True coffee gourmets note that coffee should be drunk without additives that interrupt the taste. They radically refuse syrups and even sugar. Coffee with milk seems unacceptable to them. But this is a radical opinion.
Others note that coffee is addictive and harmful to health in large quantities. There is an opinion that coffee with milk is harmful. But research proves the opposite - the drink is quite healthy and reduces the harm from caffeine. On the other hand, it will not give such vigor as strong coffee without additives.
The appearance of the drink as a result of the experiment
Coffee with milk was first tried in France. Coffee shops decided to pour hot milk into a serving of coffee. The unexpected discovery was appreciated on the European continent and in the United States.
The updated drink came to Russia a little later, although Russians very quickly learned to add coffee to instant coffee. Over time, having tried brewed coffee, Russia also became addicted to coffee with added milk.
In Spain, Poland, Germany and Holland, if there is a separate word that distinguishes the drink. Coffee is called white or milk, but in the Netherlands it is completely incorrect.
Preparing espresso-based coffee drinks with milk began with the popularization of coffee machines, around the 1940s.
At the same time, latte differs from French coffee with milk in its preparation technology. It is brewed with milk, creating a three-layer mixture. The basis for a latte can only be espresso.
Americans prepare coffee with milk using an unusual drip method. Frenchies are also used. Steam heated milk helps create a unique drink, different from Italian and French.
Unlike lattes, French café au lait is served in a ceramic cup, or bowl. In the United States, some coffee shops have decided to adopt the French tradition and serve coffee in a bowl.
Latte
To prepare it, use a shot of espresso and a lot of milk. Foam is also present in latte, but in smaller quantities than in cappuccino. It has a different consistency - loose, moist, with a lot of large bubbles.
Standard latte proportions:
- 1/5 espresso
- 3/5 hot milk
- 1/5 milk froth
It is more correct to call a latte a cocktail. The coffee component in it is minimal. In addition, lattes often add large amounts of sugar and toppings, which makes them overly sweet, according to coffee connoisseurs.
Latte has a solid volume, which has shown an upward trend in recent years. Today you won’t surprise anyone with a glass of 400 ml drink.
This version of coffee with milk provides great opportunities for creativity. Its taste qualities are constantly diversified by adding various syrups and fruit water, and painting on its surface has become a separate direction and is called “latte art.” World championships are held on it.
The coffee recipe with a lot of milk has another option - latte macchiato. If a regular latte is stirred to form a homogeneous liquid with a top layer of foam, then a macchiato is poured in layers. Coffee, milk and foam are clearly separated in the glass. Unlike a regular latte macchiato, latte macchiato is not stirred, but sugar and toppings are added to the drink during its preparation, before serving.
Useful properties of milk
Milk is a healthy product in itself. It copes well with radiation and removes harmful accumulations from the body. Easily and quickly absorbed by the body.
Milk is rich in protein, phosphorus and calcium. Includes vitamins A and B, as well as ascorbic acid. The minerals that milk contains are iodine, sulfur, selenium and zinc.
Coffee has a negative effect on the body in many cases. Removes calcium and important vitamins. In turn, milk helps maintain balance, replenishing the loss of valuable substances.
Beneficial properties of coffee
Although coffee can sometimes be harmful, the drink can also be beneficial. Therefore, discussions have been going on for years: coffee helps or harms more. There is no one answer to this question.
If you take coffee in moderation there will be no problems. Some doctors treat gastrointestinal diseases with coffee. It is also good for mental health.
Chemical constituents in coffee may be beneficial. The main ones are: alkaloid, tannin, caffeine and vitamin PP. Fiber, iron, potassium, magnesium, phosphorus and vitamins E also have a positive effect on the body.
Caffeine: benefit or harm
In small doses, caffeine has a positive effect on the brain, reduces drowsiness, and improves performance. Tones blood vessels and heart function. Stimulates the production of the joy hormone in the brain, which can improve mood.
But if you use coffee only for mood, addiction will occur very quickly. The drink should be perceived as a treat, not a mood stimulant.
Coffee is contraindicated for people with hypertension and heart disease. At the initial stage of hypertension, you can drink coffee with milk, but not more than 1 cup per day. Milk limits vascular stimulation.
For ulcers and gastritis, any coffee will stimulate an exacerbation and should be avoided.
Combinations of coffee and milk
Milk enhances the beneficial properties of coffee. It softens the effect of caffeine, directing it in the right direction. In small quantities, coffee with milk will not harm even teenagers, pregnant women, and the elderly. The limited effect of caffeine prevents addiction.
It is useless to drink coffee with milk for vigor, the effect will be rather the opposite. For this reason, it is convenient to drink it after lunch, without worrying about sleep in the evening.
Also, coffee with added milk does not raise blood pressure well; it is unlikely to help a hypotensive patient.
Macchiato
To prepare a macchiato, you will need a shot of espresso and milk, whipped into thick foam. It is spooned from the pitcher onto the surface of the hot coffee. Unlike cappuccino, milk is not poured into the coffee; it remains black. Whipped milk froth is a decoration, simultaneously softening the strength and burning expressiveness of the espresso.
Standard macchiato proportions:
- 3/4 espresso
- 1/4 milk froth
It is better not to add sugar to the drink in order to fully enjoy its taste. The macchiato does not need to be stirred; the foam should remain on top. The milky color of the foam can be stained by coffee drops, hence the name, because “macchiato” means “spotted”.
Macchiato is served in regular espresso cups, drunk without stirring, passing the hot and strong drink through the milky softness of the foam.
Making coffee with milk
To make coffee with milk tasty and healthy, you need to use only the brewed type of drink. The most delicious coffee at home is brewed in a Turk. Milk should be poured into a ready-made drink; there is no need to add filler during preparation. The milk must be hot, cold is not suitable.
It’s also not difficult to prepare your favorite drink in a coffee machine. These are drinks with a different name, such as lattes and macchiatos.
You can regulate how many calories there are in coffee yourself. This factor is influenced by the percentage of milk fat and the amount of sugar. The fattier the product, the tastier it is. It is safe for the body. But you need to be judicious with sugar, as it greatly increases calorie content. If you calculate everything correctly, then one cup will contain up to 70 kcal.
More: Tassimo coffee review
How to make coffee with foam
Ever since they started adding frothed milk to cappuccino (and this did not happen right away), coffee with foam was doomed to worldwide popularity. Invented in Italy, it is now second only to traditional espresso, from which it is made itself. Max Fry in his “Coffee Book” said: “Cappuccino is love, first tart, and then sweet and light.”
This lightness is given to the drink by nothing more than milk foam . It is for this that we go to coffee shops and are willing to overpay the baristas. Many people don’t even try to make it at home, thinking that only a coffee machine’s cappuccino maker can do it. make excellent milk froth without it .
Milk foam recipe
Before the advent of coffee machines, the foam was simply whipped by hand. With a blender at hand, anyone can treat themselves to a fluffy topper on top of their favorite drink. We are sharing with you a recipe for fluffy coffee foam and a couple of secrets on how to make it perfect.
You will need:
- 0.5 cups instant coffee
- 200 ml milk
- 100 ml water
- 90 g sugar
- In a blender, combine sugar, instant coffee and cold water. Beat at maximum power for 2 minutes until thick cream is obtained.
- For one serving of cappuccino, add 2 tsp. cream into a mug and start heating the milk.
- Pour the heated milk into a container with cream and watch how a fluffy and thick foam rises. Your coffee drink is ready!
Store the rest of the preparation in an airtight container and use as needed. By the way, it is suitable not only for preparing a morning drink ! You can decorate desserts with it, because the resulting mixture is truly stable.
The right foam makes a cappuccino creamy, the wrong one makes it boring. That's what they say at the Copenhagen Coffee Academy. The recipe we offer is one of the simple and affordable ways to make cappuccino truly creamy. Here are some more secrets from biological scientists who have dedicated their lives to studying coffee.
- Use full fat milk, it has a positive effect on the taste. A product with 1.5% fat content is ideal.
- Pour the drink into a warm container so that the foam lasts longer - the cold will cause it to settle.
- You need to drink cappuccino within the first 15 minutes, after which it loses its taste.
For coffee connoisseurs who don't want to make do with half-measures in the form of instant coffee, there is also a solution. To get milk foam, whisk milk, the temperature of which is around 5 degrees, gradually heating it until almost boiling. It's best not to overheat it, stop at about 75 degrees.
When using pure milk foam, the proportions are: one third espresso, one third milk and one third creamy foam. In some cases, the foam may take up half the volume.
If you've ever seen a barista hitting a countertop with a pincher, you should definitely try making your own foam . In this way, the worker removes too large air bubbles that form when whipping incorrectly. And this is with a cappuccino maker! foamy coffee at home at least once
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To drink or not to drink coffee with milk?
Let's look at a few facts that will help you decide whether to drink coffee with milk.
1. This drink is good for bones.
Unlike black coffee, which has side effects on coffee and joints, coffee with milk does not have such disadvantages.
2. Promotes weight gain.
The secret lies in the calories. A cup of regular coffee contains 4.7 calories, which is not harmful to your figure. Coffee with milk will have at least 50. Therefore, on a diet, it is better to drink black coffee, excluding latte or cappuccino from your diet.
3. Coffee is harmful for people with high acidity.
In this case, doctors do not recommend drinking coffee, as it increases the pH level. Coffee with milk is milder, but still dangerous to drink. In this case, you need to remove products filled with water.
4. Coffee with milk is more effective in the evenings.
Pure black coffee tones the body and brain. Therefore, the love of drinking coffee in the evening can lead to insomnia. Just 50 g of milk softens the invigorating effect and does not interfere with proper rest. For those who already have insomnia, experts recommend avoiding drinking coffee after sunset.
5. Milk helps prevent esophageal cancer.
Hot coffee can damage the esophagus, creating an environment for tumors to appear. If it is filled with milk, it has a moderate temperature, which protects the stomach from harm.
Italian coffee and its types
At the very beginning, it is important to define the terms. The word “piccolo” in Italian means “small” and nothing more.
It has nothing to do with coffee; Italians do not use it to explain the volume of the drink. This is an “invention” that has roots in other countries (some of our restaurants and bars often offer it on the menu).
On the other hand, the concept of espresso is also not entirely correct. Italians use it when ordering coffee at a bar. But the term “espresso” does not mean a specific type of drink, it characterizes the extraction method.
This type of coffee originated in Italy about 120 years ago. This innovation is also associated with the advent of the lever coffee machine (into which ground beans are poured - in Italian this device is called "il porta caffe"), invented by Signor Bozzera. By the way, his name is present on many coffee machines.
There are other extraction methods, but since we are talking about Italian coffee, we will focus on espresso. Why? Because it is the basis for the preparation of all other types of Italian drink, such as cappuccino, latte macchiato, caffe macchiato, etc.
What should espresso look like? For every Italian, a good quality drink requires the presence of thick foam (“crema”). Properly created foam should remain on the surface for 3-4 minutes; its disappearance within a few seconds indicates improper preparation. The foam, as well as the overall taste of the drink, is affected by the so-called. model 5M. The absence of a certain part of it or non-compliance with the preparation rules will not provide the proper result. What makes up this model:
• monorigine e mescola (mixture of grains); • macinatura (grinding); • mano (barista's hand); • macchina (machine – coffee maker); • manutenzione (maintenance).
It may seem incredible, but the barista's hand is very important and can make a big difference. With a similar preparation procedure, on the same devices, with the same type of beans, grinding, each coffee will have a different taste and aroma! Because it is prepared by the other hand of the barista...
Proper espresso should not be too dark or too light. The optimal color is “nocciola” – nut. The “pattern” created by real Italian coffee is also important. The correct amount of ground beans is 7g per serving. Coffee powder is passed through hot water with a pressure of about 9 bar at a temperature of 90-95°C. The speed at which the finished drink flows out of the coffee machine is also important. It should not literally flow or drip slowly. The best option is a slow flow, filling the cup over 20-30 seconds. Making the right espresso is a science. Therefore, Italian coffee is considered one of the most delicious and rich in the whole world.
