Evelyn’s cafe

I thought it might be helpful to some of you who come in and are confused by the various coffee selections — I know when I started drinking coffee there were less options, so hopefully this will be helpful.

1. Regular coffee: I make this in a commercial brewer that has been calibrated to force the correct amount of water through the filter, with good strong coffee as the end result.

2. Espresso: A darker roast coffee that’s ground very fine and made in the big espresso machine (aka “The Pig”). A shot of espresso is dark and strong and should have a slightly sweet chocolately aftertaste. It should never come from anything other than a good quality espresso machine, and certainly should never be made in large batches and kept in the fridge, even for iced drinks.

3. Caffe Latte: Espresso with steamed milk.

4. Cafe au Lait: Coffee with steamed milk.

5. Caffe Mocha: Espresso with steamed milk and chocolate. I use real chocolate, not cocoa mix or syrup.

6. Caffe Americano: Espresso with hot water. Originally coined as a snide remark about how Americans prefer watery coffee. I don’t care for caffe americano, but will drink it if there’s nothing else available. I’d rather have the espresso without water.

7. Cappucino: Espresso with foamed milk. When you drink a dry cappucino, the cup should weigh almost nothing beyond the weight of the espresso, as the foam should be light and frothy. A wet cappucino should be approximately 1/3 espresso, 1/3 milk, and the rest foam. Not to be confused with a caffe latte.

8. Macchiato: Not the heavy milk-laden caramel thing $bucks sells. Not by a long shot. A macchiato is an espresso with a dollop of foamed milk. Nothing more, nothing less. The word “macchiato” means “marked” in Italian — the espresso is “marked” with the small dollop of foam.

9. Unfortunately, since I have no liquor license, I can never sell you an espresso correto: an espresso with a shot of grappa. :-)

Hope this helps a little, and of course don’t ever hesitate to ask questions when you’re in the cafe, or send me an email! For a more comprehensive glossary of coffee and espresso terms, visit this page. (Link will open in a new window.)