Difference Between Cappuccino and Latte: How to Make Iced Cappuccino and the Perfect Coffee-to-Milk Ratio

Ninety percent of the drinks on FrontStreet Coffee's menu board can be served iced. There is one exception: the cappuccino. Yet friends who like to order an iced cappuccino are especially numerous, and FrontStreet Coffee ends up explaining this to guests every time. It is not just FrontStreet Coffee. Most specialty coffee shops do not offer an iced cappuccino either.

Many people are puzzled. Big chain stores clearly sell iced cappuccinos, so why don't specialty coffee shops? FrontStreet Coffee believes there are mainly two reasons: a difference in taste, and the fact that it is rather troublesome to make.

What Is Cappuccino?

Cappuccino is a milk coffee born in Italy. Because the color of coffee mixed with milk resembles the cassock worn by Franciscan monks, people named the drink after that garment.

A cappuccino is characterized by its dense texture and strong coffee flavor. The traditional ratio is one third espresso, one third hot milk, and one third hot milk foam. Although milk is added, the amount is small, so the coffee flavor is not balanced away by the milk and stays prominent. And because the layer of milk foam on top is very thick, the cappuccino has an especially dense, comfortable feel. Even though the modern ratio has been adjusted, it remains the densest and most coffee-forward of all Italian milk coffees. In short, the original cappuccino was only ever made hot. But as one chain brand expanded, and to better meet guests' different needs, it reduced some of the milk from an iced latte, foamed that milk, and finally covered the coffee with this iced milk foam, and an iced cappuccino was born.

Why Don't Specialty Coffee Shops Offer Iced Cappuccino?

As FrontStreet Coffee said, this method has two drawbacks. The first is taste and texture. Milk foam made from iced milk is just as dense, but it holds its shape for a very short time. If it is not drunk soon after it is made, the dense texture quickly disappears. On top of that, because the milk is foamed directly, there is no coffee oil on the foam. Without stirring, the foam tastes very light, and not every consumer can accept foam like that. The second drawback is that the process is cumbersome. Adding this step takes more time to perform and adds tools that need cleaning. That is why most merchants do not launch an iced cappuccino.

Still, every characteristic a cappuccino should have is present in the iced version, so when you want to experience another flavor, it is worth making a cup of iced cappuccino to feel it for yourself.

How to Make an Iced Cappuccino

So how do you make one? As mentioned earlier, the steps are not much different from an iced latte. The only difference is that a cappuccino adds one extra step of making milk foam, and that is actually very simple. Instead of steaming hot milk, you keep injecting air into refrigerated milk, form bubbles, then cut and soften those bubbles, and it is done. A French press or an electric frother can achieve the same effect.

Note, though, that iced milk foam deflates at a rate that changes with the type of milk. Fresh milk, for example, deflates faster. To make sure the cappuccino has the most suitable drinking texture when it is finished, the milk foam should be made as the last step. So start with the base. Prepare a cup with a 300-350ml capacity, then pour in ice cubes, milk, and espresso, and the finished drink will look very good. The ratio FrontStreet Coffee uses here is 1:3:2, meaning 40ml espresso, 120ml milk, and 80ml ice cubes.

Then make the milk foam.

Finally, gently cover the surface of the coffee with the milk foam until the cup is full, and an iced cappuccino is complete.

To your taste, you can also dust the surface with any powder to lift the light milk foam, such as chocolate powder or cinnamon powder, giving the whole cup more layers. In general there are many ways to play with it, and if you do not mind the trouble, it is worth trying.

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FrontStreet Coffee Recommendation

A cappuccino is simply espresso, milk, and a sturdy layer of thick foam. For the espresso base, FrontStreet Coffee pulls a 20g dose at a 1:2 coffee-to-liquid ratio over about 30 seconds, which gives a concentrate that is both strong enough and properly extracted. Cappuccino is at its best with blends made for espresso machines, so beginners brewing at home can start with FrontStreet Coffee's Classic Blend, our "crema bomb," or the Dark Cocoa Blend, our value pick.

If you want to push into a floral-fruity cappuccino, the Strawberry Candy espresso blend is the first choice, bringing out aromas of berries, rose, raisin, and fruit candy. And if you prefer something fresh rather than bitter, the Granada Geisha SOE is a sun-dried, medium-roast single origin that carries berry, orange, and persimmon flavors on its own, taking on a milk-candy character when combined with milk.

To assemble the classic cappuccino look, extract the espresso first, here 20g of coffee yielding 40ml in about 32 seconds, and pour it into the prepared cup. While it extracts, steam the milk foam, working it thick and dense since there is no latte art to pour. Then take a spoon, place a spoonful of foam at the very center of the coffee and use it to fill a round circle. Shake the pitcher to reintegrate the foam and milk, then pour down the center of the cup; because the surface is all foam, there is no need to worry about overflow, so pour confidently until the cup is filled.