When I say “types of coffee drinks,” I mean drinks like latte, cappuccino, americano, and others
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An americano is basically espresso ‘watered down’ to fill a larger cup. Latte, basically the same thing but with milk. Honestly you could consider nearly anything else a variation on those two (even if coffee nerds will hate it in a ‘gin is technically flavoured vodka’ kind of way).
For example a cappuccino is made with milk that has been steamed with a steam wand (that little bit you might’ve seen hanging off the side of espresso machines) and as such is foamy, a bit like a better version of blowing into milk with a straw.
On the other side, a red eye for example is basically an americano made with brewed coffee instead of water (or brewed coffee with added espresso). Even for things that might not perfectly fit like espresso macchiato (shot of espresso with a tiny bit of milk sitting on top unstirred), it’s basically all some kind of mixture of espresso, water, or milk.
[This coffee chart probably explains it clearer than I could](https://www.tasteofhome.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Types-of-Coffee-Drinks_1200X1200.jpg)
Edit: just to add in the chart “coffee” means when you just soak ground coffee in boiling water, and “expresso” means using a press to force boiling water though ground coffee at pressure.
The base of these drinks are espresso. It is brewed under pressure which means it takes less time and it can be much stronger. So a shot of espresso have just as much coffee in it then a cup of regular filter coffee. In order to get a drink more similar to regular coffee you can add water to the espresso making it an americano. Late and cappuccino instead uses heated foamed milk instead of water. The difference between these two is the amount of milk with late having less milk then cappuccino. Another common coffee drink is mocha which is late with chocolate. And of course you have ice coffee which is as the name suggest served cold.
These simple explanations are probably going to offend people as it is a very simple explanation of the different drinks. There are lots of nuances with various different things added and different procedures for each drink. I am saying this because I know people are going to comment on this. The problem is that the definitions of the terms can change between countries and even cities as people have different preferences.
A latte is espresso and steamed milk. A cappuccino adds a layer of foamed milk. An americano is espresso and hot water, intended to mimic drip coffee. Mocha is espresso, chocolate syrup, and steamed milk. A caffè macchiato is a shot of espresso with a dot of foamed milk on top. A latte macchiato is steamed milk with a shot of espresso on top. Most cafes will interpret “macchiato” as caffè macchiato, but Starbucks interprets it as latte macchiato.
Kinda low effort post. This is easily searched on the internet
Espresso – coffee made by sending pressurized hot water through very finely ground coffee beans. Usually made in small quantities fairly quickly (30 seconds or so). This is different from other brewing methods which may use much longer times and less finely ground coffee beans. Coffee lovers drink this drink unsweetened.
Americano – espresso plus hot water. (basically watering down the espresso which may be too concentrated in flavor). This is popular to make Iced Americano (more pleasant on hot days perhaps)
Cappucino – espresso plus a bit of steamed milk froth (slightly more mellow than an espresso)
Latte – espresso with steamed milk plus milk froth. (milkier)
Vietnamese coffee – kind of a poor mans version of espresso. Finely ground coffee in a filter through which hot water is poured. Then condensed milk is added to give it a sweet syrupy texture.
Turkish style coffee – ground coffee in hot water (originally not filtered). So has a gritty feel when drunk. Also typically very sweet with ground sugar added.
Percolated coffee – best avoid. Lots of water continually poured over medium ground coffee. Tends to be overextracted and bitter but a lot of liquid for the amount of coffee used.
There are all sorts of variations of brewing methods – getting more and more fancy. Also lots of flavored coffee by adding stuff (usually flavored syrup) There are so many variants that people write books about them.
Coffee beans – Most common basic varietals (different plants!) – arabica, robusta and liberica (very small share). Robusta is easily grown (cheap) in lowlands/tropics but generally thought to produce lower quality coffee. Arabica is harder to grow (expensive) usually in highland tropics but generally thought to be better quality coffee. Liberica – somewhat in between robusta and arabica.
How and where coffee plants are grown greatly affect their flavor etc. There are many regional varieties (too many to explain) Major ones would be Java, Sumatran, Colombian (a bit of a catchall term for central/south american coffee), Kona (hawaii), Yirgacheffe (Ethiopia), Blue Mountain (Jamaica/caribbean)
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