Tool
Drink composition comparator
Compare espresso, americano, long black, macchiato, cortado, piccolo, flat white, cappuccino, latte, mocha and café au lait by coffee, milk, foam and size — as ranges, because no café agrees on a single recipe.
The main difference
Flat white is the most coffee-forward; Latte the mildest
All of these start from the same thing: a shot or two of espresso. A shot that is sour or bitter will be sour or bitter in every one of them, more or less disguised.
What differs, and why
Flat white is the most coffee-forward; Latte the mildest
Built on a similar amount of espresso, they differ in how much milk or water shares the cup. Their usual ranges overlap, so a large flat white and a small latte can be nearly the same drink — which is why cafés disagree about them.
Latte is served larger than Flat white
Latte is usually 220–350 ml and flat white 150–180 ml. Cup size is the biggest single lever on how strong a milk drink tastes, and the one that varies most between cafés.
How coffee-forward each one tends to be
CoffeeHQ explanatory model — not a measurement
- Flat whitemild to coffee-forward, depending on cup size
- Lattemilk- or water-led to balanced, depending on cup size
Basis: The share of the cup that is espresso, worked out from each drink's usual size range and a double shot. Limits: Sizes are conventions and differ by country and café. A single shot instead of a double moves any drink down the scale.
Usual serving size
CoffeeHQ explanatory model — not a measurement
- Flat white150–180 ml
- Latte220–350 ml
Basis: Typical cup-size ranges used in specialty cafés. Limits: Conventions, not definitions. Chains often serve every one of these larger.
Each drink, by what is in the cup
Flat white
- Coffee
- A double espresso, about 30–45 g.
- Milk and foam
- Velvety microfoam in a thin layer, noticeably less foam than a cappuccino. (a thin layer of microfoam)
- In the cup
- Coffee-forward and smooth. A double shot in a small cup, so the espresso stays clear through the milk.
- How it varies
- Australian and New Zealand in origin, and built smaller and stronger there than the large flat whites common in British chains.
- Common fault
- A single shot in a large cup: a weak latte with flat-white foam.
Latte
- Coffee
- A double espresso; often a single in smaller or Italian-style servings, about 30–45 g.
- Milk and foam
- A large volume of steamed milk under a thin foam layer. (a thin layer of microfoam)
- In the cup
- The mildest of the milk drinks: sweet, soft and milk-led, with the coffee as a flavour within it.
- How it varies
- Sizes vary more than for any other milk drink. A caffè latte in Italy is a breakfast drink made with much less espresso.
- Common fault
- Too large a cup for the espresso in it, so it tastes of warm milk.
A comparison between categories, not a verdict
How it works
Each drink is described by its coffee base, what dilutes it, how much foam it carries and the range of sizes it is usually served in. From the size range and a double shot the tool works out what share of the cup is espresso, as a span, and places it on a five-step scale from milk-led to undiluted. Comparing drinks then picks out the differences that are large enough to taste — coffee intensity, foam, size, and whether water or milk is doing the diluting — and says in each case whether the usual ranges overlap. Where they do, two differently named drinks can be the same drink, and the tool says so.
What the inputs mean
- Coffee-forward
- How much of the cup is espresso. Worked out from the drink's usual size and a double shot, so it moves with cup size more than with the name on the menu.
- Foam
- How deep the layer of foam is, from none to a deep cap. Foam changes the first sip — it delivers air and aroma before liquid — more than it changes the recipe.
- A span of steps
- Shown where a drink's usual sizes cover more than one step. A latte runs from mild to balanced depending on the cup; reporting a midpoint would hide that.
Worked examples
The pair most often confused
- Flat white
- Latte
Result: The same double shot and the same thin microfoam. The flat white is smaller, so it is more coffee-forward — but the usual ranges nearly meet, which is why a large flat white and a small latte can be the same drink.
Same size, different drink
- Flat white
- Cappuccino
Result: Similar size and coffee. The difference is foam: a thin layer against a deep cap, which changes the first sip more than the proportions.
Water against milk
- Americano
- Latte
Result: The same espresso diluted to a similar size. Water adds nothing and leaves bitterness and acidity exposed; milk adds sweetness and fat that soften both.
Common mistakes
Treating the names as definitions
No authority defines a flat white or a cortado. The same name is a different drink in Melbourne, London and Lisbon.
Thinking a cappuccino has more coffee than a latte
On the same shot it has the same coffee and less liquid milk. It tastes stronger because it is less diluted and the foam arrives first.
Ordering by name in a new café and expecting the same drink
Size is the biggest variable and the one cafés differ on most. Asking how large it is tells you more than the name does.
What the result does not mean
- It is not a recipe. Every figure is a range of what is commonly served, not an instruction.
- It is not a measurement. CoffeeHQ did not survey cafés or weigh drinks; the ranges are conventions.
- It does not rank the drinks. More coffee-forward is not better.
What this does not account for
- Uses the size conventions most common in specialty cafés. Chains usually serve every one of these larger, which makes them milder than shown.
- Assumes a double espresso of about 30 to 45 g. A single shot moves any milk drink down the scale.
- Café au lait is made with brewed coffee, which is about a tenth as concentrated as espresso, so it is left off the coffee-intensity scale instead of being compared as if it were espresso.
- Says nothing about the coffee itself. A dark, bitter shot and a light, acidic one make very different lattes at the same proportions.