Introduction:

Caffè latte  often shortened to just latte. in English, is a coffee drink of Italian origin made with espresso and steamed milk. The term comes from the Italian caffellatte or caffè latte, from caffè e latte, literally "coffee and milk"; in English orthography either or both words sometimes have an accent on the final e (a hyperforeignism or to indicate it is pronounced, not the more-common silent final e of English). In northern Europe and Scandinavia, the term café au lait has traditionally been used for the combination of espresso and milk. In France, café latte is from the original name of the drink (caffè latte); a combination of espresso and steamed milk equivalent to a "latte" is in French called grand crème and in German Milchkaffee or (in Austria) Wiener Melange. Variants include the chocolate-flavored mocha or replacing the coffee with another drink base such as masala chai (spiced Indian tea), mate, matcha, turmeric or rooibos; other types of milk, such as soy milk or almond milk, are also used.

Origin and History:

Coffee and milk have been part of European cuisine since the 17th century. Caffè e latte, Milchkaffee, café au lait and café con leche are domestic terms of traditional ways of drinking coffee, usually as part of breakfast in the home. Public cafés in Europe and the US seem to have no mention of the terms until the 20th century, although Kapuziner is mentioned in Austrian coffee houses in Vienna and Trieste in the 2nd half of 1700s as "coffee with cream, spices and sugar" (being the origin of the Italian cappuccino). According to the Oxford English Dictionary, the term caffè e latte was first used in English in 1867 by William Dean Howells in his essay "Italian Journeys". Kenneth Davids maintains that "...breakfast drinks of this kind have existed in Europe for generations, but the (commercial) caffè version of this drink is an American invention".[5][dubious – discuss] The French term café au lait was used in cafés in several countries in western continental Europe from 1900 onward, while the French themselves started using the term café crème for coffee with milk or cream.

Current Use :

In Italy, caffè latte is almost always prepared at home, for breakfast only. The coffee is brewed with a stovetop moka pot and poured into a cup containing heated milk. (Unlike the "international" latte drink, the milk in the Italian original is generally not foamed, and sugar is added by the drinker, if at all). Outside Italy, a caffè latte is typically prepared in a 240 mL (8 US fl oz) glass or cup with one standard shot of espresso (either single, 30 mL or 1 US fl oz, or double, 60 mL or 2 US fl oz) and filled with steamed milk, with a layer of foamed milk approximately 12 mm (1⁄2 in) thick on the top. In the US, a latte is often heavily sweetened, with 3 % or even more sugar. When ordering this drink in Italy, one should ask for a latte macchiato. A cup of latte with lunch at Merewether Beach, Australia The drink is related to a cappuccino, the difference being that a cappuccino consists of espresso and steamed milk with a 20-millimetre-thick (0.79 in) layer of milk foam. A variant found in Australia and New Zealand similar to the latte is the flat white, which is served in a smaller ceramic cup with warmed milk (without the layer of foam). In the United States this beverage is sometimes referred to as a wet cappuccino.

Iced Latte:

In the United States, an iced latte is usually espresso and chilled milk poured over ice. Unlike a hot latte, it does not usually contain steamed milk or foam. Iced lattes often have sugar or flavoring syrups added, though purists prefer them to consist simply of coffee and milk; they are also served blended with ice. The espresso can be pre-chilled (sometimes as a mixture of espresso and milk) or frozen in advance to avoid warming up the drink.

Politics:

Calling people "latte drinkers" pejoratively has become a common political attack in some Western cultures. The popularity of espresso drinking in large cities, especially among more affluent urban populations, has caused some to consider it elitist behavior. In the United States, conservative political commentators have been known to call their opponents "latte-drinking liberal elites." In Canadian politics, latte drinking is used to portray people as out-of-touch intellectuals and the antithesis of the Tim Hortons coffee drinker who is considered representative of an ordinary Canadian. According to a 2018 study, 16 % of liberals in the United States prefer lattes, whereas 9 % of conservatives and 11 % of moderates do. The overwhelming majority of people, whether they are liberal, conservative or moderate, express a preference for regular brewed coffee.