The Macchiato: Or How to Make Enemies in the Barista Community

For all the crap top baristas have given Starbucks for perverting the term "macchiato" by calling their big caramel calorie bombs by that name, it's not like a lot of "third wave" baristas are helping.

Wikipedia:  "Macchiato" simply means "marked" or "stained," and in the case of caffè macchiato, this means literally "espresso stained/marked with milk." Traditionally it is made with one shot of espresso, and the small amount of added milk was the "stain." However, later the "mark" or "stain" came to refer to the foamed milk that was put on top to indicate the beverage has a little milk in it (usually about a teaspoon [in fact, the Portuguese word for a macchiato is "pingo," which means "drop"]). The reason was for the baristas to show the serving waiters the difference between an espresso and an espresso with a little milk in it; the latter was marked.

With the advent and popularity of ristretto shots, odds are many cafes where you'd order a macchiato will give you two shots, since they're smaller in volume (each shot is around 0.5-0.75oz, so that's 1.0-1.5 oz total espresso for a double ristretto, or roughly the same as a standard shot*).  That's not the problem.

The problem is when the milk volume far exceeds the "one tablespoon" (0.33oz) of the classic drink.  And how that milk is steamed.  A traditional, classic macchiato has a ratio of 4-5 parts espresso to 1 part milk.

Too often we see photos posted from top cafes and baristas of macchiatos that are nothing more than miniature lattes - about a 1:1 ratio of milk to espresso with the milk steamed latte-style so the barista can show off their rosettas pouring skills. 

Once you start featuring the milk as much or more than the espresso, you've got a different drink.  Many shops correctly call this a "latte piccolo" (which we can do on request - it's not on the menu - and nobody has ever asked for one.) 

It's possible, if you're really, really good, to pour a heart with a little more than a tablespoon of milk.  But you can't do much else.  So using that guideline, any macchiato with clearly defined latte art is not actually a macchiato, but more of a milk drink in the latte piccolo vein.

There's also a slightly larger version of this drink, called a "cortado", that's usually served in a 5oz glass instead of a cup and has closer to a 2:1 milk/espresso ratio.  But generally no foam, or very little.

Naturally, a lot of baristas will disagree with this.  Even though they espouse the wonders of their particular espresso, it's the latte pouring skills that get the oohs and aaahs from customers and Flickr users. So they want to pour their art without regard to the history or legacy of the classic macchiato.

But it makes us wonder, if given the opportunity to showcase their self-proclaimed wonderful espresso by using the barest amount of milk possible in a macchiato, why don't they?

Above image from FoodGPS as we don't have a decent camera at our disposal at the moment.

*If the cafe you visit is regularly pouring single shots of more than 1.5 ounces, it's time to think about switching shops

Comments

[Chris M]

Preach it brother. I hate the mini latte and it's just about all I can get nowadays (outside of you guys of course)

[Michael]

Are you saying that "free-pour" macchs are really macchs (jeez that's an ugly abbreviation)? Or just that some places free-pour too much milk?

Also—and here's another place to stir up lots of controversy—what do you see as the difference, if any, besides the cup they come in, between the latte piccolo, the cafe cortado, and—wait for it—the gibraltar?

[rich]

Chris, I learned my lesson getting chewed out by the wife for doing art in one of yours.

Michael, we're apparently in the minority here, but it's more of the free-pour too much milk.

Thing is, if you're going to use microfoam for a macchiato, it takes about as much milk to make that spoonful of foam as it does for a full cappuccino. So we're guessing that rather than throw that milk away, some shop owners and baristas simply decided to use it, pour art with it, and then it got out of control.

[rich]

To your other question, it's mostly milk/total drink volume. Latte piccolo would be in a demitasse, so 3oz max. Cortado in 4-5 oz glasses (usually straight sides and narrow). Gibraltars at Blue Bottle are in 5oz Libbey Gibraltar glasses. I've seen others as big as 7oz.

[Russ]

At what point does our Italian terminology become too convoluted, though, for our very American audience? We already have a hard time distinguishing the macchiato from the S$ macchiato--what if we added the minute differences between that and cortado and piccolo and gibraltars, especially when orders of macchs are very limited?

I usually describe macchs to customers thus and so-ly: "An ounce or two of espresso (depends on a single or double macch), topped with a dollop of foamed milk." Then I have found out that I have to add: "It is a very small drink, about 2-3 ounces tops" otherwise the expectation is still (for reasons I cannot understand) at least a 12oz drink.

[Rich]

Russ,
Your description pretty much matches ours.

Fair question on all the drink names. Our point was more along lines of barista peers complaining about Starbucks' caramel "macchiato" on the one hand, then making their own drinks that extend and confuse the definition of what a macchiato traditionally is/was.

I don't think it's necessarily worth it for shops like ours to put all these things on the menu. But it's not a bad idea for the staff to know what each is so that odd customer who wants a piccolo latte or cortado can get one.

And even the guys at Blue Bottle who originated the Gibraltar will tell you the drink was a lark that caught on for no apparent good reason.

[Russ]

The name confusion game makes sense. I probably would opt not to have it on the menu, but it is Bethany's favorite drink.

I hope to get down there soon. With my new job, I may be in your area or near abouts with some frequency.

I'm gonna have to try one of those Gibraltars as well.

[Russ]

My first sentence didn't make sense. I meant to say that your explanation of the "name confusion game" makes sense. Oy.

[Rich]

Russ, we've never made a Gibraltar.

Don't make us go there ;-)

[Anne]

Just curious, and I haven't read the comments through so I'm not sure if it was already asked:

What do you think about shops who justify an overall lack of latte art based on this pushback against the '3rd wave' theory that macchiato should only come in this "true" latte-art state? I've worked with great cafe owners who really hate latte art, constantly citing a jumbo macchiato. I'm not really committed to latte art either way so I kind of have no opinion (I suppose, if forced, I like "american", latte-arted style machs but in 2.5 oz cups).

For me as long as the foam is good and the espresso is good, I'm happy. I get afraid when people abandon latte art altogether because it's a reaction against "the cool kids and their cortados", because then it's a slippery slope back into crappy foam.

Clearly I know this is not Aldo's approach but I'm curious to hear your thoughts.

[Anne]

oh, and also, for the record, whenever customers ask me what a macchiato is (or I think they may be asking for a caramel latte), I always give them the power of definition: macchiato means marked in Italian, so here is what you get - espresso marked with foam.

[Rich]

Anne,

The macchiato one of the (few) things where Melanie and I are on the same page (although I dabbled in the art for a bit and am still tempted to do so).

Best I can answer is that if I go into a shop and order a macchiato, I really want to taste the coffee first, not the milk. Thus I don't like the mini-latte approach. If I wanted a piccolo/cortado/gibraltar/whatever, I'd ask for that.

I guess that's at the nut of the rationale. As stated above, what's the point of mocking Starbucks for their "interpretation" of a macchiato when we can't even agree on what it should be.

It's not "pushback" on 3rd Wave in our case. It's more trying to keep the different drinks distinct in the customer's mind as well as our staff's.

You've had a busy week - wish we could've made the Summit. Sounded great. Hope to see a transcription sometime.

[Cheyanne]

Thank you soo much! This tip is super useful!
http://www.filecatch.com/trends/rs/01-08-2010.html