Cappuccino
Equal thirds of espresso, milk and dense foam, served small. The classic proportions, and where cafés drift.
Espresso & milk drinks
What espresso actually is, and every milk drink built on top of it, from cappuccino to flat white.
A cappuccino, a flat white and a latte are the same two ingredients in three ratios. Learn the ratios and the whole café menu collapses into something you can make at home.
All categories
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Latte
The long milk drink, why yours tastes thin, and the ratio that gives it back its body.
Flat white
Antipodean, built on a double ristretto, microfoam only. What separates it from a latte, cup for cup.
Macchiato
An espresso marked with a spoon of milk, not the layered syrup drink a chain menu sells you.
Americano
Espresso plus hot water, and why the order you combine them in changes how the cup tastes.
Espresso recipes
Dose, yield and time for every espresso-based drink, written in grams so they repeat tomorrow.
Featured
Buying guides
What to buy, at every budget, and why.
Buying guides
The milk kit: jugs, thermometers and frothers
Which jug for which drink, whether a thermometer earns its place, and what a frother can and cannot do when the machine has no steam wand.
Recipes
Espresso drinks, filter builds and everything in between.
Café bombón
Espresso floated on sweetened condensed milk in a small glass, the Valencian way. Two layers, two ingredients, and a spoon to stir them together.
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- easy
Americano
A double espresso lengthened with hot water. The order you pour in decides whether the crema survives, and the water temperature decides whether it tastes flat.
- Time
- 3 min
- Difficulty
- easy
Cortado
A double espresso cut with the same volume of warm milk, served in 120 ml of glass. Balance rather than foam, and the shortest milk drink worth ordering.
- Time
- 4 min
- Difficulty
- easy
Cappuccino
Equal thirds of espresso, steamed milk and foam, served in a 150–180 ml cup. The classic ratio, and how to hit it at home.
- Time
- 5 min
- Difficulty
- medium
Articles
How much caffeine is in your cup
A double espresso holds less caffeine than a mug of filter, and roast level barely matters. The numbers, and where the intuitions go wrong.
The café menu, decoded
Ristretto, lungo, cortado, batch brew, single or double: what a specialty café menu is actually offering, and how to order the cup you want.
A cappuccino without an espresso machine
A moka pot or an AeroPress gives you concentrated coffee, not espresso. Here is how to build the drink around it, and three ways to foam milk with no wand.
Flat white or latte: what actually differs
Same two ingredients, two different drinks. The volume, the shot behind it and the milk texture all change, and each one follows from the first.
Latte art starts in the jug
Most failed patterns were lost during steaming, not pouring. Here is the texture to aim for, the kit that helps, and how to pour a heart.
Latte, cappuccino, flat white: the same two ingredients
Four drinks, one recipe. What actually separates a latte from a cappuccino, a flat white and a macchiato is cup size, milk volume and seconds of air.