Maybe it’s got something to do with the spiffing array of different coffee drinks.
The key to making your own bounty of coffees at home starts with a good espresso. You can then use them as the base to build any of the below classics.
LATTE
An espresso topped with steamed milk.
A caffè latte means “coffee and milk” in Italian, it’s a very milky coffee with less foam than a cappuccino that tends to be made with a double shot of espresso and is most commonly served in a glass with a handle.
The latte is thought to have originated in California, created in the 1950s by Lino Meiorin, one of the owners of the famous Caffe Mediterraneum in Berkeley. It was then made popular in the early 1980s by the Seattle Coffee Company. Its popularity has since soared. The drink tends to be favoured by women, but men are also allowed to partake!
No syrup or sugar is needed, as the coffee will taste naturally sweet served with milk at the right temperature.
CAPPUCCINO
An espresso topped with steamed milk and a dense layer of micrO 15mm thick. Garnished with a sprinkle of cocoa.
Cappuccino means “little cap” or “little hood” in Italian. Most likely an old wives’ tale, but it is said that the Capuchin Friars Minor – an order of monks in the Catholic church – were the inspiration for the drink’s name (their shaved heads and hooded cowls were said to resemble the caramel coffee ring and white foam).
The cappuccino embodied the second wave coffee scene that dominated UK high streets from the 1990s onwards, thanks to many well know coffee chains. A cappuccino contains less milk than a latte, made up of roughly one-third coffee, one-third silky, creamy milk, and one-third quite foamy milk. Made with single or double shots of coffee, and traditionally served in ceramics.
Adding the chocolate on top of the espresso shot before the milk creates less mess and looks amazing when pouring.