LATTE VS COFFEE: ARE THEY THE SAME THING?

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LATTE VS COFFEE: ARE THEY THE SAME THING?

When you’re making yourself a cup of black gold, you probably do this in a very robotic way. You always get up at the same hour, make yourself a nice cup of drip coffee or pour-over and start your day. If you want something else, there are a lot of possibilities in coffee land.

We suggest you take a look at the famous latte. What’s the difference between a latte and regular coffee? Latte vs coffee!

Here at Golden Sin, we will guide you on these topics, what are they, how are they made, so you can brew yourself one after reading this post!

Here we go!

WHAT ARE THE DIFFERENCES BETWEEN A LATTE VS COFFEE?

We will cover the differences between these 2 coffees, but to do so, we need to know what they are exactly before we make this comparison.

WHAT IS (REGULAR) COFFEE?

A lot of people confuse coffee with regular espresso since we’re talking about coffee and latte, an espresso-based coffee. But is regular coffee the same as espresso?

No, by far no. Espresso is a coffee where a certain amount of grounds are tamped to increase resistance and where a certain amount of water is shot under high pressure in a short time. We use an espresso machine to do this quickly and easily.

DRIP COFFEE

This is a way of brewing coffee that everyone knows, be it at home, at the office… It’s a very easy way to brew coffee.

Drip coffee was first used in Germany, think about the invention of the coffee filter by Melissa Bentz. It’s one of the most used ways of brewing coffee in and outside the U.S.

We can brew this coffee with or without machines. We call them filter coffee machines. They use a filter to hold back the big, bitter parts of the grounds so we keep the best part for our cup. You simply do this by adding water to the water tank and pressing the button. These machines won’t cost you a lot in the beginning and are recurrent and provide you with a long coffee.

It’s a way of brewing that can get you large batches in a short amount of time. The downside is that the flavor isn’t as strong as espresso.

HOW TO BREW DRIP COFFEE?

You can brew coffee with or without a coffeemaker. When we brew it without a coffeemaker, it’s called pour-over.

WITHOUT A COFFEEMAKER

take a filter, carafe and a dripper (think about hario v60 or Chemex,(POST IVNOEGEGEN)
Boil water (around 20 oz)
get around 30 – 35 grounds of coffee. you can grind whole beans yourself or buy ground coffee.
Take the dripper and put a filter into it. Wetting the filter will improve extraction
Pour the water slowly in a circular way, so that the grounds are evenly extracted. give the time to bloom the coffee.

Your drip coffee will be collected in the carafe, ready for consumption.

For a quick video: we refer to our colleagues from wholelattelove:

WITH A COFFEEMAKER

The process is a bit easier and more convenient with a coffee maker:

insert a filter in the basket
insert ground coffee (buy them or grind whole beans yourself)
heat the water (make sure the coffee maker is turned on and powered): push the button
carafe will capture the good liquids and the filter will keep the bad and bitter parts away.

We refer to you a video from our colleagues at thecoffeeconcierge

WHAT IS A LATTE?

A latte is an espresso-based coffee that was first seen in Italy. There it’s called caffè (Caffe) latte and simply means coffee milk, referring to the combination of coffee and milk. The (steamed) milk is added afterward.

A latte is made with espresso, steamed milk, and a small amount of hot foam. The latte contains less caffeine than regular coffee because it uses more milk. People who drink lattes are fond of sweetness and don’t like the stronger taste of espresso.

Normally, lattes are served without any extra sweeteners like syrups, chocolate, cocoa, and so on… Great chains like Starbucks will serve them in large sizes and mostly with sweeteners.

HOW TO MAKE A LATTE?

brew your espresso coffee
heat your milk, you can use your micro-wave for this or a steamer. Do this for about 30 seconds to 40 seconds. Use cold milk.
use a milk frother to froth your milk. Tap with your cup to get rid of the larger bubbles
pour the milk into the cup with the espresso shot(s), do this slowly

Important is to give the milk the time, don’t hurry if not needed. You’ll want the foam also a bit heavier for the texture.

You can finish your latte with extra ingredients but we advise otherwise. You’ll find, based on the milk you’ve used, that your latte will be very sweet by itself.

ARE LATTES HEALTHIER THAN COFFEE?

No. When served initially without extra sweeteners or other products, you’ll see that a latte contains more calories than regular coffee. Latte has more milk, which gives a sweeter and smoother taste to your coffee, reducing the bitterness of the strong espresso flavor.

CONCLUSION

A coffee vs latte? Don’t “latte” it wait. Go and try to brew your first latte at home. After you’ve tackled this challenge, you can try other espresso-based drinks. Take a look at these blog posts to get some quick inspiration and learn what espresso-based coffee suits you best.

F.A.Q.

IS A LATTE STRONGER THAN REGULAR COFFEE?

No. Generally, a latte is less strong than regular coffee because of the large amount of steamed milk we have in our cup of coffee. We assume you don’t add any (steamed) milk to your regular coffee.

IS A LATTE SWEETER THAN COFFEE?

Yes, a latte is by far sweeter than regular coffee. The reason is that there’s a lot of steamed milk in your cup. The espresso-to-milk ratio is about 1:4, while regular coffee doesn’t contain steamed milk. We assume you don’t add sweeteners to your coffee.

IS A LATTE UNHEALTHY?

Yes. You can easily drink one a day but don’t just overdo it, as with most foods and drinks. Try to replace whole milk with almond milk alternatives to reduce fatness and thus calories. You can also leave out the extra sweeteners added afterward.

DO LATTES AND COFFEE TASTE DIFFERENT?

Regular coffee has a stronger taste than a latte. That’s because regular coffee doesn’t contain (steamed) milk and a latte a lot (the espresso-to-milk ratio is 1:4). The amount of steamed milk balances the strong flavor and this results in a more subtle flavor.

DOES REGULAR COFFEE CONTAIN STEAMED MILK?

Normally no, regular coffee is made black. If you use a more espresso blend, you’ll have a more milky taste, but the milk is generally added afterward. You can choose to add extra sweeteners as well.

IS REGULAR COFFEE THE SAME AS A SHOT OF ESPRESSO?

No, surely not. Regular coffee is much less intense when compared to this shot of espresso. The name says it clearly: a shot. A shot is something small and goes straight for its goal, that’s the same for espresso. The water is shot through the grounds at high pressure. With regular coffee, there’s more water and grounds involved, resulting in a less strong “shot”.

Enjoy your coffee!