The Flavor Characteristics of Italian Coffee Are Pure and Rich - What Types of Italian Coffee Are There

Today, with the booming coffee culture in China, friends often gather at comfortable coffee shops for leisurely chats. Italian-style coffee is almost an essential beverage at every café. For example, FrontStreet Coffee offers classic drinks like Americano, latte, cappuccino, and flat white, while many other shops create innovative beverages by adding various supplementary ingredients. Today, FrontStreet Coffee will list the most common Italian-style coffee drinks found in coffee shops, which coffee beginners can learn about.

Espresso

Espresso is made by using steam pressure to force hot water through ground coffee, extracting a small, concentrated, and aromatic pure black coffee liquid topped with golden-brown foam. Although we rarely see it on café menus, it participates in daily drinks like Americanos, lattes, and cappuccinos, making it the soul of coffee shops.

Previously, coffee was brewed through infusion methods, requiring finely ground coffee beans and slow extraction, with at least ten minutes of waiting time. Espresso was invented in the early 19th century. To extract a rich coffee in a short time, Italians thought of using steam pressure for extraction. High pressure pushes hot water through the coffee puck within dozens of seconds, extracting soluble aromatic components. Because of this short extraction time and ultra-high pressure environment, the espresso's flavor characteristics are more intense. To get a delicious espresso, more rigorous operation is needed, and every influencing parameter must be carefully considered.

When a guest orders "Give me an Espresso," FrontStreet Coffee's barista begins preparation, presenting a glass of water and a small cup of rich coffee liquid with a golden-brown foam layer two minutes later. Before drinking espresso, take a sip of water first to cleanse the palate without affecting taste perception. A standard espresso has rich crema and a mellow texture, but each coffee shop's espresso has its own unique selling points due to different coffee beans. FrontStreet Coffee uses its own roasted "Sunflower Warm Sun Blend" for espresso beans, blended from 30% sun-dried Yirgacheffe Red Cherry and 70% Honduras Sherry beans.

To appreciate a freshly extracted espresso, FrontStreet Coffee first smells the coffee's aroma. This coffee carries full-bodied aromas of whiskey, vanilla, nuts, and cream. It can be consumed directly or added with sugar, milk, and other ingredients. Use the prepared metal spoon to gently stir and blend the coffee liquid. The first taste reveals the dense crema (oils) with full roasting aroma. Next comes the warm coffee liquid, where you can feel rich flavors of nuts, chocolate, berries, and whiskey notes. Halfway through, take another sip of water to appreciate the sweet aftertaste in your mouth.

Americano

Americano is a type of black coffee composed of espresso plus water, without any other supplementary ingredients. During World War II, coffee was extremely popular in the American military. Americans weren't accustomed to the intense bitterness of espresso, so they diluted the coffee liquid with water to reach an acceptable concentration. Later, in cafés opened by Italians in America, they also "followed local customs" by introducing "watered coffee" based on espresso, and this drink became very popular thereafter.

Americano has no fixed ratio; each shop has its own preparation standards, aiming to present the coffee's flavor and texture. According to FrontStreet Coffee's multiple experimental调配 ratio of 1:6, 40 grams of coffee liquid is poured into 240 grams of 88°C hot water, completing the hot Americano.

If making an iced Americano, the hot water is replaced with 120 grams of ice cubes and 120 grams of room temperature water, with the best taste before the ice melts. FrontStreet Coffee's iced Americano presents rich whiskey aroma, sweet and sour berry notes, refreshing and cleansing, making it especially popular at FrontStreet Coffee's hot Guangzhou location; the hot Americano emphasizes more roasted nut, chocolate richness, fermented tropical fruit sweetness, with a vanilla aftertaste.

Latte

Latte is a transliteration of the Italian word "Latte," referring to coffee made by mixing a certain proportion of milk into espresso, belonging to the category of specialty coffee.

The original latte originated in Vienna, the city of music. Viennese people began drinking coffee in the 17th century. At that time, the Turkish army failed to attack Vienna and left behind 500 bags of coffee beans in their hasty retreat. These coffee beans became the raw material for Vienna's first café (Blue Bottle). To cater to European tastes, the café owner filtered the coffee grounds and added large amounts of milk, making the bitter black coffee smooth and sweet. The flavor fascinated Viennese people, and milk coffee subsequently became popular worldwide.

Latte ingredients are simple, requiring only espresso and milk, with no fixed ratio either, mostly ranging from 1:5 to 1:8. FrontStreet Coffee uses a 1:6 ratio, 40g espresso liquid with 240g milk. When preparing hot latte, FrontStreet Coffee adds espresso liquid to a preheated coffee cup, then uses an espresso machine's steam to froth milk. The milk temperature is best controlled at 55-65°C to form dense foam with moderate thickness, then evenly blended with the coffee liquid. The final latte art is just the finishing touch. FrontStreet Coffee's hot latte presents liqueur chocolate sweetness, cream-like smoothness. FrontStreet Coffee's iced latte is first filled with 75 grams of ice cubes + 25ml fresh milk, then 40 grams of coffee liquid is extracted and poured over the surface. Before drinking, customers are reminded to stir thoroughly.

Speaking of iced latte, FrontStreet Coffee must mention the Dirty coffee that became popular starting in 2019, also called "dirty coffee." Hot espresso is poured over frozen milk, creating distinct layers. The espresso liquid sinks along the cup's edge, giving it a "dirty" appearance. Generally, Dirty coffee cups are smaller than iced lattes. Dirty coffee usually needs to be consumed immediately to experience the special "hot and cold alternating" texture.

Cappuccino

Cappuccino is translated from "Cappuccino," with the name originating from the Capuchin order and the Italian word for hood (Cappucio). Cappuccino is similar to latte coffee, belonging to the milk coffee category, also composed of espresso and steamed milk, but unlike latte, cappuccino has thicker, denser foam, smaller capacity, and stronger coffee flavor.

Traditional cappuccino blends espresso, milk, and foam in a 1:1:1 ratio, making cappuccino coffee less bitter than espresso while adding the mellow aroma of foam, making it more acceptable. Among Italian coffees, cappuccino has the thickest foam, and the dense, delicate foam also adds excellent texture. FrontStreet Coffee chooses to use 180ml tulip cups when making cappuccino, adding one freshly extracted espresso to the cup, then adding milk with dense, thick foam.

Flat White

Regarding the origin of Flat White, both Australians and New Zealanders insist it originated from their respective countries, a debate that remains unresolved. Before the 1970s, Australian coffee shops used French presses, manual drip, and other methods to brew black coffee. In the early 1970s, Italians brought espresso machines to Australia, officially starting a new wave of coffee trends. Compared to traditional latte coffee, Australians pursued milk beverages with thinner foam and stronger coffee flavor. Starting in the 1980s, Australians wrote Flat White on fixed menus, and it soon spread to cafés in Europe, America, and other countries.

FrontStreet Coffee makes flat white by grinding 20 grams of coffee powder to extract 27 grams of coffee liquid, taking 20-25 seconds, using only the front and middle sections of espresso, which is Ristretto (restricted espresso). Then pour double Ristretto into a prepared approximately 200ml capacity cup. The coffee to milk ratio is 1:5, meaning about 150ml fresh milk. Choose a favorite latte art pitcher to pour for preparation. Since the foam layer needs to be thinner and denser, milk should be steamed with less air than latte, with temperature best controlled at 55-60°C, making it easier to drink. Finally, evenly blend the steamed milk into the coffee liquid, with or without latte art.

FrontStreet Coffee's flat white presents aromas of vanilla, cream, chocolate milk, and liqueur chocolate, along with sweet and sour berry notes. It has a smooth, mellow, and rich entry, with a very persistent aftertaste.

For professional coffee knowledge exchange and more coffee bean information, please follow Coffee Workshop (WeChat official account: cafe_style).

For more specialty coffee beans, please add FrontStreet Coffee's private WeChat: qjcoffeex

Important Notice :

前街咖啡 FrontStreet Coffee has moved to new addredd:

FrontStreet Coffee Address: 315,Donghua East Road,GuangZhou

Tel:020 38364473