Becoming a Coffee Connoisseur at a Coffee Shop Near Me

So You Want to Become a Coffee Connoisseur? 

    As a girl who has enjoyed coffee since high school, I am on a constant search for my next favorite drink. It can't be too sweet, but it needs a rich flavor. In the winter I drink hot coffee, but in summer I prefer it cold. It has taken me a while to learn exactly what each coffee drink consists of. Since my new favorite cafe Just The Bean opened down the street from my house, I have had the chance to taste test a few new combinations of drinks to find the right one for me!

    Some coffee drinks contain more or less espresso than others, which is the first important piece of coffee knowledge to understand. I have always been a fan of cappuccinos, so naturally this was my go-to during my first trip to Just The Bean. Cappuccinos are broken down into three parts; espresso on the bottom, then steamed milk, then the foam. This lead me to my first point of confusion. While I could visually see the difference between the foam and the steamed milk, I wondered how the two were distinctive and also how they were made. In coffee shops such as this one, espresso machines have a wand attachment that pushes steam into milk, eventually creating small bubbles called "micro-bubbles". In other words, this creates the hot, silky smooth milk used in the coffee. Foamed milk has a similar process, but the wand is keep closer to the surface of the milk to create larger bubbles, in turn creating a fluffy texture. 

Cappuccino 

    Once I realized the complexities of my cappuccino, I was curious to learn what other combinations were out there. The cousin of the cappuccino, in my opinion, is the latte. While the two drinks both usually have one-part espresso, the latte, on the other hand, contains mostly steamed milk with the smallest bit of milk foam on top. 

Latte

     Okay, so what else is out there? I know that even though I like the bitter taste of coffee, there are a lot of people out there that enjoy some sweetness. If you're one of those people, then I would recommend a mocha. In my coffee research, I learned that a mocha is one-part espresso with a layer of chocolate and steamed milk to balance out the bitter flavor. Most times, mochas are topped with whipped cream as well. And if you want to add some flavor, Just the Bean offers caramel, peppermint, vanilla, or a white chocolate mocha. 

Mocha

    Like I said, summer means cold coffee drinks for me. Most are the cold version of a hot drink, such as a iced latte or cappuccino. Or you can get a basic iced coffee. But, my recent favorite has been cold brews. Again, I wasn't sure what the actual process was to make this type of drink. Cold brew uses a different process than other coffees; while most others use heat to extract the flavor from the bean, cold brew is made by letting the bean sit in cold water for over 12 hours. Because of this technique, the brew is usually less bitter than regular iced coffee. 

Cold Brew

    All of this coffee talk makes me want to head to a coffee shop near me, which you already know my favorite: Just The Beans! 

Keywords/phrases:

Coffee shop near me

Coffee

Espresso