The Origin of Cappuccino's Name, How to Make the Perfect Cup, and Is There an Iced Version?

To make a barista break down, all it takes is one sentence: "Could I get an iced cappuccino, please?" At that moment, the barista's mind floods with countless memories of "clarifying that cappuccinos don't come iced."

Why Are There No Iced Cappuccinos?

Cappuccino coffee is a classic Italian coffee beverage, and this is where FrontStreet Coffee wants to share a story about this coffee.

The Chinese word "卡布奇诺" (kǎbùqínuò) is actually a phonetic translation of the Italian "Cappuccino." This term originates from the Italian word "Cappuccio," meaning "hood." Observant readers may have noticed that these words differ by just one letter "n," and this "n" is the inspiration behind the appearance of cappuccino coffee—the Capuchin friars of the Catholic Franciscan order.

The Capuchin friars wore dark brown robes with hoods folded into small pointed caps. At the time, there was a popular coffee whose appearance closely resembled the attire of these friars. This coffee displayed a circle of brown color similar to the robes, and then a spoon was used to shape the milk foam on the coffee surface into a pointed cap shape. So people directly referred to this coffee as "Cappuccio."

Since the pronunciations of Capuchin and Cappuccio were similar, Italians, without changing the rhythmic flow of pronunciation, incorporated the "n" into Cappuccio, ultimately naming this milk coffee "Cappuccino."

With the emergence of cappuccino, many Italians gradually began to accept milk coffee. Since the small pointed cap of milk foam required shaping, which increased preparation time, people gradually stopped making the "small pointed cap" on cappuccino coffee. However, tradition couldn't be abandoned, so cappuccino still retained a circle of brown coffee while allowing the dense milk foam to rise above the cup rim in a "hat" shape to commemorate the missionaries.

Thus, the tradition of cappuccino coffee having a "golden coffee circle" emerged. Everyone knows that when coffee mixes with milk, the brown coffee turns light brown. To preserve the "golden coffee circle," it's essential to ensure that the milk doesn't disperse the coffee oils. Therefore, when frothing milk, it needs to be denser and thicker, allowing the milk foam to form a protective layer between the milk and the coffee oils.

For a classic cappuccino, the coffee must be hot, the surface milk foam thick and dense, presenting a "golden circle." When you take a sip, you'll inevitably have a "white mustache" on your lip. Therefore, there's no concept of iced cappuccino. When Italian coffee spread to various parts of the world, despite differences in milk foam thickness and coffee-to-milk ratios, the tradition of only serving hot cappuccinos was almost universally followed. On most coffee shop menus, iced Americanos and iced lattes are common fixtures, but iced cappuccinos are notably absent.

The Iced Cappuccino Market

Where there's a market, corresponding products will inevitably appear. If you search for "iced cappuccino" on a search engine, you'll likely find detailed recipes. These recipes mainly aim to replicate the structure of a cappuccino: coffee + milk + milk foam.

The coffee component still uses espresso, but it needs to be cooled over ice. For the milk foam portion, either a French press or a milk frother is used, rapidly pumping the plunger back and forth to create foam. Then the milk and foam are poured into the coffee.

However, an awkward situation occurs—this layer of pumped foam is quite thick and structurally unstable. Plus, being cold, it has poor fluidity. When drinking, you'll likely finish all the coffee while the foam remains untouched, losing the joy of drinking a cappuccino.

Still, it looks quite good in photos!!!

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