Check out the diagram bellow.  It lays out the differences between the classic espresso-based drinks.  Not all baristas (the Italian word for bartender) are trained properly in the art of making these drinks, which can result in sub-par coffee drinks.  This diagram provides a comparison between the main espresso-based drinks such as the proper proportions of espresso and steamed milk.  A good example is that there can be a bit of confusion between the differences of the cappuccino and the latte.  I’d like to go over that in great detail in a future post, but for now enjoy this diagram.  It shows the proper pronunciation of the classics and the proper proportions of the drink mixtures for each drink.  Click on the image below to view a larger size.  Enjoy!

espresso-drinks-diagham

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This morning I picked up freshly roasted coffee from Stockton & Graham in Raleigh.  Our whole bean coffee and whole bean espresso blend are both roasted the day I pick them up.  Today I picked up the whole bean Brazil Cerrado and Sumatra Mandheling that I ordered, which was roasted this morning.  Sumatra Mandheling is a dark roast. 

Here are some interesting facts specifically about Sumatra Madheling Coffee.  My source is Wikipedia. 

Sumatra Mandheling is roasted at the province of North Sumatra, Indonesia.  “North Sumatra (Indonesian: Sumatera Utara) is a province of Indonesia on the Sumatra island. It is the most populous Indonesian province outside of Java. It is slightly larger than Sri Lanka in area.  Sumatra Mandheling and Sumatra Lintong coffee beans are grown in North Sumatra and largely exported to the United States. Mandheling is named after the similarly spelt Mandailing people located in North Sumatra, Indonesia. The name is the result of a misunderstanding by the first foreign purchaser of the variety, and no coffee is actually produced in the “Mandailing region”. Lintong on the other hand, is named after the Lintong district, also located in North Sumatra.”  Indonesia is currently the fourth largest producer of coffee in the world!  I’ll go over Brazil Cerrado in a future blog post.  Here are some photographs I took early today of the coffee I’d just picked up.

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When our customers come to the Royal Bean Coffee House to order a macchiato a majority of them are looking for the kind you’ll see in most franchise coffee houses and cafés.  I’ll have to admit that I prefer the nontraditional or original macchiato because it’s more of a latté rather than a shot of espresso like that traditional variety.  “Macchiato’ simply means ‘marked’ or ‘stained’, and in the case of caffè macchiato, this means literally ‘espresso stained/marked with milk.” In the case of the Caffé macchiato it simply is an espresso with steamed milk.  It’s a drink of espresso coffee with a ‘small’ amount of steamed milk on top.  Hence, it is “marked” with cold milk or steamed milk.  This is a particularly strong drink enjoyed by those who can appreciate a pure espresso drink.

This is a photograph I took today at the Royal Bean Coffee house of a traditional macchiato more or less.  This particular version is “marked” with steamed milk.  The macchiato we made is topped with steamed milk, though a true traditional version would have only about a teaspoon of cold or steamed milk.

Here’s a good description from Wikipedia, “The reason this coffee drink got its name was that the baristas needed to show the serving waiters the difference between an espresso and an espresso with a tiny bit of milk in it; the latter was ‘marked’.

“In the United States, ‘macchiato’ is more likely to describe latte macchiato, and thus arises the common confusion that ‘macchiato’ literally means ‘foam’, or that a macchiato must necessarily have foam. (As the term ‘macchiato’ to describe this type of coffee predates the common usage of foam in coffee by centuries, the staining ‘agent’ the additive that lightens the dark espresso, is traditionally the milk, not the foam).”

The image below is a photograph I took at the Royal Bean Coffee House today.  In this  example we’re looking at a latte macchiato which is marked with caramel.  This is quite tasty when you drink it from the latte mug you see here because you can taste the caramel and foam before the latte espresso.  I personally love this this delicious creation.  It’s a bit of heaven in a cup.

Here’s a good description from Wikipedia:

“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); if cold, macchiato freddo (marked cold). The choice between ‘caldo’ and ‘freddo’ is usually a matter of personal tastes.

Some newer cafes tend to add steamed milk to the espresso in a 1:1 ratio (or more), as well as mixing the milk into the espresso, making it more like a miniature caffè latte or cortado. Some people call this piccolo latte, particularly in Australia.

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 caffè 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 caffè latte; caffè lattes are normally around one-eighth espresso to seven-eighths steamed milk.”

Photography by Taylor Dail