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Coffee has been prepared in every way imaginable.
In this post we’ll give a short origin of each.
Espresso's history is very international. The first espresso prototype was created in France in 1822. But the French didn’t do much with their invention. The British continued to innovate on the device in 1887. But espresso really didn’t become popular till it hit the streets of Italy in the early 1900s.
Thanks to the Fascist dictator Mussolini the government implemented price controls on coffee consumed while standing up. Encouraging the "stand at a bar" culture that you see all over Italy today. Price control is doing there best to make something turn out alright I guess.
The cappuccino's origins can be traced back to 18th century Vienna. It was known as "Kapuziner" and named after the color of Capuchin friars' robes. Sounds pretty snooty.
Cappuccino spread to Italy during Austrian rule.
One legend claims it was named after Italian Capuchin friar Marco d'Aviano. A man who contributed to the victory at the Battle of Vienna.
The modern latte, normalized in Seattle in the 1980s. But it has roots tracing back to 17th century Europe. However, the invention of the espresso machine in the 19th century made the modern equivalent drink possible today.
The term "latte" has become politically charged in the west. Conservatives love calling their opponents "latte-drinking liberal elites.” Canadians viewing latte drinkers as out-of-touch intellectuals like Justin Treadue, who refuse to drink at Tim Hortons.
In World War II American G.I.s in Italy could not handle the strength of espresso. So they diluted it to approximate their familiar coffee. The Italians dubbed this drink, Americano.
But it actually has a more complex history!
The term "café americano" first appeared in English in a 1964 Jamaican newspaper. The word was being used in Spanish newspapers of the time. So, it's possible that the whole WW2 story could be totally made up.
Mocha is actually named after the Yemeni port of Mokha. It was a major coffee trading hub from the 15th to 17th century.
Most of us think of mocha as a chocolate infused coffee drink, but the word "Mocha" originally referred to Yemeni coffee beans.
The modern chocolate-coffee combination we know as mocha resulted from a misunderstanding about the chocolate-like flavored notes found in Yemeni coffee.
We didn’t even put chocolate in coffee till the early 20th century. The first published recipe for a "Chilled Mocha" only appeared recently in 1920.
The caffè macchiato literally means "stained coffee" in Italian. Those hard working baristas needed a way to distinguish between plain espresso and espresso with a tiny bit of milk.
Australia didn’t take the memo from the Italians., In Perth a "long mac topped up" is a double shot of espresso with the glass filled with textured milk. In Melbourne it's served as a double-shot of espresso—basically a glass half-filled with water, and a dash of textured milk on top.
The flat white a basic coffee beverage of espresso and steamed milk.
Apparently it has sparked an intense rivalry between Australia and New Zealand, they both claim its invention in the 1980s.
Who is right? We don’t really know.
But one interesting origin story traces the drink to wealthy Italian sugar cane farmers in far north Queensland, Australia. These guys apparently enjoyed "white coffee: flat" in cafés during the 1960s and 1970s. They were setting trends long before those hip liberal elite in those fancy cafes.
Cortado is not Italian, it’s actually a Spanish word with origins from Spain. The beverage consists of espresso "cut" with an equal amount of warm milk. Apparently we continue to innovate with new ways of adding milk to coffee wherever we go.
The Cubans eventually got involved with their own mix, the Cuban cortadito made with sweetened condensed milk.
The combinations keep coming!
Even in the capital of the liberal elites, San Francisco, a specific version called the "gibraltar" emerged… It was named after the Libbey Glass Company tumbler it served in. Of course the trend spread to other coffee shops like wildfire.
Nothing better than ice cream and a hot cup of coffee. So why not combine them? The affogato is an Italian dessert of gelato literally drowned in espresso. It became popular in the 1950s alongside the industrialization of ice cream production.
We really don’t know who invented it. Sorry. Its exact origins remain unknown.
If you are a hard core traditionalist, you need to make it with fior di latte or vanilla gelato and espresso. But of course people have gotten creative other times with many variations over time. My favorite, being the closet alcoholic, is the "drowned" in unconventional liquids like whisky, hot chocolate, and even port wine
Being Japan, they had to invent drinking coffee in a different way. So they invented cold brew centuries ago. It was developed with an ancient slow-drip method called "Kyoto-style.”
And it's great for those hot days.
But something better did come along in the 2010s with a variation called "nitro cold brew.” I honestly didn't know what all the fuss was about. But after I tasted it, I was amazed. They basically use science and make the coffee with nitrogen gas to create a creamy, beer-like texture.
However, you might want to drink a cup less than you are used to. As cold brew coffee can actually have higher caffeine content than hot brewed coffee when steeped for 24 hours.
You might be thinking, isn’t cold brew and iced coffee the same? It’s not. Iced coffee's origins can be traced back to Algeria circa 1840 with a beverage called Mazagran (I find it to be a much better name. It’s known as "the original iced coffee" but they make it with coffee syrup and cold water.
Fun fact, Ice coffee actually outsells Coca-Cola in South Australia. Good for down under.
Frappuccino is a made up word, people. "Frappe" and "cappuccino," were originally created by a small Massachusetts coffee chain called The Coffee Connection until Starbucks “stole” the name by acquiring the brand in 1994.
This Frappuccino has basically the sugar rush of choice for all those ladies out there.
It’s helped Starbucks become a billion-dollar behemoth for Starbucks, with annual Frappuccino sales surpassing $2 billion by 2012! It’s even spawned an outlandish limited edition mythical Unicorn Frappuccino. Who would want to drink something that is colored like a Unicorn? What could go wrong?
Ah and finally my favorite, Irish coffee. It's a cocktail combining hot coffee, Irish whiskey, sugar, and cream. This is how I make it through work everyday…
Oh, and it has an interesting origin story.
While it's commonly attributed to chef Joe Sheridan at Foynes Airbase in Ireland in the early 1940s. The concept of coffee cocktails predates this by at least a century, with Viennese coffee houses serving similar concoctions like the Pharisäer and Fiaker in the mid-19th century—and the French enjoying a spirits-coffee mix called "gloria" around the same time. Sorry guys, the Irish didn’t actually come up with the concept, but I like to think they did!
Now let’s say you want to get a heart attack. The Red Eye coffee might be for you. It’s a potent concoction combining drip coffee with a shot of espresso. It gained notoriety as a fuel for when I was back in college making it possible for me to study all night long. Given that I had no adderall like the other kids I had no choice but to pound these on a nightly basis.
Beware if you have some heart problems. This caffeine-packed beverage contains an extra 80 to 100 milligrams of caffeine compared to an Americano—yeah it’s way more powerful than that wussy GI drink back in WW2 times.
Café au lait, a beloved coffee drink with hot milk. Yeah another drink mixed with milk. It gained popularity in New Orleans during the American Civil War when Union naval blockades forced citizens to extend their coffee supply by mixing it with chicory root.
I get it, you don’t want to see me without my morning cup of joe.
The folks down there have a fun tradition of mixing the café au lait with beignets dusted in powdered sugar, which became a staple in New Orleans. The sweetness of the beignets cleverly offsetting the bitterness of the chicory-infused coffee.
Okay and saved the worst for last.
Instant coffee.
Possibly the worst coffee invention ever for you coffee snobs out there. It was invented in 1890 by David Strang in Invercargill, New Zealand and let’s just say it revolutionized the way people consumed their daily caffeine fix.
On a quick side note, during the American Civil War, a concentrated coffee mixture with the consistency of axle grease was briefly supplied to Union soldiers, but it proved so unpopular that it was quickly discontinued.
At least those Union soldiers had some senses!
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