Holiday Grind

create their own unique blends.

espresso roast—Coffee beans can be roasted from light to dark. Every level of roast is given a name—Vienna roast, for example, is a lighter roast than a French roast. Espresso roast is a distinctly dark style of roasting the coffee beans, typically applied to an espresso blend. (See my Guide to Roasting Terms later in this section.)

crema—The golden foam (also described as tan or reddish brown) that forms on top of a properly pulled espresso shot.

shot—A single serving of espresso, approximately 1 fluid ounce. Coffeehouse baristas often use shot glasses when mixing coffee drinks. They let the espresso extract down from the machine right into a shot glass, then pour the shots into larger cups or glasses into which other ingredients are mixed to create espresso drinks such as cappuccinos and lattes.

doppio—A double espresso or two straight shots of espresso. A triple is three shots; a quad is four.

pull—The reason you hear about a barista “pulling” an espresso shot is that on earlier espresso machines, the barista literally pulled a handle down to force the hot water through the coffee at a high pressure. Modern espresso machines are operated by pushing a button to start the extraction process, but the traditional term pull is still used.

ristretto—This is a more concentrated shot of espresso with a more intense flavor. The term comes from the pull of the shot being a “restricted” or shorter pull. Less water is used to make this espresso, and the coffee beans really should be ground finer. The amount of liquid in your cup will be slightly less than a regular espresso.

lungo—This is a weaker shot of espresso with less intense flavor. The term comes from the longer pull (lungo means “long” in Italian). More water is used to make this espresso, so there will be slightly more liquid in your cup than a regular espresso. In France, this drink is called café allongé. Be warned, this style can be slightly bitter. If you’re really looking for a diluted espresso, I suggest you try an Americano!

demitasse—The small cup in which a straight espresso is served.

espresso Romano—An espresso served with a twist of lemon. This is the peel only and should not include the bitter white part of the skin. Do not put the twist in the espresso drink. Instead, rub the lemon around the rim of your cup to impart the bright lemon flavor. Ironically, although the espresso Romano is popular in North America, it is not popular in Italy; and, although the taste combination of coffee and lemon may seem incomprehensible to some, the best single-origin beans in the world (Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, for example) actually display notes of lemon flavor. (For instructions on how to make your own candied lemon and orange peel, an elegant holiday treat with after-dinner espresso or coffee, turn to page 364.)

espresso con panna—An espresso served with a dollop of whipped cream.

macchiato—An espresso macchiato is an espresso that is “marked” or stained (that’s what macchiato means in Italian) with a small amount of foamed milk. Americans, however, are probably more familiar with the latte macchiato, which is the opposite—a steamed milk that is marked or stained with a bit of espresso. The biggest difference between a caffe latte and a latte macchiato is the method of making the drink. In a caffe latte, the espresso goes into the glass or cup first and the steamed milk is added. In a latte macchiato, the steamed milk is placed in the cup first and then “stained” by the addition of the espresso. A caramel macchiato, for example, would be made by placing vanilla syrup at the bottom of a cup, mixing in steamed milk, then adding the espresso (thus “staining” the milk), and finally topping the drink with caramel syrup—the heat of the espresso right under the caramel syrup will also help it melt down into the drink.

caffe freddo—A chilled espresso in a glass, sometimes served with ice and sweetened. In Italy the term freddo is sometimes used to mean coffee that is no longer hot—coffee that has simply gone cold. Note, however, that in Italy it is blasphemy to warm up cold coffee!

caffe Americano, Americano—The Italian answer to American-style drip coffee. An espresso diluted with hot water. It has a similar strength to drip coffee but a different flavor. The drink’s origin dates back to World War II when American GIs stationed in Italy added hot water to their espressos to create a drink closer to the type of coffee they were used to back home.

Americano misto—An Americano with steamed milk added.

cappuccino, cappa, cap—An espresso drink made with straight espresso, steamed milk, and foamed milk spooned on top. Although baristas may vary their ratios of steamed milk to foamed milk, the most common ratio is one third espresso, one third steamed milk, and one third foamed milk. The basic thing to keep in mind when you order a cappuccino is that it has more foamed milk than a caffe latte and will give you a stronger espresso flavor than a caffe latte or latte.

cappuccino dry—Depending on the barista, a dry may mean a cappuccino with foam only or simply one with more foamed milk than steamed milk.

cappuccino wet—A cappuccino with more steamed milk and less foam.

caffe latte, latte—Mike’s drink. An espresso drink made with straight espresso and steamed milk (about one third espresso to two thirds steamed milk). In Italy, a latte will have only steamed milk. In America, baristas often top the drink with a bit of foamed milk. The basic thing to keep in mind here is that the latte has more milk than a cappuccino, so the strong espresso taste will be more diluted. The latte is the most popular drink in American espresso bars and is often flavored and sweetened with coffee syrups. (See the Coffee Syrups section.)

microfoam—Latte nirvana. Microfoam refers to properly textured steamed milk. It is a thick, velvety potion of pourable microbubbles created by the expert use of an espresso machine steam wand. (See latte art.)

latte art—An artistic design or pattern, such as a heart or rosette, created by a skillful pouring of steamed milk into your cup. You may think this is just a cutesy flourish, but major props are due to any barista who can master the steam-wand creation of pourable microfoam (a texture required to create latte art). So if you are served a latte that features artwork floating on top, you can be assured of two things: Your latte milk has been properly prepared, and your barista rocks!

breve—A term used to indicate that you’d like your drink made with half-and-half instead of milk, such as a latte breve or a cappuccino breve. mochaccino—A cappuccino with chocolate syrup added.

caffe mocha—A caffe latte with chocolate syrup added.

Fa-la-la-la Latte—A caffe latte that uses coffee syrups or flavorings that evoke memories of the holiday season, such as a Gingerbread Latte, Eggnog Latte, or Holiday Spice Latte. This term was my own invention for the purposes of this novel!

café au lait—The French version of a caffe latte, made with equal parts hot milk and freshly brewed, darkly roasted coffee, usually French roast.

caffe con leche—The Spanish version of caffe latte with equal parts scalded milk and a strong, freshly brewed coffee. Sugar is added according to taste.

frappe—A cold, frothy coffee drink usually made from blending espresso, milk, crushed ice, and sugar or sweet syrups that can give the drink a variety of flavors.

red eye—Mike’s drink when he’s on an all-night stakeout. A regular drip coffee with a shot of espresso dumped in. (I think of it as a much more sobering version of a boilermaker!)

unleaded—A slang term for a decaffeinated coffee.

half-caf—A cup of coffee that’s a 50/50 mixture of regular and decaffeinated.

single-origin—A single-origin coffee is one that comes from a single region or farm, as opposed to a coffee “blend,” which is a coffee that is created by a roaster or retailer who combines beans from more than one coffee-growing region. Ethiopian Yirgacheffe, for example, is a single-origin coffee that comes from the Yirgacheffe region of the African country of Ethiopia. It is a single-origin coffee. A roaster may decide to combine the Ethiopian Yirgacheffe with a coffee from Colombia and one from Sumatra to create a “blend.”

regular—In New York City, a regular is a cup of coffee brewed in a drip machine with milk and sugar added.