Gourmet Coffee Drinks

Some people want to know what are the most popular gourmet coffee drinks? Spend some time with a barista and they will let you know what are the most common drinks.  Here is a list of the most basic and popular gourmet coffee drinks:

Caffè Latte - A caffè latte is simply a shot or two of bold, tasty espresso with fresh, sweet steamed milk over it.

Caffè Mocha – Espresso with bittersweet mocha sauce and steamed milk.

Cappuccino – Espresso with steamed milk, topped with a deep layer of foam.

Caramel Macchiato – Freshly steamed milk with vanilla-flavored syrup, marked with espresso and finished with caramel sauce.

Espresso – Pure, rich coffee flavor with a heavy roast.  This is the foundation for lattes, cappuccinos and any espresso-based beverages.

Flavored Latte – Espresso and steamed milk, flavored with syrup.

These are just a few of the basic drinks.  The world of gourmet coffee drinks is huge and as varied as people are!  Next time you’re at Starbucks listen to what other people are ordering – it will amaze you!

Cappuccino Art

I’m really digging the world of coffee art!  Baristas with some serious talent are making beautiful pictures in your morning cup of coffee.  I have to admit I have not seen this in my city, but I’m hoping it will make its way here one day soon!

Caramel Macchiato

Have you ever been to Starbucks and heard someone order something like a “grande iced half caf triple mocha latte macciato”?  It is nuts, but real.  Bless those Barista’s hearts!  My favorite drink to order is a grande iced skinny dirty chai with two shots.  That is basically an iced chai with skim milk and a couple shots of espresso thrown in for good measure.

Anyways, here a few gourmet coffee drinks you have probably heard of but possibly wondered what is in them…

Caffè Latte - A caffè latte is simply a shot or two of bold, tasty espresso with fresh, sweet steamed milk over it.

Caffè Mocha – Espresso with bittersweet mocha sauce and steamed milk.

Cappuccino – Espresso with steamed milk, topped with a deep layer of foam.

Caramel Macchiato – Freshly steamed milk with vanilla-flavored syrup, marked with espresso and finished with caramel sauce.

Espresso – Pure, rich coffee flavor with a heavy roast.  This is the foundation for lattes, cappuccinos and any espresso-based beverages.

Flavored Latte – Espresso and steamed milk, flavored with syrup.

These are just a few of the basic drinks.  Of course, many of them come in various flavors and can also be ordered iced.  Also, for the calorie conscious they can be ordered “Skinny” meaning made with skim milk, sugar free syrups or without sugar at all.

But for many folks who enjoy gourmet coffee, that’s just not good enough. A coffee is more of a creation than just a drink, and there are many traditional gourmet drinks to choose from.

Most gourmet coffee drinks are actually made with espresso rather than coffee, but for anyone brewing at home without an espresso machine, you can easily use strong brewed coffee instead. Won’t be quite the same, though. Still worth experimenting with if you want something different in the morning.

You’re probably pretty familiar with most drinks even if you haven’t enjoyed them personally. The best known gourmet espresso drinks are the cappuccino, the latte and the macchiato. They sound wonderfully Italian, and actually aren’t all that hard to make yourself.

How to Make Gourmet Coffee Drinks

Macchiato

A macchiato is just a sophisticated way of saying “with a spoon of foamed milk on top”. That’s it. Add some foamed milk on top of your coffee or espresso, and you have yourself a macchiato. Possibly the easiest gourmet coffee drink there is.

Latte

A latte isn’t that much more complicated either. You can make a latte with 1 part coffee, and 2 parts hot or steamed milk. A simple ratio would be a half cup of coffee, with 1 cup of steamed milk added. It’s a very creamy and milk coffee drink.

Cappuccino

And the final gourmet coffee drink would be the cappuccino. This time, you use equal parts hot coffee and steamed milk (so perhaps 1 cup of coffee and 1 cup of steamed milk). On top there is also a layer of foamed milk. A stronger coffee drink than the latte.

The final variation that you usually see in the coffee shop is the addition of some chocolate syrup to either drink, to make a mocha latte or a mochaccino.