We Italians are the masters of customizing bar orders. Everyone has their own specific espresso pairing, those who want it regular, short or ristretto, with lots of milk, little or plain, with more or less cream, hot, cold or lukewarm, cocoa or cinnamon, over or under milk, and so on.
But for a while now we’ve started to hear some new names that are a bit strange, often due to foreign influences, social trends, or simply the discovery of a new, better taste!
Cafe latte or latte macchiato? Cappuccino or flat white? Macchiato or cortado? Americano or long black? Moroccan or mocha? Iced latte or dirty coffee?
So here is the new article from ABCoffee, the weekly blog of Caffè Ernani, with all the new and modern coffee drinks, with all the differences from the more “traditional” ones!
Espresso: Ristretto, regular or long?
Let’s start with a traditional but sometimes misunderstood drink: espresso.
A ristretto is a very concentrated and full-bodied espresso, usually never exceeding 20ml in a cup, and having more acidity and sweetness, while the bitterness is “cut off.”
Caffeine is also present in smaller amounts than normal or long.
Normal espresso is the definition of balance, in which acidity, sweetness and bitterness come together in a symphony of intense aromas, with a round body and velvety crema. The cup dose now lies in the 20-30ml range.
Finally, the long coffee is on the contrary a very diluted drink, where the aromatic intensity and the body are decidedly lower, while the coffee content increases. I will increase the yellow portion of the drink to favor acidity and sweetness. In this case we will use a dose of 30-50 ml.
Therefore:
- Order a ristretto if you want a strong, slightly bitter espresso;
- Order the regular espresso if you like a balanced coffee;
- Order a long espresso if you prefer a less intense, more bitter coffee or if you need caffeine!
American or Long Black?
We all know the Americano, it is a drink based on an espresso in a large cup, diluted with hot water. There are those who love it and those who hate it.
Similar to the first one, however, there is a new drink, coming from England, that is making inroads into the hearts of many, as it combines the taste of an Americano with the creaminess of an espresso. I’m talking about the Long Black.
In this case, in fact, you first fill the cup with hot water, or cold if you prefer, and only then you extract a double espresso. Thanks to this reverse step during preparation, all the espresso cream remains on the surface!
Macchiato or Cortado?
We all know the espresso macchiato all too well: a normal espresso with the addition of about 10-30ml of frothed, creamy milk.
The cortado is halfway between a caffè macchiato and a cappuccino, so to speak. Specifically, two espressos are extracted in a glass cup of about 100ml, to then add about 40-80ml of hot milk. This time, however, the milk must not be too creamy, because the layer of cream in the cup must be thin (no more than half a centimeter).
So order a macchiato if you want a smaller drink and if you like the cream of the frothed milk. Instead, choose the cortado if you want to feel a more intense coffee aroma in the milk and if you don’t like the milk too “frothy”.
Moroccan or Mochaccino?
There are those who prepare the marocchino with only cocoa, those with chocolate topping and those with Nutella… but what is the correct recipe?
The marocchino, according to the codified recipe of the Italian coffee shop, should be composed of an espresso in a glass cup, a sprinkling of cocoa and then the addition of very whipped and creamy hot milk. There should be almost only cream in the cup.
The mochaccino is instead the variant with the chocolate topping. Starting from the base of an espresso in a glass, you then add an equal amount of chocolate topping and whipped milk cream.
Cappuccino or Flat white?
These are perhaps two of the most popular drinks in bars, but the differences are not always very clear, also because they really seem to be the same thing.
Let’s see them together:
- The first thing that changes is the cup, the cappuccino cup is slightly smaller, generally with a capacity of 150-180ml, while the Flat white requires a cup of around 150-240ml;
- Then the cappuccino is made with a single espresso, while the flat white with a double;
- Finally, the cappuccino requires very creamy frothed milk, with a thick layer of cream, even up to 2cm, while the flat white requires much more elastic frothed milk, with a thin layer of cream, no more than half a centimetre, also perfect for Latte Art designs!
So, in other words:
- Order a cappuccino if you like creamy milk and want to smell less of the coffee aroma;
- Order a flat white instead if you prefer to taste more of the coffee mixed with milk, for a more smooth and well-balanced drink.
Latte macchiato or caffe latte?
These drinks are also very similar and for this reason they are often confused even by those who prepare them.
Let’s get straight to the differences:
- Both are made with an espresso and hot frothed milk, in a large glass cup, between 150 and 360ml;
- The first difference is that in the Latte Macchiato the milk is poured first and only then an espresso is poured on the surface, while in the Caffè Latte the espresso is poured first and only then the hot milk;
- The second difference is that the latte macchiato requires a very thick layer of cream, even up to 3cm, while the caffè latte does not require cream, but only hot milk.
As for the differences between cappuccino and flat white:
- Order a latte if you like creamy milk;
- Order a caffè latte instead if you don’t like frothed milk.
And finally…
Iced latte or dirty coffee?
I admit that this last difference lies more in the “instagrammable” effect of the second drink, rather than a real difference in taste.
Iced latte is in fact nothing more than a caffè latte, therefore espresso with milk, this time cold, and with the addition of ice in the cup.
While Dirty coffee, which is currently very popular on TikTok, is a caffè latte where the espresso is poured last over the milk, usually cold or very cold, so that the drink seems really “dirty”: In fact, woe betide anyone who mixes it, otherwise there would no longer be the “wow” effect!
The difference that is immediately obvious is that Dirty Coffee, even when drunk slowly, is not watered down with ice, as it is not actually present.
What’s your favorite espresso recipe?
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