Types of Coffee Drinks Explained

The building blocks (espresso, milk, foam)

Three ingredients make almost the entire espresso menu. Get these three ideas straight and every drink name below becomes self-explanatory.

• Espresso— a small, concentrated shot of coffee pushed through finely ground beans under pressure. It is the base of nearly everything here and, by itself, the most intense way to drink coffee. How you make it is covered in how to pull an espresso shot.
• Steamed milk— milk heated and gently spun with a steam wand until it is warm and slightly sweet. This is the body of a milk drink; more steamed milk means a larger, milder, creamier cup.
• Foam — air whipped into the milk. A little air makes silky microfoam (glossy, paint-like, used for latte art); a lot of air makes the thick, dry foam that caps a cappuccino. The amount of foam is what most separates one milk drink from the next.

Everything that follows is a ratio of these three. A drink with lots of espresso and barely any milk is short and strong; a drink with a single shot lost in a tall glass of milk is mild and creamy. That is the whole game.

Black espresso drinks (ristretto, lungo, americano)

These have no milk at all. They are variations on the shot itself, or the shot diluted with water.

• Espresso (the shot)— the concentrated base, served on its own. A "double" is the standard cafe pour. Small, intense, topped with crema.
• Ristretto— a "restricted" shot: the same grounds pulled to less liquid than a normal espresso (roughly a 1:1 ratio of coffee to espresso). It tends to taste sweeter and more concentrated, with less of the sharp or bitter edge that comes at the end of a longer pull.
• Lungo— a "long" shot: more water pushed through the same grounds, giving a larger, thinner, more bitter drink than a standard espresso. It is the opposite move to a ristretto.
• Americano — espresso with hot water added after the shot is pulled. It turns a small, intense espresso into a full mug of black coffee without the bitterness of over-extraction, because you are diluting rather than pulling a longer shot. The strength is yours to set by how much water you add.
• Red eye— a cup of regular brewed (drip) coffee with a shot of espresso dropped in. It is the "more caffeine, please" order. Variations with two or three shots go by other nicknames.

An americano can be confused with drip coffee, but they are made completely differently — one is a diluted espresso shot, the other is water dripped through a bed of coarser grounds. If that distinction is fuzzy, the coffee vs espresso guide walks through it.

Milk drinks by foam level (macchiato to cappuccino)

Now add milk. The clearest way to line up the milk drinks is by how much milk and foam sit on top of the shot — from a drink that is almost pure espresso to one that is mostly milk. The table below is the quick reference; the notes after it explain each one.

• Macchiato— the name means "stained" or "marked." A traditional (espresso) macchiato is just a shot of espresso with a small dab of milk foam on top, so the espresso still leads. It is the milk drink closest to straight espresso. (Note: large chains use the word for a big, sweet, layered milk drink, which is a different thing.)
• Cortado — espresso "cut" with an equal amount of warm milk and very little foam, usually served small. It takes the edge off the espresso without burying it, so the coffee is still the star. Think of it as a stronger, less foamy relative of the flat white.
• Flat white — a small milk drink with a higher ratio of espresso to milk than a latte and a thin layer of glossy microfoam rather than a thick foam cap. It drinks stronger and more coffee-forward than a latte because the same shot sits in less milk.
• Latte— the most steamed milk of the group with only a thin cap of foam, served in a larger cup. It is the mildest and creamiest, which is why it is the popular default and the canvas for most latte art. We break the technique down in how to make a latte.
• Cappuccino — the classic recipe is equal thirds: one part espresso, one part steamed milk, one part airy foam. That generous, dry foam cap is what sets it apart from a latte — a cappuccino is lighter and foamier, a latte is milkier and heavier.

The thread through all of these is milk texture. The airy foam of a cappuccino and the tight microfoam of a flat white or latte come from how you introduce air with the steam wand, and pouring cleanly is easier with a proper jug — see the best milk pitchers and the full method in how to steam milk.

Mocha and flavored drinks

Flavored drinks are not new techniques — they are a milk drink with something sweet added. Understanding that keeps the menu simple.

• Mocha (caffe mocha) — essentially a latte with chocolate. Espresso, chocolate (syrup, powder or melted), and steamed milk, often finished with a little foam or whipped cream. It is the bridge between coffee and hot chocolate.
• Flavored lattes(vanilla, caramel, hazelnut and the like) — a latte with a pump or two of flavored syrup. The coffee and milk are made exactly the same way; only the sweetener changes.

Because the base drink is unchanged, once you can build a latte you can make any of these at home by stirring in chocolate or a syrup of your choice. Nothing about the espresso or the milk steaming is different.

Iced and cold options

Cold drinks split into two families, and it helps to know which is which because they taste and behave differently.

• Iced versions of espresso drinks — an iced latte is espresso poured over ice with cold milk; an iced americano is espresso over ice and cold water. These use the same espresso shot as their hot counterparts, just without steaming the milk. Some cafes top them with cold foam, a cold, frothed-milk layer that floats on top.
• Cold brew — a genuinely different drink. It is not espresso at all: coarse grounds are steeped in cold water for many hours and then filtered, producing a smooth, low-acidity concentrate served cold. Because it never touches heat or pressure, it tastes distinct from an iced espresso drink and is usually less sharp. (Iced coffee, by contrast, is normal hot-brewed coffee chilled over ice.)

So the same rule holds even in the cold case: most of the iced menu is the familiar espresso shot plus cold milk and ice, while cold brew stands on its own as a separate brewing method. If you want a home setup that can make the whole hot menu above — espresso plus a steam wand for milk — our best espresso machines for beginners roundup is the place to start.