I am a coffee naif. The only coffee I know of is black or with Bailey’s.
To go to Caribou and hear “Half Caf Latte Mocha Double Espresso with a shot of some stuff added in to sound cool” confuses the heck out of me.
I did have a Caramel Mocha (?) which was good- the whipped cream did it for me. But otherwise I stick to Diet Coke.
Explain to me what’s the difference between all the ‘styles’ of coffee out there? What is a mocha? Do they always have whipped cream? What’s a Latte?
Sit right down, here is Captain Amazing’s Guide to Coffee Drinks
First, we have espresso. Espresso is a dark coffee that you make by pumping hot water through ground coffee beans. It’s really dark and bitter.
Now, if you take a cup and fill it a third of the way with espresso, a third of the way with steamed milk, and a third of the way with frothed milk, that’s a cappuccino.
If you mix espresso and steamed milk half and half, and then put a little bit of milk froth on top, that’s a latte.
If you mix espresso and water, that’s a Cafe Americano (Yes, the Italians are mocking our coffee).
If you add chocolate to your latte, that’s a Cafe Mocha.
In addition to chocolate, most coffee places have various flavored syrups you can add to the coffee…caramel, hazelnut, mint, vanilla, rasberry, etc.
That help?
Americano = espresso + water
Latte = espresso + milk
Mocha = espresso + chocolate milk
skinny = lowfat milk
everything else is flavoring.
Coffee is a caffeine delivery system -
Note the basic ingredients. Espresso is made approximately an ounce to an ounce-and-a-half at a time (there’s probably a technical “correct” amount, but I’m not sure what it is.) Most drinks use espresso and steamed milk (milk, that is, heated with a wand that shoots hot steam.) A typical café cappuccino is a big cup of steamed milk and foam (half and half) with one to three shots (depending if the drink’s a small, medium or large) of espresso - meaning it’s mostly milk. A traditional cappuccino, OTOH, is (as mentioned above) a 1:1:1 ratio of coffee to milk to foam, and I believe in Italy they’re often served quite sweet.
A latte has been explained; a mocha isn’t standardized but it’s generally a latte with some chocolate syrup in it, though better cafés sometimes use real chocolate in some form. A café au lait is similar to a latte, but is made from brewed coffee 1:1 with steamed milk. There’s a lot of other coffee drinks, most of which vary from establishment to establishment, but they’re all basically combinations of brewed coffee, espresso, milk, foam, and various syrups. Most of the drinks particular to one establishment or another are basic variations on the above - there’s only so much you can do with three or four basic ingredients.
Most of the extra options are pretty simple; last summer, when a friend was working at a local Starbucks and could get me drinks for oddly low prices, I’d get an large iced, skinny, no-whip cinnamon mocha with two extra shots. That’s prepared with cold skim milk, no whipped cream (which is standard on mochas), cinnamon flavoring and extra espresso. It’s also quite bracing and a good cool source of caffeine for long summer evenings.
My first cappuccino, 20 or more years ago I guess, was espresso with steamed milk froth (no milk or very little) on top. The correct way to drink it was to slurp foam and espresso together.
A latte was a tall glass of steamed milk, some foam on top, and espresso added in but not mixed.
Didn’t have much of that other stuff, except syrups as mentioned, added mostly to lattes. Cocoa and cinnamon too, IIRC.
Oh yeah, an espresso had to have a layer of coffee foam, called creme, on it. This had nothing to do with any dairy products, but was part of pulling a proper espresso.
The name “espresso” refers to the speedy process of making the drink.
Starbocks, and their clones, lie to you.
Definitely need the creme on a proper espresso. The essence of coffee is contained in that heavenly froth. Usually when checking out new coffee houses, I ask for a shot of espresso. That gives me a good idea of the quality of the cafe.
As for Italians usually drink sweet cappuccinos, I don’t recall that being the case. My memory may be a bit hazy, so some dopers who’ve been there more recently could comment, but usually they’re served as the recipe: 1/3 foam 1/3 hot milk 1/3 espresso.
Back to the OP: Most coffee and espresso drinks don’t have whipped cream. In the cafe I worked at through college, we had exactly one drink—the dessert cappuccino—which substituted whipped cream for foam. It was a wildly unpopular drink. I think I served it a total of a dozen times in the 3 years I worked there. The only drink less popular than the dessert cappuccino was the Cafe Dante—a mocha cappuccino with a twist of fresh orange.
Some drinks change from cafe to cafe. Pretty much only the cappuccino and cafe americano are the same everywhere I go. The latte is particularly fickle. I’ve seen it as 1/2 espresso, 1/2 hot milk; 1/3 espresso, 2/3 hot milk and a tiny dollop of foam; 2/3 espresso 1/3 hot milk and a dollop of foam [this is sometimes called a “reverse latte.” This was the standard latte in our coffeehouse.] Plus I’m sure there’s many other variations.
Cafe macchiato is a shot of espresso with a tiny dollop of foam.
Cafe ristretto is a short pull of espresso. It’s a more concentrated tasting espresso.
Cafe breve is a cappuccino made with steamed half & half instead of milk.
A Red Eye (which goes by any number of names) is a shot of espresso served in a coffee mug, topped off with coffee. Think of it as fortified coffee (I quite like this drink.)
Mocha basically means “with chocolate syrup/flavor” when referring to espresso drinks. However, the phrase “Mocha Java” denotes a certain blend of African and Indonesian beans, and has nothing to do with chocolate whatsoever.
I’m a bit of a purist when it comes to coffee. Caramel, chocolate and whipped cream don’t belong on it. If you hate the taste of coffee so much that you have to assault it with a barrage of competing flavors and sweetness, totally destroying the subtle joy of a finely roasted and balanced blend, why drink coffee in the first place? Get a hot chocolate.
OK, I am somewhat kidding, but it does puzzle me…
The Italian way is to do it unsweetened, and then they give you a huge packet of sugar and a spoon to stir it, on your saucer. Your choice to add it or not. Very civilized.
If you’re interested in Starbucks terminology, which is a bit different yet again, this link has been going around lately: Starbuck Drinks Simplified
I don’t think the Italians are mocking you. Down this in this neck of the woods that is called a Long Black. Cafe Americano sounds like a name invented in America.
I wonder what Aussies, Canadians, Brits call it.
“A cup of coffee”. 
Seriously, Brits call it an Americano too, but many places just offer “filter coffee” as the bog-standard long cup of coffee.
Nitpick: it’s called crema, not creme. See this coffee glossary.
Other then in fast food/takeaway places, filter coffee seems to have vanished in NZ. Even in the smallest, pokiest places it’s all about expresso (well I live in Dorkland…I’m sure some South-of-the-Bombays type will be along to say I’m wrong) but if you go anywhere (even Starbucks) and ask for a Cafe Americano they will look at you like you are from Mars.
Long Black…Perfect coffee.
This is a very common myth, but speed does not come into it. “Espresso” is related to the English word “express”, yes, but in its other sense of “to force or squeeze out”. The original Italian is caffè espresso, which literally means “pressed coffee”, which refers to the method of making the espresso by forcing steam through it at high pressure.
Cite.
Mocha was, to my knowledge (which is hazy as to the specifics) an Ethiopian coffee shipped through the Yemeni port of Mokha, which hasn’t been used in a couple hundred years. African coffees (which tend to be my favorites) have deep, earthy or winey flavors and Mocha, in particular, had a slightly chocolatey taste. The drink with milk and chocolate was named in reference to the chocolatey taste of a famous type of coffee.
I’m straying into opinion here, but I generally drink good ol’ brewed coffee when I’m drinking it (especially since a home espresso machine sounds like a lot of work, and even when I’m in a café I’m loathe to intake 700 calories on a drink and spend $4.50 on it) but I enjoy the occasional sweet, syrupy café drink. I love the taste of coffee in sweets - coffee ice cream being a particular favorite (and a good piece of tiramisù? Heaven!); when used as a flavoring in sweet foods, it’s a much different sensation than when drunk plain. But it’s a very pleasant one, and coffee and chocolate are immensely complimentary flavors - so much so to me that I add some coffee to most chocolate baked goods I make. A mocha is a dessert to me, akin to a milk shake or something; it doesn’t fulfill the same desire that makes me drink a cup of coffee. It’s different. I still taste the coffee, it’s just used as one component of a much different flavor.
Thanks for the Mocha info. I had a feeling the two uses were somehow connected, but I didn’t know how.
As for the other part, I guess it depends on how you see coffee. I don’t see coffee to be drunk as a dessert in and of itself. I’ll drink it with dessert, certainly. In that case, the dessert provides the sweetness, while the coffee provides the contrast and clears my palatte a bit. I’ll even put it in cakes and dessert. But in that case, almost any coffee will do. Hell, Folger’s’ll do. But if I’m drinking a plain cuppa of Kenya AA or, better yet, Blue Mountain [which I can’t afford], I couldn’t imagine drowning it in sugar. It’s like using a 50-year-old Macallan scotch in making a whiskey-and-coke.
I know. I mispoke. But I think some do spell it “creme” and pronounce it “crema”.
And pulykamell is correct about the cafe macchiato. A cappaccino can vary the amount of milk, but it’s always much less than the espresso. And the amount of milk foam can vary too. My favorite local bar is a walkup on the side of a reataraunt (fellilni, in Berkeley*). They go about 3/4 espresso, 1/4 steamed milk, and as much foam as you like. They set the foamed milk in the fridge for a couple minutes before adding it to the drink. that makes it smoother and creamier and a little denser. It’s good.
*If you like good, “old world” pizza, this is the place to stop (in the cafe). Definitely not “Chicago style”. Excellent mushroom fettuccine, too. Everything’s good.
I agree - americano - everywhere I’ve head of it. No, not a put down. Italians also drink it. It’s a stretcher, I suspect, and seems to be popular with pastries.