What espresso, americano, latte, cappuccino, flat white, macchiato and cold brew mean, plus common ordering options on a cafe menu.
A cafe menu looks complicated, but most drinks are named for what is added to espresso. Once you have that frame, you can roughly guess what an unfamiliar drink is. Alongside those are coffees brewed without espresso, such as pour-over and cold brew. The descriptions here are the commonly used meanings; proportions and sizes vary somewhat from shop to shop.
Espresso is strong coffee pulled briefly by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee at high pressure. It comes in a small cup, and the tan foam on top is called crema. The name changes with how much is pulled.
Adding hot water to espresso increases the volume and softens the taste. The name can depend on which goes in first. If it is too weak, add a shot; if too strong, ask for more water. Adding water changes how strong the coffee tastes, not how much caffeine it has.
Milk drinks are told apart by the ratio of coffee to milk and the thickness of the foam. Cup sizes vary between shops even under the same name, so if you want a stronger taste, a smaller size or an extra shot is the surer choice.
You will also see coffees brewed without espresso and drinks closer to dessert. The names come from various languages and can sound unfamiliar, but knowing how they are made makes the taste easy to guess.
Besides drink names, some words describe the beans or how you order. If a shop offers a choice of beans, knowing these makes choosing easier.
It is worth remembering that the same name can mean different things at different shops. A macchiato, for example, is traditionally a small espresso with a little foam, but some shops use the name for a large vanilla-syrup latte topped with caramel sauce. At some places a latte and a flat white differ only in size. Cup size names vary from shop to shop too, so the same size name can mean different volumes. When in doubt, asking how many shots go in and what the volume is will settle it.
At a new cafe, choose espresso or pour-over if you want to taste the beans' character, or an americano or latte for something easygoing. If you are watching caffeine, look at how many shots are in a drink rather than its name. Large americanos and lattes often contain two shots or more, and cold brew, steeped strong, can carry more caffeine than you might expect. More shops now let you choose decaf beans, which is worth using in the evening. For caffeine intake and health, see the caffeine guide in the health topic.