The Difference Between a Latte and a Cappuccino

| life | coffee |

update 6/11/24: I think its so funny that I used to think that Starbucks and Panera represented good coffee. I’ve become an even worse coffee snob than ever before.

I have been severely disappointed, disgusted, and even offended twice in the last week. It has come to my attention that 21st Century Baristas do not know the difference between a latte and a cappuccino and that is simply disturbing.

The first time that it happened was last friday. I was strolling on a cool fall evening in Dupont Circle when I stopped at Starbucks to grab something nice to drink. I ordered a grande cappuccino. It was made quickly and I left the store looking forward to drinking it.

I sat down on a bench, and was chatting with a friend, when I took my initial sip. What I expected and what I got were two extreme opposites. I was expecting a warm fluff of foam followed by the heavenly scent of fresh crushed espresso beans and then, and only then, the soothing taste of the delicious warm espresso milk mixture. What I got on the other hand, was a scalding hot serving of espresso and milk, with no foam to be seen. Initially I was shocked, confused “Did I order the right thing?” I thought to myself. Then I confirmed that I did - Strike One.

Then today I came to my local Panera bread to study, like I do quite often these days. Now let me start off by saying that my expectations from Panera bread are much lower than they are from Starbucks, so when I come in here to order a cappuccino I don’t really expect the best one that I have ever had. The first sign of trouble was when the Barista looked up instructions on how to make a cappuccino. Then she attempted to make one and did not do a very good job, I could see the frustration on her face when she realized that she had completely failed in her task. Strike 2.

I hope there will be no Strike 3, so I am putting this message out as a public service announcement. I hope all the Baristas out there are reading this. A latte and cappuccino are very similar but they are not the same thing.

Yes, I admit that they are very subtle differences. But to this coffee addict, they mean the world.

Thank you for reading! Share your thoughts with me on bluesky, mastodon, or via email.

Check out some more stuff to read down below.

Most popular posts this month

Recent Favorite Blog Posts

This is a collection of the last 8 posts that I bookmarked.

Articles from blogs I follow around the net

How Many Mildliner Colours Are There Now?

I made a mildliner reference site to keep track of all the colours

via Robb Knight • Posts • Atom Feed June 27, 2025

Resupply stablecoin lender exploited for $9.3 million

An attacker was able to exploit a vulnerability in a smart contract used by the Resupply stablecoin lender to extract about $9.3 million from the project. After depositing around $200,000, they were able to inflate the price of anoth…

via Web3 is Going Just Great June 27, 2025

Self-driving is finally happening

I still remember how the car industry got all excited back in 2017 about how steering wheels would soon be obsolete. Every concept car then was a living room on wheels, seats facing inwards. The self-driving revolution was imminent, they said. Well, it …

via David Heinemeier Hansson June 27, 2025

Generated by openring