I have been enjoying tasty and exhilarating coffee beverages for years now, but I am accustomed to only two ways coffee can be served. Hot coffee served or iced coffee. Although I much prefer making coffee at home, sometimes I end up stopping at a nearby coffee shop while I am out and about campus. Nonetheless, I still have trouble deciphering coffee shop menus to this day.
Oftentimes, I am on the go and in need of a little pick-me-up. I turn to the nearest coffee store to quench my quick coffee craving and end up turning to Starbucks more often than not. When I enter the store and glance at the menu, a sudden wave of perplexity hits me like an animal seeing its mirror reflection for the first time. It feels as if I am staring at a different language with all of the fancy terms they use to describe different drinks on its menu.
It is quite confusing when I try to find the differences between all of the fancy drinks they advertise on their menus, and I wish they would make it easier for us all to understand. I see ornate words like Frappuccino, macchiato, espresso and cappuccino. I get the feeling that the inventors of these drinks wanted to come up with some spicy terms for people to feel esteemed and of higher regard than those who just ask for hot or iced coffee.
After wondering about the elegant coffee names for years now, and not wanting to bother the perennially busy baristas, I decided to do a little bit of investigation on my own. I went to the on-campus Starbucks at the MU and asked around about the elaborate brews. I was initially successful when I found a woman who described what a Frappuccino was for The State Press Snapchat story (follow @statepress). However, I continued to ask other coffee drinkers what the coffee names like macchiato, espresso or cappuccino meant, but to no avail.
I have come to the conclusion that most people do not know and are uninterested in what the drink actually consists of. The only important aspects of a coffee drink is that they taste good and have the caffeine that gets students and workers through the day.
To inform others and myself of the ingredients that differentiate the coffee drinks I compiled a list of the ingredients for each one.
Espressos are made by forcing steamed water through ground coffee.
Frappuccinos contain coffee, ice, milk, whip cream and flavoring syrup.
Cappuccinos have espresso, hot milk and steamed milk foam.
Macchiatos contain coffee, ice, milk, vanilla syrup and often caramel sauce.
Lattes are made with espresso, steamed milk and milk foam.
After wondering about the significance of these drinks for years now, I have finally rested my qualms with the confusion created by the fancy coffee names. Now with this information that once felt so elusive, we can all order our coffee drinks from Starbucks menus like pros.
Related Links:
Starbucks, ASU expand partnership
Crow: ASU, Starbucks partnership can be example for higher education
Reach the columnist at Graham.Paul@asu.edu or follow @GrahamASUpress on Twitter.
Editor’s note: The opinions presented in this column are the author’s and do not imply any endorsement from The State Press or its editors.
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