Gourmet coffee drinks at home are easy with a few simple directions.
Cappuccino and cafe latte are drinks that many coffee lovers only order at the coffee shop, preferring to drink coffee brewed at home either black or with a bit of cream and sugar. But when you crave a chocolate at home, you can make exactly what you want without a trip to the coffee house. Or experiment with different versions of cappuccino and lattes when you're paying pennies per cup at home instead of several dollars at the coffee house.
If you've wondered how to make cappuccino and cafe late at home, this article is for you. You don't want the technicalities, just simple, plain language help to brew and serve great coffee drinks.
Both the cappuccino and cafe latte are based on espresso. By having the proper equipment, you can brew and concoct coffee creations without ever going to barrista school. Let's assume that you have a standard espresso machine capable of foaming (frothing) milk. In addition, you'll need to have gourmet coffee beans finely ground for espresso, milk (I prefer skim milk) , and the flavoring you want (optional).
Making the espresso
Cappuccino and late drinks begin the same, with the espresso. To make the espresso, you place your espresso ground beans into the portafilter and tamp it with enough pressure to press the ground coffee together and leave the top surface smooth. Then place the filter into the machine and begin to steam the milk to at least 140 degrees or hotter if you prefer. That way you can start mixing your coffee drink without letting the espresso shots sit after brewing. Go ahead and brew two ounces of espresso for one drink.
Then follow the instructions for cappuccino and late as listed below. The recipes are actually quite similar with some important differences.
Cappuccino
Warm your milk with extra foam - for home crafted cappuccino, you create extra foam in the milk. Do this by tipping the pitcher holding the heated milk and bring the steaming apparatus (wand) along the top surface, raising the steam wand as the foam is created but keeping it just below the surface. You want heated milk with foam enough to fill one third of your coffee mug. When you're ready, turn off the steam wand and follow the res to the instructions in the order listed.
Brew - pour your espresso shots and put them into the cup first.
Add milk - add milk to fill your cup two thirds full
Add foam - finish filling your cup with foam you spoon into the cup, and your cappuccino is ready to enjoy!
For flavored cappuccino, place the flavoring into your cup before adding the espresso shots. Stir the flavoring into the espresso and milk before adding the foam topping.
Cafe Latte
Your cafe latte is prepared the same way, except you prepare less foam. So, you'll use the steam wand to warm the milk and create a litle foam, brew the espresso shots. You'll add the espresso shots to your cup, fill the cup mostly full with the heated milk, leaving just a little room for a short layer of foam. Some people like to add whipped cream, but that is optional.
As with the cappuccino, if you want to add flavor you should add that into the cup first, and stir with the shots and heated milk.
Cappuccino and Lattes are much easier now, right? Hopefully this article takes the mystery out of crafting your own cappuccino and latte without ever going to barrista school.
Once you've mastered the basic latte and cappuccino technique, you can start experimenting with different flavors of espresso beverages.
Here's and article telling more about how to froth milk.
Try this if you're looking for more Gourmet Coffee Recipes...I'll be writing more about what to look for a home espresso machine. For now, you may want to look at this home espresso machine store.
For anyone wanting to approximate espresso without having a machine, I'll be writing more about do it yourself espresso without an espresso machine.
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