There’s something really rewarding about pouring a delicious cup of coffee that you’ve made yourself, from scratch. You’ve roasted those fresh, raw green coffee beans to perfection, ground them, and used them to brew a rich, decadent blend of flavours. But what do you do now?
There are so many types of coffee drinks that it would take pages and pages to create a comprehensive list. But if you’re looking for a guide to a few of the most common coffee beverages, or just inspiration for a different way to prepare your morning java, read on for a few ideas!
Perhaps the most fun hot beverage to make at home is the espresso – it’s fairly dramatic, as drinks go. The coffee is packed tightly into a metal filter basket, and locked into position on the machine. When you initiate the brewing process, things become gradually very loud, which can be a bit alarming the first time you do it. But it’s just the steam and water pressure building up, ready to be forced through the ground coffee to form your espresso. Because of how it’s brewed, the resulting liquid is different from regular filter coffee – it’s thicker, like a syrup, and has a distinctive reddish-brown foam floating in the top. This is known as the “crema”.
Espresso contains something like three times more caffeine than ordinary coffee, which is why it tends to be measured in shots rather than large mugs! Hardcore caffeine addicts will quite happily down these shots as they are. But the espresso is also commonly used as a base for many, many other types of coffee drinks.
One of the best known is probably the Cappuccino. Hot, foamed milk is poured on to the espresso, giving this drink its characteristic velvety texture and smoothness. A layer of foam on the top (often decorated with chocolate powder or cinnamon) acts as insulation, keeping the drink hot for longer. The milk to espresso ration is very important when making a cappuccino, so this is actually one of the trickier espresso-based drinks to master. But when you get really good at it, you can have lots of fun with “coffee art” - making artistic shapes while you pour the milk on to the espresso!
Then there’s the Latte, which is one of the most popular coffee drinks today – it is said to have been invented in a café in California, where customers were not used to the strong flavour of a traditional European cappuccino, and apparently it was usual for them to ask for more milk in their drink. Eventually the barista put a new drink on to the menu, calling it a café latte: it contained the same amount of espresso, but lots of steamed milk, making it a milder, longer, less intense beverage.
For a more luxurious treat, try making a Café Mocha. A variant of the traditional latte, a mocha also contains espresso and steamed milk, but there’s a portion of chocolate added to the mix, giving it a sweeter taste. Unlike the cappucino, there’s no layer of foam on the top of a mocha – but you’ll often find a layer of whipped cream instead, and maybe even some marshmallow! The mocha is a seriously indulgent drink.
These are just a few of the best known coffee drinks, but there are many, many more. From Americano to Frappé, from Café Noir to Iced Coffee, from Macchiato to Coffee Liqueurs… the possibilities are limitless.
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