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Helping You Enjoy A Cup Of Coffee

Wednesday, July 22nd, 2009    Subscribe To Our Feed

Since there seems to be coffee shops and coffee houses opening on every street corner these days, the owners invariably will continue to come up with new ways to offer different types of coffee drinks. It can be a little confusing to look at a coffee house menu if you are not familiar with the drinks, as they will have many of the same standard drinks as other establishments and probably one or two of their own special concoctions as well.

For those of us who are not quite sure of the difference between a cafe au lait (French for coffee with milk) and a latte (which some consider to be a cappuccino with more milk), then perhaps we can help shed a little light on the different flavored coffees and other coffee drinks that are available at your local cafe bar.

Black coffee is rather obvious, and it is straight (no milk) and is usually percolated or drip brewed. The Americano drink was intended to be an insult to Americans who could not handle full espressos, so they invented this one that has a single shot of espresso and about 7 ounces of hot water. The next type of coffee drink is the caffè latte, which is essentially a single shot of espresso in steamed milk, with the ratio of milk compared to coffee at 3 to 1.

The cafe au lait is similar to a caffe latte, except the au lait is made with brewed coffee rather than espresso, and the ratio of milk compared to coffee is about 1 to 1. This gives it a much less intense taste. Your cafe bar may also offer a café Macchiato, which has one espresso shot added to steamed milk and it is normally a 4 (coffee) to 1 (milk) ratio. A frappe is a favorite in Europe and Latin America during the summer months. It was originally served as a cold espresso but lately it has been prepared by putting 2 teaspoons of instant coffee with sugar, water and ice. It is placed in a long glass and you can add milk if you so desire, so that it more like a coffee milkshake.

Most coffee shops or coffee houses offer a drink called a cappuccino, and it has equal parts of frothing milk, espresso and steamed milk, and some may top it with cinnamon or flaked chocolate pieces. A café Breva is much like a cappuccino but is made with half and half instead of whole milk, which makes the mixture creamier and richer. However, not all shops will offer this type of coffee drink, as half and half is much harder to make foam than milk and they do not like the time it takes to make it properly.

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