CHICCHI

There are many different types of coffee available from various parts of the world. There are different types of roasts, cappuccinos, lattes and the best-selling instant. There are a few tips to remember when selecting your coffee.

Caffe Latte

The latte or cafe latte is one of the most popular coffees. It is, just like the cappuccino, an espresso based drink topped with milk. The difference between the cappuccino and the latte is mainly the amount of foam. Sometimes there is a difference in size, the latte is usually a slightly larger drink. The technique used for steaming the milk should be the same however.

An important thing to think about is the size of the cup. To achieve a good balance between milk and espresso you usually need a cup the size of 5 to 6 oz (150 to 180ml), but this is dependent on your espresso base. The best way to find out is to simply try. Usually you use a porcelain cup but some places have lattes in glasses. The porcelain cup keeps the drink warmer and is usually preferred by the consumer. Make sure that you pre-warm the cups, keep them on top of the espresso machine.

The most important ingredient to a perfect Latte is the espresso. Price is an important factor here, good espresso usually cost a bit more. Just make sure that your espresso is fresh and still hot before you pour the milk in to the cup. You will need an espresso that has the right characteristics to ‘break through’ the milk.

Cappuccino

A cappuccino is an Italian coffee drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk foam.

The name cappuccino comes from the Capuchin friars, possibly referring to the colour of their habits or to the aspect of their tonsured (white) heads, surrounded by a ring of brown hair.

A cappuccino is traditionally served in a porcelain cup, which has far better heat-retention characteristics than glass or paper. The foam on top of the cappuccino acts as an insulator and helps retain the heat of the liquid, allowing it to stay hot longer. The foam may optionally have powder (commonly cocoa, cinnamon or nutmeg) sprinkled on top.

A cappuccino is similar to a caffee latte in that both add frothed milk to espresso, but differs in two respects. Firstly, a cappuccino is traditionally prepared with much less steamed or textured milk than a latte – the latte is claimed to have been invented as simply a cappuccino with more milk. Secondly, cappuccinos feature a distinctive layer of foam on top, which is lesser or absent in lattes. There is some overlap in the usage: a wet cappuccino is virtually the same as a short latte with more foam.

Macchiato

Macchiato means "stained" in Italian. Traditionally it is made with one shot of espresso, and the small amount of added milk was the "stain." However, later the "mark" or "stain" came to refer to the foamed milk that was put on top to indicate the beverage has a little milk in it (usually about a teaspoon).

The Macchiato can be prepared either with steamed hot milk or cold milk. If hot, the espresso's name would become macchiato caldo (marked hot) or macchiato freddo (marked cold). The choice between "caldo" and "freddo" is usually a matter of personal tastes.

The other variant of the term, latte macchiato, conversely means "milk stained/marked (with espresso)", and indicates milk with just a little espresso in it (always less than in a caffee latte). However, in certain preparations (which differ from place to place), latte macchiato has not much difference in milk-to-espresso ratio when compared to the caffee latte;  caffee lattes are normally one-third espresso to two-thirds steamed milk.

There is no official rule on what exactly a Macchiato is so it’s a good idea to ask the barista how he/she makes it.

Americano or Filter Coffee

Probably both if you want to please your customers. It all comes down to personal preference. One thing is for sure: an Americano is not the same as a filter coffee.

An Americano is an Espresso diluted with water. You get the best flavour with 1 oz of Espresso and 4 to 5 oz of hot water (not boiling). Start preparing your Americano by filling your cup with hot water. This allow the hot water to cool a little whilst you are preparing the Espresso. Now pour the Espresso on top of the hot water. Pouring the Espresso on top of the water will give you the most crema and you avoid the chance of burning your Espresso. Usually served black, but milk can be added if desirable (hot or cold).

A filter coffee is usually made with a filter brewing machine. Gravity does the work here for you and there is no pressure used unlike with an Espresso. Hot water (not boiling) is running through a filter (filled with ground coffee) into a glass pot or vacuum flask. It is recommend to use about 60 grams of coffee per 1.5 litre of water. Use more or less coffee if you want a stronger or weaker brew. You can use a permanent filter for a different flavour.

The glass pot used for filter coffee is only good for about 20 minutes. Heating the coffee any longer will result in loss of flavours. The filter coffee that has been brewed in a flask is good for about 3 hours making it a much better option for most businesses.

Filter coffee is made from single origin coffees. An Espresso is made from a blend of coffee beans. The reason for this is that the espresso coffee machine extracts more flavours from the coffee and highlights the flavours (about 25% with an espress coffee machine, about 15% with a filter brewing machine). A Kenyan coffee for example will be lovely for a filter coffee, but it would be to acidic for an Espresso so you have to blend it. Filter coffees are therefore great for tasting single origin coffees and it’s great fun to try different coffees everyday.

Filter coffees have more depth and a larger range of flavours than an Americano. An Espresso is not designed to be diluted with a lot of water and the drink is simply an easier version of a filter coffee (convenience). It is possible to produce a filter coffee with an espresso machine. However, the ground coffee has to be a lot coarser than the Espresso grind and the group head needs to be set at the correct temperature for filter coffee.