A learning post for a pretentious coffee newbie: it turns out that “latte = coffee + milk”!

I have been drinking coffee for seven or eight years, especially in Shanghai, where coffee has become a daily routine. I have tried instant coffee from Maxwell House, Nestle, Ipoh to Starbucks and Lian Coffee. I once planned to join a Russian coffee shop.

I started with cappuccino. I liked it because of the romantic latte art, but I didn’t like the taste, it was too astringent (after learning, I realized that I hadn’t gotten used to the taste of coffee beans).

How many people fell in love with it because of latte art?

Then I came into contact with Blue Mountain coffee, which was given to me by a friend. I only knew that it was pure and expensive, but it was really bitter and would keep me awake after drinking it. Little did I know that it was named after its origin and was the best coffee. I started drinking latte because I followed others to try it. After drinking it, I found that I liked it very much. The taste was not astringent and had a strong coffee aroma. After that, I kept drinking it. Of course, I didn't know that latte was mainly made of milk, and I didn't know that there were full-fat and skim ones.

It is terrible not to learn. We touch many things too superficially and like to stay on the surface. After peeling away, we find that we are too innocent and still pretending. What stimulated me was when I bought coffee in Xinglong, the girl asked me:

“How do you usually take your coffee?”

“I usually drink latte.”

Obviously the answer is wrong!

"Here we usually refer to latte as coffee + sugar..."

Really? I'm practicing healthy eating, and I have a daily sugar limit! I was filled with mixed feelings at the time, and it was really unpleasant.

This incident inspired me to buy a book about coffee and start learning about it. You don’t know how much you can learn without reading the book. This post is just to talk about my understanding, not to tell the history of coffee. I will take down the pretense and get to know the categories of coffee.

The coffee we often drink on the market can be roughly divided into three categories (there are many types of coffee, the following are just some of the most common ones):

The first category: Espresso, or American coffee, black coffee, just pure coffee, nothing added.

The second category: coffee + milk, with different proportions, different tastes, and different forms of milk.

The third category: coffee + various exotic combinations, including chocolate, fruit, wine, etc.

Espresso , I first heard about it from a Shanghai Ningkou. It is actually Italian espresso, characterized by a strong coffee flavor. My friend said that when the mouth is tasteless, have a double espresso. Generally, there are two ways to drink it, with or without sugar.

Espresso extracted at high temperature and quickly has a rich aroma

Latte, my favorite. It's not what the little beauty said, latte = coffee + sugar. Latte is a must for breakfast for Italians, especially French people. Add fresh milk to espresso, less coffee and more milk, this is latte. If you want to absorb some fat, you can use whole milk, if not, use skim milk. It turns out that I like the taste of milk like a baby, the only difference is that the milk has a burnt taste.

I like the light color and light burnt smell of latte.

Cappuccino , the romantic cappuccino, is the opposite of latte, with more coffee and less milk. Macchiato , compared with cappuccino, has even less milk, with only a little milk foam on the surface. Con Panna , a combination of espresso + cream. In my opinion, these three categories are all coffee-based, supplemented by milk.

Irish Coffee , whiskey is added to the coffee. Don't drive after drinking such coffee, or you will feel dizzy! Mocha , the oldest coffee in the world, is the mocha we often drink, which is coffee with chocolate added. It tastes similar to hot cocoa. However, there are many ways to mix mocha, and the flavors are also very diverse.

There are more complex coffees than what I have mentioned here, but they basically cover some of the coffees commonly consumed on the market. Love what you do, learn what you do, understand the origin and culture of coffee, and take off the mask of pretense. I think this is my respect for coffee and the way I get along with myself.