Pop quiz
I like my coffee the way I like my women:
a) Rich and dark
b) Milky and warm
c) Bitter and hot
Ordering coffee can be intimidating. I would like to quickly introduce you to four common coffee orders (I said five in the video):
- Café au lait (French)
- Espresso (Italian)
- Caffè latte (Italian)
- Cappuccino (Italian)
Keep reading this article to see the video, transcript and further sources.
Transcript
Hey CultureCats, this is Joshua Hwang frothing things up with another 90 Seconds to Culture VideoCast.
Coffee Decoded
“Hi, Give me a grande soy half-caf latte, extra hot.”
Coffee is not that complicated, I swear. This video will quickly cover 4 popular classic coffee orders in a progressive logical way, so that you can remember them readily.
Now, in North America at least, if you take brewed coffee and add an equal portion of steamed milk. You get “coffee with milk” or Café au Lait, the name of this drink.
If you are looking for a bolder taste than brewed coffee, may I recommend a shot of espresso? It is comes from forcing pressurized hot water over very finely ground coffee beans. This creates a much thicker and concentrated coffee.
AND because of its concentrated flavour, it is used to flavour drinks.
If you enjoy the distinct taste of espresso but find it too strong, add hot water to dilute it. Who would dilute such a great drink? Americans. Hence the name caffe americano.
On to the coffee drinks with milk.
The caffe latte is a one third espresso and two thirds steamed milk, (latte means milk in Italian) Because of the steaming there is small layer of foam on top. The foaming makes the milk taste a little sweeter.
You really like the caffe latte, but wish it had more foam? Boom: Cappuccino, which is roughly one third espresso with one third steamed milk with a thick one third foamed milk later floating on top.
Sources / Further Reading:
Wikipedia: Espresso
Wikipedia: Coffee Preparation
Xomba: Starbucks a guide to ordering
(image by bitzcelt)
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{ 10 comments… read them below or add one }
All you get here (and in China) are coffee-based drinks. I’m amazed at how hard it is to find a plain cup of coffee.
Yeah, my mom was mentioning to me that no Korean restaurants, even in Canada, serve coffee. Which is a little annoying, because a lot of people want post-meal coffees.
Seems like a bad business move to me, but that’s another story.
I wonder why just plain coffee is hard to find. I imagine it’s easier and cheaper to produce coffee-flavoured/based drinks. I’m sure Koreans would splurge though, so I don’t understand.
Actually, virtually all Korean restaurants serve coffee, but it’s that sweet instant mix in tiny little cups. It comes free from a machine though. Some nicer restaurants will give you an Americano if you order coffee after.
While we’re here, let’s talk about the most expensive coffee drink you ever ordered:
Cafe latte, Beijing Capital Hotel, 56 yuan ($10.50 Canadian)
Wow, that’s the most expensive coffee I’ve ever heard. Since I usually drink brewed coffee or Americanos, I was surprised to see a large caffe latte cost $5 (CAD). That foaming sure is delicious though.
Adeel, I’ve heard there are Starbucks in Korea, have you seen them yet? I saw one on wikipedia I thought it was surreal. (The sign was in korean, which is sort of weird.)
Yeah, there are quite a few. There obviously aren’t as many as there are back home, but there are 3 in the city where I live (population of 1 million) and I would guess that there are maybe 30 in Seoul. There’s only one with the sign in Korean, and it’s actually on a cheesy street with overpriced trinkets and souvenirs for tourists. The rest are identical to Starbucks back home, with minor differences, such as having only milk, no cream.
C! You like ‘em bitter and hot! I hate coffee but loved the post, especially the monocled bunny.
There are Starbuckses EVERYWHERE in Seoul (and Dunkin Donutses too). They misspell things and it’s funny (’Vahilla’ Bean Latte, anyone?).
I like my coffee like I like my women… ground up and in the freezer.
I know, terrible, it was on a T-shirt.
Richard (I never picked up on the subtle shift to Rich), that’s excellent. Thank you.
I’m sure I’ve said worse. However, I have not put worse on a t-shirt.