What’s your Cup of Coffee?

Coffee Shops these days have an amazing variety of different types of coffee making it nearly impossible to decide which coffee is best for you. The one common element is that they tend to begin with a shot or two of Espresso.

Here are the main coffee types and how they are made.

• Cappuccino is one of the most popular and is made from one third espresso, one third hot milk and one third frothy milk
• Latte is another “milky” coffee made from a ratio of 1:6 espresso:hot milk
• Macchiato, maybe not so popular, is basically espresso with a little touch of milk
• Con Panne is espresso with a dash of cream
• Mocha is a cup of hot chocolate with a dash of espresso
• Americano is a longer drink of espresso with added hot water

To make the best hot milk and froth for your Cappuccino and Latte you can use any type of milk – full cream, semi-skimmed or skimmed just as long as it’s fresh. It’s the protein in the milk that makes the froth and this diminishes after about 4 days. Always use a stainless-steel jug to do the frothing as it conducts heat better, fill it to just under half full with cold milk and begin frothing. When it’s too hot to touch at the base the froth is ready. Give it a couple of taps to get rid of any bubbles, and then gently spoon the froth onto your espresso for that perfect cappuccino!

These cups of coffee and easily be made at home with either Cappuccino Makers, Espresso Machines or Combi Coffee Makers and there are lots available at high street stores at reasonable prices.

Probably the cheapest method of making coffee, except instant coffee, of course, uses a Cafetiere or a Filter Coffee Machine. Both are simple and cheap machines which use ground coffee, the cafetiere being the most simple as it doesn’t require electricity.

For that special cup of coffee why not try a Bean to Cup Machine which, as the name suggests, uses Coffee Beans.

Relatively new to the market are the Pod Coffee Machines which use pre-packed “pods” of coffee and are barcoded to produce a perfect cup of coffee every time. Again, there are many on the market but one of the most well known is Tassimo which has lots of well known brands of coffee available in pods for use in their machines.