If you are a coffee drinker, then you would definitely come across a plethora of Italian terms. You would hear espresso, latte, cafe latte, cappuccino, macchiato, double espresso and triple espresso, latte macchiato, espresso macchiato, café breve, and café mocha among others. Then you would get your very own Americano.
Italy is not the biggest coffee producer in the world. Actually, it is not even in the top ten of coffee producers. So when you hear these Italian terms referring to various kinds of coffee, don’t presume that they are Italian coffees. They simply mean that the kind of coffee you are having, that is the preparation, had originated in Italy.
Before we talk about the difference between cappuccino and macchiato, it is essential to highlight the fact that there is no standard or globally accepted rule of defining what a cappuccino is or what a café latte would be like. Baristas have their takes, cafes come up with their unique blends and there is a generally accepted trend or proportion of coffee, water, milk, foam and cream. There could be other ingredients as well.
What Makes Cappuccino and Macchiato Different?
Cappuccino is espresso, steam milk on top of the espresso and milk foam on top of the steam milk. Many people think that the cappuccino would be one-third espresso, one-third steam milk and one-third milk foam. That is not an accurate perception. You can make your cappuccino this way but it wouldn’t be the best tasting cup. The quantity of espresso should be more than the steamed milk and should be a tad less than the milk foam. If you use more steam milk than espresso and milk foam, then you have a café latte. Cappuccino doesn’t have any cream. If you go for some whipped cream on top of the cappuccino, then you get café mocha, although many people go for whipped cream with their cappuccino or just the plain espresso.
Macchiato is just espresso and milk foam. It doesn’t have any steamed milk, whipped cream or even water. Espresso with water becomes Americano. Espresso with just steamed milk becomes flat white and espresso with just whipped cream becomes espresso con panna. Macchiato is Italian for ‘marked’. It is relatively inexpensive and very easy to make. There are variants of macchiato, just as there are variants of cappuccino. You can have basic macchiato or ice café macchiato. Typically, the basic one is also referred to as espresso macchiato.
