latte, cappuchino or a cuppa foam?

ok, one of the beefs that jon and i have with the terms latte and cappuchino is very few people understand the purpose of these drinks...

latte - milk, steamed to a boil, placed into a cup, then espresso is added
cappuchino - a latte with a thin layer of foam (we'll discuss that in a moment)
cup of foam - fluff that people sell calling it a cappuchino

the foam at the top of the cup is to preserve the wonderful temperature of the incredibly hot milk and espresso, otherwise, it begins to cool and the flavor changes from a wonderful aromatic to a bitter ulcer-causing mess... this is for people who cannot quickly drink near boiling beverages, or would rather sit and converse while drinking said beverage... the cup of foam, though neat in novelty, is no where near as amazing as a good latte or cappuchino... the cup of foam serves one purpose - to sell you an expensive drink for much less overhead - you get a few shots of espresso with a thimbleful of milk foamed into air for novelty. if making one of these at home, the only redeemable property is one can mix in a sweetener (sugar, honey, flavored syrup) to go along with espresso, but you're still simply insulating espresso.

now the latte... the latte is amazing. it's espresso, but mixed with a liquid that is, or ought to be, hotter than the espresso itself, so you get all of the rich espresso flavor without having to shoot it like some sort of alcohol before it cools... the thing is most baristas make lattes en masse and do not allow for them to heat to a boil, but simply to 155 fahrenheit... this is sad, especially when somewhere closer to 215 is preferred, depending on the milk and things of that sort, a boil or near boil is proper. most baristas are under a binding legal thingamabob saying that they cannot serve lattes at the proper temperature, but, most are kind enough to warm them to a better temperature for you if asked.

so there you have it, and now you know.

PS: eggnog creates a great latte, but a better cappuchino, it foams well enough to get a healthy enough layer of foam for a good conversation, but you MUST add cinnamon to the top, then you have christmas in a cup, also, if you contemplate adding nutmeg to a cup of foam or a cappuchino, be warned, nutmeg eats foam, but cinnamon sits nice and pretty.