over cone. Drip coffee is the same as pour over coffee. The grounds are always separated from the liquid before consumption.
Affogato: An espresso poured over a scoop of ice-cream in the cup.
Mocha: A latte with stronger coffee and some dark chocolate undertones.
From bean to cup and bans
While this is not an exhaustive list, (there is also a lungo, cortado, and breve), these are some of the more popular types of specially-brewed coffee using specialty ground roasted coffee beans.
The coffee beans may be Colombian or Brazilian Arabica or Robusta beans, which are subject to different degrees of roasting.
Here’s a curious tidbit about coffee, though: rulers throughout Europe and the Middle East between the 16th and 18th centuries once tried to ban coffee – in Istanbul, drinking coffee in public was punishable by death – as both religious and secular leaders thought coffee consumption encouraged dangerous thoughts or speech, and thus, would lead to social decay and the fomenting of seditious acts.
Hence, most likely why coffee shops are often hot spots of political and social chatter.