Coffee Drinks: The Complete Guide

Coffee drinks comparison chart

This chart compares the main espresso-based drinks by ingredients, approximate finished volume and milk balance. The sizes are indicative reference ranges drawn from the published examples below, not internationally fixed specifications or a survey of every café. Large chain drinks can sit outside them.

For milk drinks, the ratio means espresso to poured milk by approximate volume, including its foam. It is a guide to the finished drink, not a brewing ratio or an instruction for measuring cold milk into a jug. The ratios and size ranges are independent comparisons: do not combine their opposite endpoints into a recipe.

Chart sources: Italian Espresso Institute, Nespresso’s published recipes, Lavazza’s Italian drinks guide, and NESCAFÉ Dolce Gusto’s drink definitions. Milk ratios are rounded interpretations of those examples; the doppio upper figure is twice the 40 ml espresso reference.

A mocha adds chocolate to espresso and milk, so its milk balance depends on the recipe. A long black combines espresso and hot water, conventionally with the water poured first. Neither needs its own supposedly universal ratio to be recognisable.

Understanding the espresso family

Espresso is coffee brewed by passing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee. It is both a drink in its own right and the starting point for cappuccinos, lattes and many other café orders. For the preparation details behind these names, see our guide to espresso-based drinks.

Ristretto, espresso and lungo describe different extraction lengths. A ristretto is a shorter extraction; a lungo passes more water through the grounds. They are not simply the same finished espresso served in differently sized cups.

An Americano works differently: the espresso is brewed, then diluted with hot water. With a long black, the conventional sequence is hot water first, espresso afterwards, helping retain crema, the foam on top of espresso. Café recipes can overlap, so ask about dilution if you want a particular balance.

A doppio means a double espresso. It describes the coffee portion, not the size of the cup around it. That distinction becomes useful when ordering a longer drink: adding water changes dilution, whereas adding another espresso changes the coffee portion.

Milk drinks: ratios matter, but texture matters too

Milk drinks are not separated by a neat ladder of ratios alone. Foam contains air, so equal-looking milk portions can contain different amounts of liquid milk. Microfoam means milk containing very small bubbles, integrated into a smooth, fine texture rather than a separate mound of large bubbles.

Small milk drinks

An espresso macchiato remains recognisably an espresso, with a small addition of milk or foam. A cortado usually brings coffee and warm milk closer to equal proportions. A piccolo is a small milk drink with a latte-like character, although the coffee base and milk quantity vary between recipes.

These names do not guarantee identical drinks. Nespresso, for example, publishes a cortado recipe containing considerably less milk than coffee, as well as a larger cortado variation. Treat “equal parts” as a useful convention, not a rule every machine follows.

Flat white, cappuccino and latte

A flat white usually combines a relatively compact serving with a thin layer of fine microfoam. A latte contains more milk relative to coffee in the usual comparison, with a modest foam layer. A cappuccino makes the foam more prominent.

The familiar cappuccino diagram showing equal thirds of espresso, milk and foam is a teaching convention, not a universal recipe. The Italian Espresso Institute’s certified example instead starts with 25 ml espresso and 100 ml cold milk, expanded to about 125 ml by steaming, then served in a 150 to 160 ml cup. Our cappuccino guide explores that drink in more detail.

A latte macchiato reverses the emphasis of an espresso macchiato: it is milk marked with coffee. Espresso added to the milk and foam can produce visible layers. It is not another name for the small espresso-led drink.

Coffee beyond espresso

A complete drinks guide needs room for coffee that never starts with an espresso shot.

• Filter coffee includes automatic drip and hand-poured brewing. It is brewed directly with water passing through the grounds, rather than made by diluting espresso.
• Cafetière coffee, also called French press, is an immersion brew: coffee steeps in water before a mesh plunger separates the grounds.
• Instant coffee is brewed coffee that has been dried into soluble powder or granules, then dissolved in water.
• Café au lait means coffee with milk. It is useful to ask which coffee base the café uses rather than assume it is an espresso latte.
• Turkish coffee uses very finely ground coffee prepared in a small pot called a cezve and served unfiltered.

These are different brewing or serving traditions, not lesser versions of café espresso drinks. To move from recognising names to making drinks, browse the coffee recipes collection.

Cold, chocolate and dessert coffees

Iced coffee is an umbrella description, but it commonly means hot-brewed coffee served cold with ice. Cold brew refers to extraction with room-temperature or cooler water. The distinction concerns brewing, not just serving temperature: cold brew can also be served warm.

Other useful names include:

• Iced latte: espresso, cold milk and ice.
• Nitro cold brew: cold brew infused with nitrogen, producing a foamy appearance and distinctive texture.
• Mocha: espresso, chocolate and milk.
• Affogato: hot espresso poured over ice cream, sitting somewhere between coffee and dessert.
• Espresso con panna: espresso topped with whipped cream.
• Irish coffee: coffee combined with Irish whiskey, sugar and cream.
• Red eye: brewed coffee with espresso added.

For these drinks, ask about ingredients as well as size. Chocolate, cream, syrups and ice make a simple espresso-to-milk comparison less informative.

Regional differences: the UK, Italy and Australia

United Kingdom

Do not assume that a UK chain’s flat white matches a compact reference recipe. Costa’s published UK information, checked in November 2026, lists its default whole-milk flat white at 241 ml in store and 262 ml for takeaway, compared with Nespresso’s 150 ml reference recipe. These are company-specific examples, not competing international standards.

This is why checking the actual serving is more useful than deciding that a café has used the “wrong” cup.

Italy

In a traditional Italian bar, un caffè normally means an espresso. Ask for caffè latte if you want coffee with milk: latte alone means milk. Cappuccino is associated particularly with breakfast, but that is a cultural convention, not a restriction on what you may enjoy later.

The certified Italian espresso and cappuccino figures are useful reference points for that tradition. They should not be presented as rules governing every modern coffee shop.

Australia

Flat white, piccolo and long black are useful names to recognise on Australian menus. Published Australian manufacturer guidance describes the flat white as less milky than a latte, with a thinner microfoam layer, and the piccolo as a small drink with a higher coffee proportion than a latte. The long black convention is espresso poured over hot water.

Avoid making “always a double shot” part of the flat white definition. Breville’s Australian-style guidance includes a single-shot example, illustrating how recipes vary even within a familiar tradition.

How to order the coffee drink you actually want

Use this checklist rather than trying to memorise every possible menu name.

1. Choose the family: black coffee, milk coffee, cold coffee or a sweetened variation.
2. Describe the finished size: “a small milk drink” is a useful starting point; ask for the volume if the menu is unclear.
3. Ask about the coffee portion: “How many shots are in that size?”
4. Describe texture: little foam, silky textured milk or a more prominent foam layer.
5. State the milk and extras: specify your preferred milk and whether you want chocolate or syrup.
6. Confirm unfamiliar names: “Is your macchiato an espresso with a little milk, or a larger milk drink?”

For example: “A small flat white, please. How many shots does that contain?” Or: “An espresso macchiato, just the small espresso with a little milk.”

For home or office bean-to-cup machines, check the programmed recipe rather than assuming the button name fixes the ingredients. Published machine recipes allow different coffee, milk and foam quantities under familiar drink names.

The most useful coffee drinks vocabulary tells someone what you want to drink. Size, coffee portion and texture make that conversation much clearer.