Half Moon Bay Coffee Company is the Reader’s Cove cafe (no we’re not affiliated with Half Moon Bay, California). We serve Silver Canyon Coffee (from Boulder, Colorado), breakfast burritos from Ophelia’s Kitchen (from Loveland, Colorado) and an assortment of other goodies! Check out our menu.
Not a coffee drinker? Confused by all the names? Then Keep Reading!
Coffee Definitions: Taking the Nonsense out of the Names
Figuring out how to order a coffee or espresso beverage is intimidating all the confusing coffee-speak, but take a breath, relax, and read on to find your perfect cup.
Espresso is a concentrated coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee. In contrast to other coffee brewing methods, espresso often has a thicker consistency, a higher concentration of dissolved solids, and crema (foam) . As a result of the pressurized brewing process, all of the flavors and chemicals in a typical cup of coffee are very concentrated. For this reason, espresso is the base for other drinks, such as lattes, cappuccino, macchiato, mochas, and americanos.
Americano: Put one shot of espresso into a hot cup of water.
Black Eye (also called red eye or shot in the dark): A black eye is a cup of coffee with two shots of espresso.
Breve: Ordering a drink breve means the barista will make the drink with half-and-half instead of milk.
Café Au Lait: A café au lait is French for “coffee with milk,” which is exactly what a café au lait is: two-thirds coffee, one-third steamed milk.
Cappuccino: Made with 1/3 espresso, 1/3 foamed milk, and 1/3 steamed milk. You mix the espresso and the steamed milk, leaving the foamed milk on top of the beverage.
Dry: More frothed milk than steamed milk.
Wet: More steamed milk than milk froth.
Chai Latte: A chai latte is a spicy black tea with a variety of spices — cinnamon and black pepper among them — combined with steamed milk.
Con Panna: a single, double, or triple shot of espresso topped with whipped cream.
Frozen or Blended Coffee Beverage: Every coffeehouse has a different name for their own blended coffee drink, but perhaps the best-known name is the Starbuck’s The Evil Empire’s Frappuccino. Whatever the name, the drink consists of espresso, flavoring, and milk or a special mix to create a frozen, flavored coffee drink.
Half-Caf: is just coffee-speak for a drink with half the caffeine: half caffeinated, half decaffeinated.
Iced: refers to any espresso or coffee drink served over ice, which almost all the beverages listed can be served over.
Latte: A latte is the most popular form of espresso drink, it is a combination of espresso, steamed milk, any flavorings and just one or two spoonfuls of froth.
Macchiato: A traditional Italian coffee drink, macchiato means “marked coffee” for its specialty mix. To make a café macchiato, one must combine espresso with a topping of foaming milk to give it a unique profile.
Mocha or Cafe Mocha: The equivalents of a café latte with chocolate flavors, café mochas have become a popular variant on traditional chocolate flavors. The drink is made by combining espresso with steamed milk and melted chocolate – while chocolate syrup is most common, it can also be made with melted pure chocolate. The drink is commonly topped with whipped cream, sometimes chocolate shavings and spices such as cinnamon.
