Cappuccino

What the thirds look like in practice

Typical range

Wet, dry and everything between

CoffeeHQ explanation

Asking for a cappuccino wet or dry is asking for more or less milk under the foam. A dry cappuccino is mostly foam over the espresso: light, intense and quick to cool. A wet one has more liquid milk and a thinner cap, and sits close to a small latte.

The traditional style, and the one most specialty cafés now pour, is somewhere in the middle with a foam that is dense and glossy rather than stiff. Foam made of very fine bubbles tastes sweeter and creamier than a coarse, airy one, because it melts into the coffee instead of sitting apart from it.

Steaming milk for a cappuccino

CoffeeHQ explanation

The only difference from steaming for a latte or flat white is how long you let air in at the start. Everything after that is the same.

1. Start with cold milk in a cold jug. Cold milk gives you more time to add air before it becomes too hot to texture. Fill the jug to just below where the spout begins.
2. Let air in for longer. Hold the tip at the surface for roughly five to eight seconds, until the milk has risen by about a third to a half. Aim for a steady, quiet hiss rather than large slurps.
3. Bury the tip and spin. Lower the tip a little to stop air entering and keep the milk rolling. This is what breaks large bubbles into fine ones; skipping it gives stiff, dry foam.
4. Stop at hot, not scalding. Finish when the jug is too hot to hold comfortably. Milk taken much further loses its sweetness and the foam collapses sooner.

Without a steam wand, a French press or a handheld whisk will produce foam from heated milk. It will be coarser than steamed foam, which suits a cappuccino better than it suits any other milk drink.

Common faults and the first thing to change

Tendency, not a guarantee

It tastes of warm milk with little coffee

Usually because: The cup is too large for the shot. Above about 200 ml a single espresso is heavily outnumbered.

Change first: Use a smaller cup, or keep the cup and use a double shot. Do not lengthen the shot to compensate.

Work out the milk for your cup

Large bubbles that pop and leave a patchy surface

Usually because: Air went in too fast, with the tip too high, and the milk was not rolled afterwards to refine it.

Change first: Keep the tip only just at the surface and spend longer spinning the milk once you stop adding air.

Fix large, bubbly foam

The foam is stiff and sits like meringue

Usually because: Too much air for the amount of milk, or the jug stood after steaming so the foam drained and dried.

Change first: Shorten the aeration by a couple of seconds and pour immediately after a firm swirl.

Fix stiff, dry foam

It is lukewarm by the second sip

Usually because: Foam insulates poorly once stirred in, and a cold cup takes heat out of a small drink very quickly.

Change first: Warm the cup first. Steaming the milk hotter costs sweetness and is the wrong fix.

Keep a milk drink hot

Against a latte and a flat white

Tendency, not a guarantee

• Latte — More milk and a thin layer of foam in a bigger cup. Milder, smoother and less textured than a cappuccino.
• Flat white — A similar size with very little foam, so it is more coffee-forward and has the same texture from top to bottom.
• Macchiato — Only a spoonful of foam on an espresso. The foam is a garnish there; in a cappuccino it is a third of the experience.

The name, and what is actually documented

Accounts differ

The word is generally traced to the Capuchin friars, whose brown habit gave its name to a colour and then to coffee of that colour. A Viennese drink called a Kapuziner, coffee with cream, is recorded well before espresso machines existed and is usually treated as the ancestor.

The cappuccino as it is now understood, built on espresso and steamed milk, could not exist until pressurised espresso machines became common in Italian bars in the twentieth century. Beyond that outline, confident claims about who first made one are not supported by much evidence.

What to do next

• Steaming milk — the full technique, including how to place the wand and what the sound should be at each stage.
• Cappuccino vs. latte — the clearest way to see what the extra foam changes.
• Frothing milk without a steam wand — a cappuccino is the most forgiving milk drink to make without an espresso machine's wand.
• Milk science: proteins, fat and foam — explains why some milks hold a deep foam and others collapse, which matters most for this drink.
• Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.