Cappuccino
A cappuccino is espresso with steamed milk and a thick layer of milk foam, in a smaller cup than a latte. The Italian Espresso National Institute’s certified cappuccino is 25 ml of espresso with 100 ml of steamed milk, its foam a tight mesh of very fine bubbles.
Source: Certified Italian Espresso, Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano
At a glance
- In the cup
- Espresso, steamed milk, foam
- Certified Italian recipe
- 25 ml espresso, 100 ml steamed milk
- Foam
- At least 1 cm by competition rules
- Name
- From the colour of the Capuchin friars’ habit
What is the difference between a cappuccino and a latte?
Foam and proportion. A cappuccino has less milk and much more foam, so it is smaller, tastes more of the coffee and feels lighter in the mouth; a latte is larger and milkier with a thin layer on top. Perfect Daily Grind notes that barista competitions require at least 1 cm of foam on a cappuccino, about twice what a flat white carries.
Source: What is a flat white & where did it come from?, Perfect Daily Grind (2022)
Why is it called a cappuccino?
For its colour. Treccani defines cappuccino as a drink of espresso and milk “so called for its colour,” and the Online Etymology Dictionary links that colour to the brown hoods of the Capuchin friars, recording the word in English from 1948.
Sources: cappuccino², Vocabolario Treccani; cappuccino, Online Etymology Dictionary
Vienna named a different drink after the same friars: its Kapuziner is an espresso with a few drops of cream.
Source: Viennese Coffeehouse Culture, Austrian National Tourist Office
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