Cappuccino
Legend has it the Capuchin monk Marco d’Aviana invented the cappuccino after the Battle of Vienna. After the Turks were routed they left behind bags of coffee beans that the Austrians found too bitter, so they sweetened the coffee with honey and milk.
The’Kapuziner’, or cappuccino as it is more commonly known, was so named because of the colour of the Capuchin friar’s habit, which was a light brown. This new coffee variation quickly gained popularity in 19th century Viennese cafes where customers could choose from Austria, the popularity of the cappuccino quickly spread to Italy. Where the recipe was further improved upon through the use of espresso coffee instead of black coffee.
After World War 2, Italians dramatically increased the quality of their espresso machines, which had the knock-on effect of equally increasing the quality of their cappuccino, when in fact they were only the first nation to make great cappuccino.
LATTE
In Italian, the world ‘latte’ simply means, milk’. Today, what English-speaking countries refer to as a ‘latte’ would be called a’ café e latte’ in Italy, literally translating to Coffee and milk’.
This combination arose from Italians seeking a slightly milder version of the espresso and simply adding milk- thus ‘café’ and ‘latte’. International equivalents of the latte include the French café au lait and the Spanish café con leche, with all three simply being strong coffee with added milk.
MOCHA
From the 15th till 17th century the largest coffee trading port in the world was in Yemen, in a city known as Mocha. Not only was this city famous for the beans it traded, but also the beans it grew. The beans originating in Yemen were well known for their distinctive rich, chocolate flavor.
This association between Mocha beans and chocolate has grown over the years and today there are two types of coffee that have derived names from it. The café mocha is an Italian coffee made with mocha beans. This coffee has a slight chocolate flavor from the beans and sometimes has cocoa sprinkles added to the top of the cup. The mochaccino (also known as chococcino) is a coffee made with mocha beans that which extra cocoa is added, thus enhancing the chocolate flavor of the beans.
