A guide to coffee drinks
19 drinks and brewing methods, one page each: what is in the cup, how it is made, where it came from, and how it differs from the one next to it on the menu. Where a well-known story has no record behind it, the page says so.
Where to start
Brewing methods
Ways of getting coffee out of the grounds. The same beans come out heavier or cleaner depending on which one you use.
- Pour-overHot water poured by hand over ground coffee in a filter, dripping through into the cup.
- French pressCoarse coffee steeped in hot water, then held back by pressing a metal mesh filter down through the pot.
- AeroPressA plastic chamber where coffee steeps briefly, then is pushed through a paper filter by hand.
- Moka potA stovetop pot where steam pressure pushes hot water up through ground coffee into a top chamber.
- Siphon coffeeTwo glass chambers: steam pushes water up to the coffee, and a vacuum pulls the brew back down.
- Turkish coffeePowder-fine coffee brewed slowly with water, and sugar if wanted, in a small pot and served unfiltered.
- Cold brewCoffee extracted with cold water over many hours instead of with heat.
Espresso and what goes into it
One concentrated shot, then water or milk in different amounts. Most of a café menu is a variation on this.
- EspressoA small, concentrated coffee made by forcing hot water through fine coffee at high pressure.
- AmericanoEspresso lengthened with hot water, served hot or over ice.
- MacchiatoEspresso “marked” with a small spot of milk or foam.
- CortadoEspresso “cut” with a small amount of warm milk, up to about equal parts.
- Flat whiteEspresso with steamed milk and a thin layer of fine microfoam, smaller than a latte.
- CappuccinoEspresso with steamed milk and a thick layer of foam, in a smaller cup than a latte.
- Café latteEspresso with plenty of steamed milk and a thin layer of foam.
Coffee with something added
Cream, ice cream, whiskey, condensed milk, sugar. Drinks defined by what goes in with the coffee.
- EinspännerEspresso and hot water under a thick cap of whipped cream, from Vienna’s coffee houses.
- AffogatoA scoop of ice cream with a shot of hot espresso poured over it, eaten as dessert.
- Irish coffeeHot coffee with Irish whiskey and sugar, under a floating layer of cream.
- Vietnamese coffeeDark-roasted coffee dripped through a small metal phin filter, usually over condensed milk.
- Dalgona coffeeInstant coffee, sugar and hot water whipped into a thick foam and spooned over milk.
Macchiato to latte: how much milk
The espresso drinks with milk differ mostly in how much milk there is and how much of it is foam. From least milk to most:
| Drink | Milk | Foam |
|---|---|---|
| Macchiato | A spot of milk or foam | Only the spot itself |
| Cortado | Very little, up to about as much as the espresso | Not part of the definition |
| Flat white | About two-thirds of a small cup | Thin, about 0.5 cm |
| Cappuccino | 100 ml to 25 ml of espresso, in the Italian certified recipe | Thick, at least 1 cm |
| Café latte | The most of any of these | A thin layer |
Cafés vary. These are the definitions the sources give.
Sources: macchiare, Vocabolario Treccani; café, Real Academia Española, Diccionario de la lengua española; cortado, Dictionary.com; What is a flat white & where did it come from?, Perfect Daily Grind (2022); Certified Italian Espresso, Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano
What can be dated
Events with a record behind them, in order. They are dates, not a family tree: nothing here implies one invention led to the next.
- 1550s
Istanbul’s first coffee houses open; chroniclers give 1553 and 1554–55. Turkish coffee
Source: Kahvehane, TDV İslâm Ansiklopedisi
- 1826
Johann Nörremberg builds a steam-driven brewer to demonstrate steam to his students. Siphon coffee
Source: Syphon Coffee, Barista Hustle
- 1884
Angelo Moriondo of Turin patents a steam machine for making coffee on demand. Espresso
Source: The Long History of the Espresso Machine, Smithsonian Magazine (2012)
- 1906
Luigi Bezzera and Desiderio Pavoni present “caffè espresso” at the Milan Fair. Espresso
Source: The Long History of the Espresso Machine, Smithsonian Magazine (2012)
- 1908
Melitta Bentz registers her paper coffee filter in Berlin. Pour-over
Source: Melitta Bentz´ coffee filters, German Patent and Trade Mark Office (DPMA)
- 1928
Ugo Paolini files the plunger design most French presses still follow. French press
Source: US1797672A: Apparatus for preparing infusions, particularly for preparing coffee, Google Patents (1931)
- 1933
Alfonso Bialetti makes the first Moka Express. Moka pot
Source: An idea … with a mustache. Do you know who invented the Moka?, Bialetti
- 1941
Peter Schlumbohm designs the Chemex. Pour-over
Source: Chemex Coffee Maker, 1941, Denver Art Museum
- 1943
Irish coffee is said to be first served at Foynes airport; a Dublin hotel is also credited. Irish coffee
Source: How Irish Coffee became an international hit, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum
- After 1945
Achille Gaggia’s lever machines raise the pressure to 8–10 bar, and crema appears. Espresso
Source: The Long History of the Espresso Machine, Smithsonian Magazine (2012)
- 1952
The Buena Vista in San Francisco sets out to reproduce Irish coffee. Irish coffee
Sources: How Irish Coffee became an international hit, EPIC The Irish Emigration Museum; The True History of Irish Coffee and Its San Francisco Origins, KQED
- Mid-1980s
Alan Preston says he put “flat white” on his Sydney menu; a Wellington barista makes a rival claim. Flat white
Source: What is a flat white & where did it come from?, Perfect Daily Grind (2022)
- 1996
Starbucks introduces the Caramel Macchiato. Macchiato
Source: What Is A Caramel Macchiato?, Sprudge (2021)
- 2005
Alan Adler introduces the AeroPress at Coffee Fest Seattle. AeroPress
Source: About AeroPress, Inc. and Alan Adler, AeroPress, Inc.
- 2011–13
Nitro cold brew appears in US cafés; Stumptown installs nitrogen taps in 2013. Cold brew
Source: Starbucks Introduces Nitro Coffee, CNBC, from Eater (2016)
- 2013
UNESCO inscribes Turkish coffee culture and tradition as intangible heritage. Turkish coffee
Source: Turkish coffee culture and tradition, UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage (2013)
- 2020
Dalgona coffee spreads from a Korean TV show to the rest of the world. Dalgona coffee
Sources: 그때 특허냈으면…정일우 "'전세계 돌풍' 달고나 커피 내가 개발", 머니투데이 (2026); What is Dalgona Coffee?, Sprudge (2021)
How this guide is sourced
Every date, inventor and figure links to its source right beside it: patent and museum records, dictionaries, scientific papers, and coffee trade publications. A company’s own pages are cited only for its own products. Stories we could not trace to a record are called stories. Sources were last checked on September 11, 2026.
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