Coffee + milk + foam = ?

August 06, 2018

Coffee + milk + foam = ?

As it was announced in the previous post, our next stop is the cappuccino. The popular fluffy dream

in the coffee world.

https://www.dineout.co.in/blog/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/shutterstock_299925698-1030x538.jpg

The thing that is the most common and, at the same time, the most irritating (especially for somebody who knows Italian) is the pronunciation. I’ve heard many ways of saying cappuccino and it is very rare to hear the right pronunciation. The name comes from Italy (that’s a surprise, right?) and it should be pronounced according to Italian language pronunciation rules.

CAPPUCCINO – kahp/pooht/TCHEE/noh

(letters in bold indicate where the accent lays - it is really important in Italian)

There's also a short video for those who prefer to hear it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d2uV0lfeTxw

Knowing how no to irritate Italian speaking people, we can explore the coffee itself.

The interesting fact about cappuccino (I bet that now while reading it you hear the right pronunciation) is the origin of the name. It refers to the name of the Capuchin Order because of the color of their's frocks which are brown and white, so it’s the same as cappuccino.

The proportions are really important in preparing cappuccino. The classic Italian cappuccino consists of 25 ml of espresso. We pour into it 125 ml of foamed milk (foamed from 100 ml of milk). The milk is foamed with hot steam released by a special nozzle immersed in a milk jug. According to Italian standards, the cappuccino foam should be 1-2 cm thick and has a creamy, liquid consistency. It shouldn’t have any visible air bubbles. The cappuccino has 140-160 ml, but if we are perfectionists than our beverage should have 150 ml.

Worth noticing is also the fact that cappuccino is the artist among coffees. Many baristas are creating impressive patterns and pictures while pouring milk into the cup with coffee. It can be done while pouring, but some are taking the coffee art to the next level and they are creating masterpieces on the light foam of cappuccino using the cocoa or some syrups. There's some that I'm most impressed with: