Mysterious Macchiato
Contrary to popular belief, a ‘macchiato’ is not a latte drowned in caramel and vanilla syrup, which has the resulting flavour of melted ice cream.
It is also not a cappuccino or a latte. It is a simple drink that floats somewhere beneath both these options (in the way it contains very little milk.)
A macchiato, or sometimes called an espresso macchiato is actually a single shot of espresso coffee drink with a small amount of milk added.
In the United States, it is more common to refer to a ‘latte macchiato’ as simply a macchiato and this is where the confusion arises.
‘Macchiato’ literally means ‘stained’ in Italian, this is because the milk is instantly coloured brown when added.
It is a drink commonly used in coffee art, as it is easy to manipulate the milk into pictures if a barista has the know-how.
The drink came about due to the fact that baristas needed to differentiate the difference between a simple espresso shot, and an espresso with a small amount of milk added in, the latter was ‘marked.’
Whether the milk is steamed or added cold to cool the espresso shot is totally down to personal preference.
Commonly, steamed milk is added but not foamed.
A traditional macchiato contains no actual foam, as this drink predates modern coffee technology that allows foam to be added to a caffeinated beverage.
It is not a tall drink with large amounts of milk, it is short and uncomplicated but for some reason there is a great air of mystery and intrigue surrounding it.
The recipe changes from store to store as they claim it as their own and add in unnecessary syrups and toppings.
However, the humble macchiato is just a single shot, with a dash of steamed milk on top, simple really.
So do not fear the macchiato, it is not as scary (or as sugary) as some people would have you believe.