Basics
How to Make a Cappuccino
Espresso, steamed milk and a deep cap of velvety foam in equal thirds — the Italian classic, with the milk technique that makes it work.
Ingredients
- 1 espresso (single or double, to taste)
- About 120 ml cold whole milk
- Optional: cocoa powder or cinnamon for dusting
Steps
- Pull the espresso into a warmed 150–180 ml cup.
- Steam the milk with the wand tip at the surface for 6–8 seconds to build plenty of foam, then submerge it and heat to about 60–65 °C.
- Tap the jug to burst any large bubbles and swirl until the foam looks like thick, shiny paint rather than dry froth.
- Pour so the cup ends up in roughly equal thirds: espresso, hot milk, and a deep cap of foam on top.
- Dust with cocoa or cinnamon if you like, and serve straight away.
Tips
- Texture, not just froth: good cappuccino foam is dense and velvety, not dry and bubbly like a bath sponge.
- Keep it small. Big cappuccinos with lots of milk are really lattes with a hat on.
- Italians only drink it before eleven. We think that rule is optional.
The cappuccino is the espresso drink most people can picture: a small cup, a dome of white foam, a dusting of chocolate. It is named, so the story goes, after the brown robes of the Capuchin friars, and it is older than the espresso machine itself — the Viennese Kapuziner of the 1700s was coffee with cream and sugar until it reached the colour of a habit. The modern version arrived with the espresso machines of the early twentieth century, and Italy has been strict about it ever since: espresso, milk and foam in equal thirds, and never after breakfast.
Thirds
The classic proportion is one part espresso, one part steamed milk, one part foam, in a cup of about 150 to 180 ml. That foam layer is what separates a cappuccino from a latte or a flat white; it should be deep, but it should also be dense and smooth, so that it mixes with the coffee as you drink rather than sitting on top like a meringue. When you tilt the cup, the foam should move with the liquid, not float free of it.
The dry, bubbly cappuccino of the 1990s — a scoop of stiff froth on top of a mug — has largely disappeared from good cafés, and for good reason: it tastes of nothing. The goal now is a “wet” cappuccino with a thick layer of microfoam, which is harder to make but far better to drink.
Steaming for a cappuccino
The technique is the same as for a flat white, only with more air. Start with cold milk in a cold jug. Hold the steam tip just at the surface and let it hiss for six to eight seconds — noticeably longer than you would for a latte — while the milk stretches and rises in the jug. Then sink the tip, let the milk whirlpool, and stop at around 60 to 65 °C. Tap the jug hard once to pop the big bubbles and swirl it for a good ten seconds. If the milk looks like shaving foam, you over-aerated; if it barely rose, you under-aerated. Either way, the fix is next time, not more steaming now.
Pour from a height to mix, then lower the jug and let the foam pile up as the cup fills. The finished cup should have a thick white cap with, perhaps, a brown ring of crema at the edge.
Single or double
Traditionally a cappuccino has a single shot. Most specialty cafés, including ours, use a double, because modern light roasts need the extra strength to come through the milk. If you find the drink too strong at home, drop to a single; if you find it too milky, go double. The proportions of the milk and foam stay the same.
Ours is a double shot of Calibre Coffee under a deep cap of whole-milk foam, cocoa on request. It is on our menu every day on Sultanahmet Square, morning or afternoon — see the menu.