Do you want to make a cappuccino or latte at home and are you wondering what type of beans is best to use? Here’s what you should know.
A cappuccino or latte is made by adding milk to espresso. Espresso is a brewing method and is often made with dark roasted beans. Dark roasted beans will produce a darker and bitter taste which works well with dairy.
Below we’ll go into why that is and what you can need to make good cappuccino and latte.
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What Type Of Coffee Beans Is Used For Cappuccino or Latte?
Cappuccino and Latte are both made by adding milk and milk foam to a shot of espresso. So the actual coffee part of a cappuccino or latte is espresso. Generally, dark-roasted beans are used to make espresso.
Milk is a very important part of any cappuccino or latte. But just foamed or warm milk alone is not enough. What makes a cappuccino a cappuccino is the coffee that’s also in there. What kind of coffee is used for cappuccino and latte?
Proper cappuccino is made with espresso. If you look at a cup of cappuccino, about, 2/3 is milk (including the +-1.5 cm of foam on top) and 1/3 is espresso (1 shot). So you can see that the espresso is an essential part. The same goes for latte although the ratios are different.
Sometimes espresso is made with lighter roasted beans but for a cappuccino or latte, this isn’t optimal. Since you add a lot of milk to the espresso, you want it to have a big punch to balance out the dairy. Dark roasted beans have more body, dark notes, and bitterness which works better with dairy.
You don’t necessarily need to use coffee beans that are called ‘espresso’ beans but a darker roast is recommended.
Do You Need Espresso Beans For Latte And Cappuccino?
Does the type of bean matter if you want to make a latte or cappuccino? Since you add a lot of milk, do you cover up much of the taste anyway? Do you need espresso beans or will any type of bean work?
We should cover what espresso beans are. All coffee beans start green. There are many different green coffees but how you roast them is what turns them into espresso beans. Espresso beans are usually roasted a bit longer which makes them darker than ‘normal’ coffee beans.
The darker roast allows an espresso machine to extract all the flavor from it quicker than lighter roasted beans. This is one of the reasons why espresso is so thick and strong. But it is also possible to make espresso with lighter roasted beans although a bit more difficult. lighter roasts have less bitterness and more sourness.
For cappuccino and latte, you don’t want more acidity so a dark roast is the best choice for most people. These beans don’t necessarily have to be labeled as ‘espresso’ beans though. Just dark-roasted coffee beans are fine. The ‘espresso’ label on the bag is just an indication of what you can use it for.
Suggested: Can you make espresso in a regular coffee maker?
If you’re buying pre-ground coffee for an espresso machine, you should definitely choose the bag that mentions it’s for espresso. That’s because coffee grounds for espresso are much finer than for regular coffee so normal pre-ground coffee won’t work properly in an espresso machine. The bags of pre-ground espresso coffee are usually dark-roasted.
Suggested: Is espresso just finely ground coffee?
Can You Use Normal Coffee To Make Cappuccino/Latte?
A good cappuccino for me has the correct balance between the bitter, dark coffee flavor and the rich creamy milk with the silky soft foam on top. You need to start with that strong, intense espresso so you can get that balance after adding milk.
Suggested: Does espresso have milk in it?
If you use drip coffee and try to make cappuccino with the same ratios as usual, you’ll get a very weak cappuccino without much coffee flavor. Of course, you can just add milk to normal coffee if you want but that won’t really be a cappuccino.
Espresso machines are expensive. Many people don’t have one at home but many people would like to make cappuccino at home. So what can you do instead? A Moka pot is a good replacement for an espresso machine in this case. A Moka pot is also called a stovetop espresso maker. They don’t brew coffee quite as strong as a real espresso machine but it’s the closest you’ll come with a cheap tool.
You’ll also need something to foam the milk since a moka pot can’t do that. A French press or electric milk frother is the best. You can try vigorously whisking warm milk in a pot but you’ll only try that once.
