Coffee knowledge | How to make a cup of latte?

Latte has always been a controversial drink , and there are many debates on the question of "how to make a cup of latte".

There are three main schools of thought regarding latte coffee:

Italian latte : It requires one espresso and one milk (150-200 ml). Latte has more milk and less coffee, which is very different from cappuccino. Pour hot milk directly into the espresso. In fact, there is no rule on how much milk to add, and you can freely adjust it according to your personal taste.

Americano latte : Add hot milk to espresso and top it with some frothy cold milk to create an Americano latte.

European Latte (Café au Latte) : Pour espresso and hot milk into the cup at the same time, and finally put milk foam on the surface.

The common point of these three schools is that they all agree that latte is a combination of espresso and milk , and the usual production order is espresso, hot milk, and milk foam. Because of its strong "milky flavor", latte is usually classified as a dairy product on the Italian menu.

However, even in some Italian cafés we found that they add the espresso last in order to achieve the "layering" effect. But the professional consensus is that it should be added first.

These types of lattes also differ in what cups they are served in, with American lattes usually served in ceramic cappuccino cups, while Italian lattes and European lattes are usually served in glass cups. This may seem slightly different, but there are still big differences between them, especially in terms of serving size.

Some baristas believe that latte should be served in a 150-200 ml glass, while others believe that it doesn’t matter whether a glass is used or not, as long as the quantity is correct.

How many milliliters should a latte be? There seems to be no professional consensus on this topic. It is generally believed that the amount of latte coffee is between 150-300 milliliters, and the most common is 240 milliliters. This size glass usually requires a portion of espresso, milk and about 1 cm thick milk foam.

So what is the right way to make a latte? Essentially, there is no right way. Apart from the espresso, milk and foam, the customer is free to choose what cup to use and how much. The beloved latte itself is so diverse!