Recipes

A vanilla latte is one of the most popular café drinks for good reason — espresso + steamed milk + a little sweetness is hard to beat. The good news: it’s also one of the easiest to make at home, and homemade is usually better than the café version. Here’s everything you need. What You Need Equipment: Espresso machine (or moka pot / AeroPress) Steam wand or milk frother Small saucepan (for homemade syrup) Ingredients for one vanilla latte: ...

“Macchiato” means “stained” in Italian — and that single word describes two very different drinks depending on what gets stained. In the original Italian tradition, an espresso macchiato is espresso stained with milk. In the more modern interpretation, a latte macchiato is milk stained with espresso. They look different, taste different, and are assembled differently. Both are easy to make at home once you understand the logic. This guide covers both. For the broader definitional context — the etymology of “macchiato,” the three drinks that share the name (including the Starbucks caramel macchiato), and how the macchiato fits into the wider espresso drink family — see our what is a macchiato guide. ...

Once you can pull a decent espresso shot, a whole menu of cafe drinks opens up. Most espresso drinks are surprisingly simple — they are variations on espresso, steamed milk, and foam in different ratios. This guide covers every classic recipe you would find at a coffee shop, plus tips for making each one at home. All recipes below use a double shot of espresso (18g in, 36g out, 25-30 seconds) as the base. Adjust if you prefer single shots or different ratios. ...