What is the difference between espresso and coffee? Are they two different beans or roasts? For a while I was unclear on what exactly distinguished the two and felt like I needed a guidebook to determine all the varieties of hot drinks offered up on the menu board. I always felt hesitant asking the barista to run down the menu line by line and tell me the difference between them all. Although I’m sure most of them are happy to help, the folks in line behind me may have had some other choice thoughts about that.

Espresso is actually a process applied to a coffee bean. So there are not two different beans, but there are certain beans and roast levels that lend themselves to the espresso brewing process. Essentially when you make an espresso “shot” you are concentrating the flavor components (citrus, floral, herbal, spice, smoke, caramel, chocolate) from a coffee bean and are bringing out all the chemical variations, oils and roast characteristics.

Espresso has a much finer grind than regular drip coffee and is then tamped down and put in a machine that produces a great deal of pressure with water that is heated to a very precise level. For instance if the water is not at the perfect temperature within a few degrees the outcome can either be sour or bitter depending on which direction the process errs on. There are dozens of factors that go into producing the perfect shot of espresso so if you want to find out more, wikipedia has a great article that goes into much more detail.

The next step; choosing which drink to enjoy. They are all espresso based (using a shot or two) except for your basic cup of brewed coffee. It is just a matter of how much espresso and which combination of steamed milk, water or milk foam is included in each drink. I have listed some of the more common drinks and what they consist of below:

Caffé Latte (Latte for short): When served hot – mostly steamed milk with a shot of espresso and sometimes a thin layer of milk foam on top. Most iced lattes use cold milk and espresso.

Cappuccino: 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk and 1/3 foam on top.

Caffé Macchiato: Mostly espresso with a small amount of steamed milk or milk foam spooned on top of the beverage.

Americano Style: Espresso and hot water in equal parts.

Breve style: Espresso with half-and-half.

I’m guessing like anything else that can be considered an art, each shop will have their own interpretation and variations.

During this discovery process I have realized that I tend to enjoy a coffee shop almost more for its ambience than the actual taste of the coffee. If it is a comfortable and inviting place, somewhere that is conducive to lingering and reading the paper or just people watching, that is just as important as the quality of the Java being served up. Of course there are those few shops that just brew up an incredible tasting cup and will shine on that merit alone. In the coming months I will showcase and review some of the coffee shops we have discovered around town. Some of the favorites on the list are: The Hideout Coffeehouse, Caffe Medici, Genuine Joe, Flipnotics, Irie Bean, Thunderbird and Mozart’s. There are a few that I definitely want to try out: Pacha, Spider House, Bouldin Creek and I’m sure there are many more that are worth a visit. If anyone has any to share, we would definitely like to hear about them.

~Lee