Seattle-style espresso

Seattle-style espresso can be broadly thought of as espresso prepared from dark-roasted beans, which is usually combined with other ingredients, such as steamed milk, frothed milk, chocolate, and other flavored syrups. The person standing behind the bar preparing your Seattle-style espresso beverage is a barista. In the course of their work our baristas prepare many, many different espresso-based drinks. In the paragraphs below  we briefly discuss the variety of espresso-based beverages any of our baristas can make.

Espresso
Learning to create technically perfect espresso is important, because espresso is the base ingredient in lattes, mochas, cappuccinos, Americanos, and their many flavor varieties. The barista extracts espresso from coffee beans roasted specifically for machine extraction by forcing, under high pressure, 203-degree water through the coffee grounds. This method extracts espresso that possesses a high concentration of flavor and aroma, and, surprisingly, less caffeine than a similar amount of drip coffee. A properly extracted espresso is crowned by a golden-red cream known as crema. More than any other element, crema is responsible for the underlying smoothness of the best espressos.

Crema is the the most important ingredient in espresso. Crema is the dense, richly flavorful, creamy topping that forms as the espresso is extracted. Color is an important indicator of richness. Crema should be a reddish golden brown and it should remain intact until mixed with other ingredients such as milk.

Café Latte
To create Seattle's favorite drink, the latte, simply combine an espresso with steamed milk. Flavored lattes are prepared by adding flavoring syrups such as Torani's.

Caffe Mocha and White Chocolate Mocha
Mocha's are probably the best selling Seattle-style espresso drink. The mocha a latte that is flavored by regular chocolate syrup and topped with whipped cream.  Some like the white chocolate version.

Cappuccino
Caps are often confused with lattes. They differ in the way they combine with milk. Cappuccino is espresso combined with milk foam where as lattes are made with steamed milk.

Americano
To create an Americano, extract a shot of espresso pour it into half a cup of hot water. It is, in effect, a gourmet cup of coffee. But be warned. The smoothness of this beverage is addictive.

Breve
A breve is simply a latte or mocha that the barista makes with half-and-half instead of milk.

The barista can vary these basic espresso-based drinks almost infinitely by adding one or another flavoring. We use Torani syrups when our customers ask for a flavored drink.