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Food & Drink

What am I ordering again?

Espresso A shot (30 ml) of concentrated coffee made by passing hot water though extremely fine grounds at high pressure. It is never, under any circumstances, known as “expresso.”

Doppio Means “double” in Italian. So this is a double shot.

Americano Espresso cut with water. It’s like a better-tasting regular coffee.

Cappuccino One-third espresso, one-third steamed and one-third frothed milk. Named after Franciscan friars because they look similar with their hoods on.

Latte Typically, two shots of espresso and three times that amount of milk. Like cappuccino, but with more milk!

Macchiato Means “marked” or “stained.” The idea is that a little milk is added to an espresso shot. Let’s not say it’s stained – that’s gross.

Cortado Like a macchiato, but typically with more milk, which isn’t supposed to be frothy or someone will no doubt sneer, “What is that, some kind of ugly macchiato!?”

Double double What you say to agitate a snooty barista. When s/he tells you to find a Tim Hortons, explain you need a quadruple shot, drink it and punch something really hard.

Buzz words

Barista A (hopefully) skilled espresso machine operator.

Caffeine The crystalline psychoactive stimulant in coffee (but not exclusively) that also acts as a diuretic. Mmm.

Crema That hazel-coloured layer, ideally speckled, appearing on the top of an espresso shot. If it’s not there, send it back.

Frothing The process of making hot foam with a steam wand. Air is drawn into the milk until it reaches about 150° Fahrenheit and the foam becomes thick and velvety. If the milk burns your tongue, the barista botched it. Keeping the wand deeper in the milk steams it

instead.

Wet Say this when you want a drink with steamed instead of frothed milk. You guessed it: “dry” is all frothy.

Tamper No, it doesn’t mess with anything. You need one of these to compress espresso grounds into a portafilter (the ice-cream scoop thing that fits into to the espresso machine).

Arabica This is the bean that gets the premium label. It’s more susceptible to diseases and typically has an acidic taste.

Robusta The only real competition to Arabica beans. It makes up 30 per cent of coffee and is cheaper and bitter. It does, however, have

twice the caffeine and more oval-shaped beans. Expect this one in your instant coffee.

Pulled long/short Want more water pumped into your espresso shot? That’s long. Cut it off early? That’s short.

Tall, Grande, Venti An obnoxious way of saying “small, medium, large.”

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