Espresso, Cappuccino, Latte & Co: Every Coffee Type Explained

Espresso is the base of almost everything on the menu. A single shot is classically around 25–30 ml of concentrated coffee, brewed by forcing hot water through finely ground beans under pressure – topped with the golden crema that espresso lovers obsess over.

Order a doppio and you simply get two shots in one cup. A ristretto is a “restricted” espresso: the same coffee with less water, so it comes out shorter and more concentrated. A lungo goes the other way – more water runs through the same grounds, making the shot longer and a touch milder.

And here is the key insight for everything that follows: almost every coffee drink on the menu is espresso plus water or milk in a different ratio. That’s really it. The rest is proportions.

An Americano is an espresso topped up with hot water – typically one or two shots stretched into a larger, milder cup of black coffee. A long black contains the same ingredients but reverses the order: the hot water goes into the cup first, and the espresso is poured on top, so the crema stays intact. It’s the standard way to order black coffee in Australia and New Zealand.

Filter coffee is the odd one out in this guide: it contains no espresso at all. Hot water drips slowly through coarser grounds without pressure, which produces a larger, milder cup with a very different flavour profile. Same bean, completely different brewing method.

If you like your coffee black but find a straight espresso too intense, the Americano or long black is your friend.

This is where most of the menu lives – and where the ratios matter most.

A cappuccino is classically about one third espresso, one third steamed milk and one third milk foam, served at around 150–180 ml. A caffè latte uses the same espresso base but much more steamed milk and only a thin layer of foam, served in a noticeably bigger cup – milder, milkier, larger.

The flat white leans the other way, towards the coffee: typically a double shot topped with velvety microfoam instead of a thick foam cap, served smaller than a latte – which makes it clearly more coffee-forward. It’s the signature drink of Australian coffee culture.

A latte macchiato flips the construction: the hot milk goes into the glass first, and the espresso is poured on top, creating the famous layers. Visually impressive – though in terms of ingredients it’s close to a latte.

By the way: that silky steamed milk is also the canvas for hearts and rosettas. Our guide on how to make latte art shows you how it’s done at home.

An espresso macchiato is an espresso “stained” with just a dollop of milk foam – for days when a pure espresso feels a touch too sharp but a cappuccino is too much milk. A cortado, Spain’s beloved everyday classic, combines an espresso with roughly the same amount of warm milk in a 1:1 ratio – small, balanced and wonderfully smooth.

A mocha (or caffè mocha) adds a third ingredient to the equation: espresso, chocolate and steamed milk in one cup. It’s the drink for everyone who can never quite decide between coffee and dessert.

And for the smallest coffee fans at the table there’s the babyccino – warm milk foam with no coffee at all. We explain the cutest drink on the menu in our guide What is a babyccino?

All the classics side by side – the values are typical guidelines, and every café interprets them slightly differently:

One cup for the whole table? The 350 ml format of the HEY SAHNI Cup covers everything from a doppio with room to breathe to a full-sized caffè latte – one size, every drink on the list.