Latte vs cappuccino
Lattes are great for people who don’t enjoy strong coffee tastes but still like coffee. There's a common theory that in Berkeley, California, back in the '50s, the current version with steamed milk was invented, but we can't be certain about that. In the original Italian version, the milk isn’t foamed like it is so commonly done today. OriginsĬoming from Italy, the combination of coffee and milk has been around for hundreds of years. Lattes are commonly served in all sizes, as it’s not as strong as cappuccinos in flavor. Texture (and obviously flavor) is also a priority here. The next 2/3 is steamed milk, with around a centimeter of frothed milk. Usually, it’s made with either a single or double shot of espresso, which comprises the first 1/3 of the drink. In Italian, latte means "milk," which is essentially what the drink is: steamed milk and coffee with a bit of foam on top. As the traditional drink is just 6 ounces, it’s not for someone who loves drinking large quantities to stay awake or stave off food cravings, for example. These tend to be people in their 40s and up rather than younger people always on the go. People who love coffee and sitting down to really savor the flavor tend to love cappuccinos. Each one is layered on top of the other instead of mixing. While this is how it got the name, the actual cappuccino was born in Italy around 1930, not too long after the espresso machine gained its first wave of popularity.ĭue to the machines becoming more popular and the overall economic improvement after WWII, the modern cappuccino came to light, which consists of equal parts: a rich shot of quality espresso, with steamed milk, and topped with an airy yet thick layer of foamed milk. As "capuchin" means "hood" in Italian, it was given its present-day name of "cappuccino" as a result. The meaning of the name is essentially, "coffee with cream and sugar." There was another very similar drink around back then, called the “Franziskaner." It featured more milk and was called this due to how the drink's color seemed to match the tan robes of Franciscan monks. Back in the 1700s, the drinks appeared under the moniker "Kapuziner" in Vienna. While the cappuccino hasn’t been around in the US for too long, it’s actually hundreds of years old in Italy and most of Europe.