Espresso is literally the mother (or may be father) of most of the specialty coffee drinks we consume at cafes. It’s the base. Many of the drinks we consume have at first their bottom filled with an espresso shot and then the ingredients.
Before we begin, let’s first know Espresso clearly!
What Is Espresso
An espresso is a drink made by using specialized equipment called Espresso machine. It is made by forcing little amount of boiling water under pressure through a tight puck of finely ground coffee beans. The resulting beverage is called espresso and has a layer of foam called crema on top which determines the quality of brewed espresso.
A series of espresso machines is available in the market varying in features and convenience. There are manual, semi-automatics and fully automatics. Manual allow controlling many aspects of brewing, whereas semi-automatics allow some. Fully automatic machines just need some press of buttons to choose the desired drink and the rest is done by the gizmo. Now days, people are more biased towards Super automatics as they are hassle free and saves time.
Popular Espresso Drinks
So, we know the basics of espresso; now let’s know some of the very popular espresso based drinks in America because I’ve seen people struggling finding differences between the many drinks on the menu. These are actually the basics of coffee, which you should know to really love coffee.
Let’s begin!
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Latte
We all have heard of it, and also have consumed it many times. It’s a 1:4:1 drink where one part is espresso; four parts are steamed milk; and one part is foamed milk. The top is decorated what we call commonly as Latte Art. If you don’t like a stronger coffee and love to play with milk, Latte is a good opt.
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Cappuccino
Again one of the most popular drink that everyone is familiar with. It looks similar to a latte but has stronger base of coffee. The ratio here is 1:1:1 which means one part of espresso, then one part of steamed milk and one part of foamed milk.
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Flat White
You can think of a Flat white as something similar to latte, but with a closer ratio between milk and espresso, usually 1:3 where 1 is espresso and 3 parts are micro-foam or steamed milk. The beverage originated from Australia, but New Zealand also claims that Flat white first originated there.
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Americano
For those who don’t love milk at all are going to love this drink. It is made by diluting hot water with espresso. The strength of this drink depends upon how many shots of espresso are used and, how much of hot water is diluted. The resulting brew has a strength somewhat similar to regular drip coffee, but with a different taste.
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Cortado
People who love strong coffee but don’t like plain shots prefer this drink. It’s a 1:1 drink where one part of espresso is mixed with one part of steamed milk. The resulting beverage is both strong, and with milk.
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Mocha
It’s a kind of latte infused with chocolate or we can call it a stronger base coffee with chocolate flavor. It is made by mixing 2 shots of espresso, 2 parts of hot chocolate and 1 part of steamed milk. The top again is decorated with a little foamed milk.
In the End
The above were some of the very popular espresso infused drinks and you can always spot them on most of the café menus. Hope you had a good time reading them and have gained some more insights about the coffee world.