A Newbie’s Guide to Different Popular Coffee-Related Drinks

With all the different drinks out there, it’s tough sometimes to know the difference between a soy latte and a caffe latte. Besides, who really cares, as it couldn’t be that different, right? Wrong. The differences are huge between types of coffee beverages. Here’s a cheat sheet for the next time you don’t know what to order, or don’t quite understand how something is made.

First, three of the most popular coffee-style beverages you’re likely to find, whether in Rome or in Starbucks:

Espresso Most people think that espresso is a type of coffee, and don’t realize that it’s one of the styles of coffee. If you’re looking for something high-octane, this is it. A one-ounce shot has a lot more caffeine than a regular cup of coffee, thanks to the unique process that involves pressing coffee tightly together and using very hot water.

Mocha Anytime you see the word mocha on a drink, it means that there’s some sort of chocolate flavor, usually from syrup, that’s been added. For instance, a caffe mocha is a cup where there’s a layer of chocolate at the bottom that’s then topped with steamed milk, espresso, and usually chocolate shavings or sprinkles.

Cappuccino Probably the most popular drink that people order but have no idea what they’re actually getting, the cappuccino is simply one third coffee, one third milk, and one third creamy and thick froth, from milk, too. Rather than being a pompous addition to spice up a simple coffee drink, it’s named after the Capuchin, which is the white and brown hood that monks wear.

There’s more to knowing about styles of coffee than just remembering some of the key names to the drinks. It’s even more important to know some of the processes–i.e. what heats the beans. Here are a couple of the most popular:

The French Press This is the device you’re most likely to break if you’re having breakfast at a posh girlfriend’s house the morning after. A wire part and plunger combine in a glass cylinder, where water is poured in, brought to a full boil, and then the coarsely-ground beans are pressed down to make a filtered cup of coffee that tastes a whole lot better than a drip. Be careful not to force the device, especially if it’s your first time making coffee in one, or else you’re going to have a bad cup of coffee (and probably an angry girlfriend, too).

The Drip If you’ve got a coffee maker at home that plugs in and doesn’t sit on the stove, this is what you’re most likely working with. Pour some water into a machine, add your coffee to the other part, and the coffee maker actually heats the water and eventually the dripping boiled water over the grounds makes your cup of coffee. Definitely one of the easiest ways, if not the tastiest ways, to have some coffee.

For the at-home folks, there’s also a stovetop version of an espresso machine, which is a cross between a coffee pot and a percolator. Of course, the Americans amongst us are used to a different style of coffee entirely, with the Mr. Coffee drip system, which unfortunately is accurately known for producing slightly sub-par tasting cups of coffee, even when great beans are used.

So the scary world of coffee vocabulary is actually nothing more than a few fancy foreign language words used to describe strong coffee, hot water, and milk in various stages of being heated. Stop worrying, and start drinking. You’ll be a coffee expert in no time.