Items16The creator’s order
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RistrettoRistretto is Italian for "restricted," and that is the whole idea: the same dose of coffee as an espresso, but the shot is cut short at roughly half to two-thirds of the water. What lands in the cup is a small, syrupy mouthful with concentrated sweetness, because the pull stops before the more…0 - 2
EspressoEvery other drink here starts with this: hot water forced at high pressure through a puck of finely ground coffee, giving a short, dense shot topped with crema, the lighter-colored foam that pressure creates. That crema arrived with the spring-lever machines Achille Gaggia developed in Milan, which…0 - 3
LungoThe ristretto's opposite. Lungo means "long" in Italian: the same dose of coffee, but about twice the water runs through it, so the shot is bigger and milder in flavor.
The key distinction is that all that water passes through the grounds. That makes a lungo different from an americano or long…0 - 4
Caffè americanoEspresso first, then hot water poured on top, usually in a larger cup of around 8 to 10 ounces. The water breaks up most of the crema, and the result drinks much like a strong cup of drip coffee with espresso's flavor.
The popular story is that American soldiers in Italy during World War II…0 - 5
Long blackThe Australian and New Zealand answer to the americano, built the other way around: hot water goes into the cup first, then a double shot of espresso on top. Pouring in that order keeps the crema intact, so the drink looks and tastes more like espresso than a watered-down one.
It is also smaller,…0 - 6
Caffè macchiatoEspresso macchiato
Macchiato means "stained" or "spotted" in Italian, and the drink is exactly that: a single espresso in a small demitasse, marked with a spoonful or two of milk foam. It is meant to be two or three ounces, gone in a few sips, with the milk just taking the edge off.
This is the…0 - 7
Espresso con pannaCon panna is Italian for "with cream," and that is the whole recipe: a single or double espresso topped with a spoonful of whipped cream. The cold, sweet cream rounds off the shot's bitterness, but there is no milk to dilute it, so it still drinks like espresso.
Order one when an espresso…0 - 8
CortadoFrom the Spanish cortar, "to cut": the milk cuts the espresso's sharpness. A cortado is espresso with roughly an equal amount of warm milk, sometimes up to twice as much, and little or no foam, because the milk is only lightly heated rather than stretched.
It comes from Spain, with some accounts…0 - 9
CortadoThe Gibraltar, San Francisco's cortado
Two shots of espresso and about two ounces of steamed milk, served in a 4.5-ounce tapered glass. The drink takes its name from that glass, Libbey's Gibraltar line, cheap but distinctive tumblers that Blue Bottle Coffee owner James Freeman started using in San…0 - 10
LattePiccolo latte, the small Australian latte
Piccolo means "small" in Italian, but the drink is an Australian café invention with roots in Sydney and Melbourne, not an import from Italy. It is a single ristretto shot topped with steamed milk in a small glass, roughly a third of the milk of a regular…0