You walk into a third-wave cafe in any major city and the menu has eleven drinks you don’t recognize. A flat white. A cortado. A piccolo latte. A gibraltar. A long black. A short black. A doppio. A lungo. A red eye. A black eye. A breve.
None of these is hard to understand once someone tells you what they actually are. The problem is that menus rarely tell you, and the barista is too busy to explain six drinks while a queue builds behind you. So here’s the glossary. The actual definitions. With dollar-amount precision when relevant.
This is part two of our coffee drinks guide. For the more common drinks (espresso, latte, cappuccino, mocha, Americano), see Types of Coffee – Coffee Varieties.
Espresso variants
Espresso (single shot). About 1 oz (30 ml) of strongly extracted coffee, pulled in 25-30 seconds at 9 bars of pressure. The basis of every espresso drink.
Doppio. A double shot of espresso. About 2 oz (60 ml). Same extraction time as a single, just twice the volume because the basket is wider.
Ristretto. A “restricted” espresso shot. Same dose of ground coffee but less water passes through, producing a sweeter, more concentrated 0.75 oz (22 ml) shot. Italian: “restricted.”
Lungo. The opposite of ristretto. Same dose of coffee, more water, producing a 2-3 oz (60-90 ml) longer extraction. The flavor is more diluted and slightly more bitter than a standard espresso. Italian: “long.”
Espresso con panna. A shot of espresso topped with a small dollop of whipped cream. Italian: “espresso with cream.”
Espresso macchiato. A shot of espresso “marked” with a small spoonful of steamed milk and a dot of foam. Italian: “stained” or “marked.”
Espresso plus milk variants
Flat white. A double shot of espresso with steamed milk and a thin layer of microfoam, served in a 5-6 oz (150-180 ml) cup. Australian/New Zealand origin. Stronger coffee-to-milk ratio than a latte.
Cortado. A double shot of espresso “cut” with an equal volume of warm milk, served in a 4-4.5 oz (120-130 ml) glass. Spanish origin. The milk softens the espresso without diluting it like a latte does.
Gibraltar. An American name for what is essentially a cortado, served in the Libbey “Gibraltar” 4.5 oz glass. Originated in San Francisco. Functionally identical to a cortado.
Piccolo latte (or piccolo). A single shot of espresso with steamed milk, served in a 3-4 oz (90-120 ml) glass. Smaller than a flat white. Australian.
Breve. An American latte made with half-and-half (cream/milk blend) instead of milk. Substantially richer and higher in calories than a standard latte.
Cafe au lait. French. Drip coffee or French press coffee with steamed milk in roughly equal proportions. Not espresso-based.
Americano and water-based drinks
Americano. A shot or two of espresso topped up with hot water to a 6-12 oz (180-350 ml) volume. Approximates a drip coffee but with espresso flavor character.
Long black. The Australian/New Zealand version of an Americano, but the espresso is poured over the hot water rather than the water being added to the espresso. The order preserves the crema. The flavor is slightly stronger and brighter than a standard Americano.
Short black. Australian/New Zealand. Just a single shot of espresso served plain, the same as an Italian espresso.
Caffeine-heavy combination drinks
Red eye. A regular drip coffee with a single shot of espresso added. Significant caffeine bump.
Black eye. Drip coffee with two shots of espresso. Approximately 250-300 mg of caffeine in one drink.
Hammerhead (or Shot in the Dark). Drip coffee with a shot of espresso. Synonym for a red eye. Some cafes use a regional name for this drink.
Regional coffee traditions
Turkish coffee (also Greek coffee). Finely ground coffee boiled with water and sugar in a long-handled brass pot called a cezve (or ibrik). Served unfiltered in small demitasse cups with the grounds allowed to settle at the bottom. See our full guide to making Turkish coffee.
Kopi tubruk. Indonesian. Coarse coffee grounds boiled directly with a solid piece of palm sugar. The grounds settle at the bottom of the cup.
Indian (Madras) filter coffee. Drip-brewed for several hours through a small two-chamber metal filter. Served in a steel tumbler with a mix of about 3:1 coffee to milk. Predominant in southern India.
Vietnamese coffee (cà phê). Coarsely ground coffee brewed through a small metal phin filter, dripping slowly into a glass containing sweetened condensed milk. Served over ice as cà phê s?a ?á. See our guide to making Vietnamese coffee.
Oliang (or Oleng). Thai iced coffee. A blend of coffee with soybean, corn, and sesame seed, brewed traditionally through a muslin cloth bag.
Cafezinho. Brazilian. A small, strong, sweetened coffee served in a small cup. Traditionally brewed by pouring hot water over coffee suspended in a cloth filter, then sweetened with sugar already in the pot.
Other commonly mis-ordered drinks
Flavored coffee. Coffee with syrups added (vanilla, caramel, hazelnut, etc.) or with flavoring added to the beans before grinding. See our guide to flavoring coffee naturally for the non-syrup approach.
Mocha (or mocaccino). A latte or cappuccino with chocolate syrup or chocolate powder added. Sweeter and less coffee-forward than a plain latte. Good gateway drink for people who think they don’t like coffee.
Frappe. The original Greek frappé is instant coffee, sugar, and water shaken with ice to create foam, then served over ice with milk. The Starbucks Frappuccino is a different drink: a blended ice-and-coffee dessert beverage.
Iced coffee. Hot-brewed coffee, cooled and served over ice. See our guide to making perfect iced coffee.
Cold brew. Coarse-ground coffee steeped in cold water for 12-24 hours, then filtered. Lower in titratable acidity than hot-brewed coffee. Different process than iced coffee, different flavor.
Nitro cold brew. Cold brew infused with nitrogen, served from a tap with a creamy head similar to Guinness stout. The nitrogen gives the coffee a slightly sweet, smooth mouthfeel without added milk or sugar.
Irish coffee. Coffee with Irish whiskey, brown sugar, and a layer of lightly whipped cream floated on top. See our Irish coffee recipe.
Melya. Coffee mixed with a teaspoon of unsweetened cocoa powder and honey. Sometimes topped with a small amount of cream. Mediterranean origin.
White coffee. In most of the English-speaking world, “white coffee” just means black coffee with milk added. In Lebanon, it refers to a hot herbal infusion of orange blossom water that contains no coffee at all. Order carefully if you’re traveling.
Instant coffee. Coffee that has been brewed at scale, then freeze-dried or spray-dried into soluble granules. The major coffee chains in Europe and Asia use better-quality instant than the supermarket varieties in the US.
When in doubt at the counter
If you’re standing at a third-wave cafe menu and don’t recognize half the drinks, the most useful thing to know is: a cortado or piccolo is a small, espresso-forward milk drink that’s lighter than a latte. A flat white sits between a cortado and a latte. A long black is an Americano made the Australian way. Anything else, ask the barista to explain. They’d rather you order something you’ll enjoy than something you’ll only finish to be polite.
Discussion 19
Nice list Thanks! There is also the “Café con leche” which (I guess) is a Spanish version of Latte, using a roast like Pilon or Café Bustelo. A Cuban Coffee uses a strong espresso with a big spoon of sugar to give it a super sweet but strong taste. Also, there is the “Indian shaken coffee”, made with instant coffee, milk, and sugar shaken to a frothy treat!
Greek coffee is made in a briki, perhaps the word is left over from Ottoman rule. And frappe (the instant kind) is a real treat on a hot day, with loads of ice and condensed milk.
i really love coffee but didnt know all the types of coffee available and this site has helped me in knowing more as am starting my coffee shop in town.
i don’t know how melya and oleng taste like so i will try them before putting them on my menu.by the way am addicted to coffee, i just cant do without a cup a day.
thanks for the information on this site, it has been of good help and informative.
Samantha,
There is a reason why it has been accepted by some coffee shops to use frothy milk instead of straight milk. Interestingly enough, because there is such a small amount of milk in the espresso shot, waiters could not even hardly see that milk was added, so some places started using a small amount of frothy milk on top instead, so that they could better differentiate them.
Note: Be careful when ordering “White Coffee,” because it is now the name of an actual type of roast (which is basically just a VERY under done bean), and the only people who order it are those who a) want to feel special by ordering something that MOST coffee shops don’t carry, and b) the ambitious who want to pretend they know coffee but wouldn’t be able to tell a good roast if it jumped out and bit them in the armpit.
Also, if you order a Macchiato these days, it’ll espresso with foam on top, not milk.
i reaLLy want to be a good barista.. thanks for this site… :) it reaLLy helps me a Lot!
OMG i never knew there was so meny kinds of coffee, thanks for the help
Personally, I shot of DeSarano’s Ameretto Liquor is heavenly in a cup of French Roast, settle the nerves in the evening just right.
now i MUST find a place that serves hammerheads
I just want to correct something. There is no cardomom pods in Turkish coffee. It is made of only sugar, water and freshly ground, heavenly smelling turkish coffee. If there is cardomom pods, that is Arabic style.
Just a word of advise. Before ordering a “Lungo” (See above) Try a single espresso then try another single espresso using the already used coffee in the portafilter, then finally try a 3rd single espresso from the same coffee in the portafilter. (Effectively making 3 separate shots from the same 7grams of espresso coffee. By the time you get to the 3rd shot you should realise never to order a Lungo again. On a correctly set up espresso machine using quality coffee, the 1st shot is heaven, the 2nd shot is close to hell and the 3rd shot should make you sick! Don’t just take my word for it, try it.
I use this in my training to show people why they should never put more than 30ml (1 ounce) though their 7g espresso shot. Most of them are shocked and never try to pull a long espresso again!
hii, this is quite an interesting information for a coffee lover like me. but a little complicated anyways it is great. thnx
I wanted to know how much caffeine in 1 cup of coffee I have a daughter who is pregnant and she is allowed 300mg’s of caffeine per her doctor.
Hey, can i have more information abt the types of coffee and perhaps the picture too? I mean in a more complicated version of the types of coffee. Thanks.
A number of years there was a restaurant in Toronto named Crispin’s. They had the most delicious coffee blend, named Crispin’s. My husband and I were told that Diana’s Cupboard in Greenwich Village had the recipe and could do the blend for us. Unfortunately, they could not give us the recipe. Is there any way you would be able to find this recipe for us. I do know that java and mocha beans were used. Thanks so much.
Thanks for the list, I’m really looking for a better blend than the packaged Safeway Select, Starbucks, and Folgers crap, all of them are really really weak and don’t taste very good.
Sebastian
a quick note: most vietnamese style coffee made (in the USA) usually includes chicory in the coffee grounds (a la Cafe Du Monde), although I’ve noticed a trend evolving over the years in the local Vietnamese community to using instant coffee. Not like there are alot of subtle flavors to be missed in a witches brew of wicked strong coffee and condensed milk ;) First time I tried it (a billion years ago) when I was 14, I asked if it had alcohol in it! Fun site, thanks for the info.
Greek coffee and Turkish coffee differ in the addition of chicory to Greek coffee and cracked cardamom pods to Turkish coffee. Also, if any sugar is going to be added, it must be added to the coffee in the pot before it’s brewed, it can’t be added to the cup afterwards.
the thing that u made the Turkish coffee in is actuaLLy caLLed ‘cezve’. Ibrik is sth reaLLy from the past and not the same thing:)
just wanted to mention..