A single espresso against roughly six times as much milk. The rule of thirds that you read almost everywhere does not hold up: in a 150 ml cup the espresso makes up about one sixth of the drink. The cappuccino is still the classic that every other milk drink is measured against, and the only one with a visible layer of foam.
Joscha Gewinner
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The original recipe is for 1 cup.
Values per cup. Calculated with fresh whole milk, without sugar or cocoa.
The steam wand of the espresso machine froths the milk, the grinder and the scale keep the espresso accurately dosed.
The right beans for it
Tasting notes: dark chocolate, hazelnut, cherry.
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Grind 10 g and pull about 25 ml of espresso from it. It should be fresh in the cup by the time the milk is ready.
Tip: the cup size has a say too: 150 ml gives you a strong cappuccino, 220 ml a mild one.
A pre-warmed cup keeps the cappuccino at drinking temperature for longer.
Froth 150 ml of cold whole milk with the steam wand. Unlike a flat white, a little more air is allowed here, but the foam still has to be fine-pored.
Tip: a short stretching phase, then guide the wand deeper: in the rolling phase the bubbles break down into fine-pored microfoam. It is ready at 60 to 65 °C, the moment the jug turns uncomfortably hot against your flat hand.
Fresh whole milk with around 3.3 % protein makes the most stable foam.
Pour the milk into the middle and let the foam slide on top at the end. One to two centimetres of fine-pored foam should sit on top.
Tip: the fluffy foam of the nineties is not the target. Fine-pored lasts longer and carries latte art.
Cocoa goes on the foam after the latte art, if at all.
Values per cup. Calculated with fresh whole milk, without sugar or cocoa.
A single espresso, milk and milk foam. The rule of thirds, though, is a myth: in a 150 ml cup the espresso makes up closer to one sixth. Where the rule comes from is in the cappuccino article. Sugar and cocoa are possible, but they are not part of the recipe.
Fresh whole milk with 3.5 to 3.9 % fat and around 3.3 % protein, pasteurised rather than ultra-pasteurised. Among the plant-based alternatives, the barista editions are made for latte art. The full comparison is in the milk article.
With a single shot from 10 g, around 70 mg, a little more or less depending on the bean. In the caffeine checker you can work out your whole day.
Because milk counts as filling there and feels heavy after a meal. It is not a rule, more a habit. More on that in the article.
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