The latte
A latte's milk is steamed with only a little air. It comes out silky, not foamy. Baristas pour their patterns with that silky milk. Chains sell it much bigger than specialty cafés do, up to 16 or 20 oz. With all that milk, it tastes milder than a cappuccino.
The cappuccino
Cappuccino foam is usually thicker and airier than latte foam. Equal thirds of espresso, milk and foam is a rough guide, not a rule. Many cafés pour less foam than that. In a specialty café you can also order it wet or dry. Wet means more milk and less foam, closer to a latte. Dry means more foam and less milk. Bone dry is almost all foam.
The flat white
A flat white is about the size of a cappuccino. Its foam is thinner, about 5 mm. It usually comes with a double shot. So the coffee comes through more clearly. Australia and New Zealand both claim to have invented it. If a cappuccino is too airy for you and a latte too milky, try this one.
Choosing by texture and taste
Go by texture first. Cappuccino foam is airy and sits on top of the drink. Latte milk is silky and mixes into the coffee. Then go by strength. With the same shots, a cappuccino tastes stronger than a latte. A flat white usually tastes stronger still. One rough test: a well-made cappuccino feels light for its size when you lift it.
| Cappuccino | Flat white | Latte | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Espresso to milk | Roughly thirds, a rough guide | Double shot, about 130 ml milk | About 1 : 4-5 |
| Typical size | 150-180 ml | 150-180 ml | 200-300 ml |
| Foam | 1 cm or more, airy | About 5 mm, very thin | About 0.5-1 cm, silky |
| Shots | One or two | Usually two | One or two |
How to order
To tell which you got, press a spoon into the foam. Cappuccino foam holds the dent. Latte foam sinks back into the drink. In Italy, latte just means milk. Order a latte there and you get a glass of milk. Ask for a caffè latte. In Italy, milky coffee is often a breakfast drink. Some say until 11, others noon. Nobody will stop you ordering a cappuccino at four.