Understand the Coffee Language at Your Local Cafe

If going to the local coffee house has you intimated because you don't know the difference between a latte, venti, or espresso, let alone a demitasse, you're not alone. Instead of sticking to the "safe" items like café au lait (coffee with milk), you can branch out and try some fantastic brews once you know the lingo. Really, it's not as complicated as the baristas would have you think.

Cups

First, let's talk about cups as much of the lingo revolves around various cupping terms. Instead of saying small, medium and large, coffee aficionados like to say tall, grande and venti. These terms all refer to cup size. Tall is a 12-ounce cup while grande is typically a 16-ounce cup and venti refers to a 20-ounce cup. For cold drinks, venti often refers to a 24-ounce cup. Another term, short, represents am 8-ounce cup.

Single or Double

Asking for a double cup doesn't mean you'll get twice as much, it means you will get two cups stacked together so the cup won't be as hot to handle. Demitasse is the type of cup used for serving a shot of espresso straight up with no chaser.

Types of Coffee

Next, the different types of coffees have their own names such as espresso, cappuccino, and latte. To complicate matters, each coffee type has multiple variations such as espresso crème, espresso macchiato, and espresso con panna.

Espresso

Espresso is a type of coffee using a special brewing method where hot water is pressed through finely ground coffee beans. The beans used are the Arabica beans as opposed to Robusta beans used in regular coffee. In addition, espresso is served in one-ounce servings called "shots". Espresso variations include espresso con panna which includes a swirl of whipped cream, espresso crème which has an ounce of heavy cream, espresso freddo which is served over ice, espresso macchiato which is marked with foam, and espresso medici which is two shots of espresso served over chocolate syrup and orange peel.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino is espresso with foamed milk ladled on top. Variations include wet, dry, and cloudy as well as mochaccino which is a cappuccino with chocolate.

Latte

A Latte is espresso made with steamed milk. Baristas often add what's known as latte art to the top to add a little visual pizzazz. Variations include granita which is a latte made with frozen milk, latte puné which is a mini-latte featuring a full shot of espresso, and soy lattes which use soy milk instead of regular milk. Another variation is a mocha which is a latte with chocolate.

Shot or Doppio

Not everyone is content with a single shot of espresso so you'll hear terms such as shot (single), doppio (double), triple, and quad. You can also ask for café con leche which is espresso with steamed milk to fill an 8-ounce (or short) cup.

Other Terms

Other terms you'll encounter include half-caf (half decaf), unleaded (decaf), and "why bother" (decaffeinated espresso served with non-fat milk). "With room" refers to a cup served with space at the top for either preventing spills or adding cream. "No whip" means no whipped cream. "No foam" means steamed milk without the foam. "With wings" refers to a cup with handles.

Now that you know the basics, you can order your coffee like a pro. No more pointing at the size cup you want or saying, "I'll have what he's having."