I thought I had read that the difference between latte and capps was the ratio of steamed milk to espresso - with capps having a higher content of coffee and thus being stronger than lattes.

Is this the difference? And why do I have trouble when I order a capp with NO foam? Is foam just a tradition or am I not knowing what I am talking about? My local small town barista told me today that her ratios were the same for both drinks and seemed a little confused when I said I wanted NO foam?

I'm confused.

thanks
vicky

Traditionally, a cappu is made of equal parts coffee, milk and foam, and lattes are typically larger and served with steamed milk and no foam. By this definition, a super-sized 20 oz cappu is an oxymoron, but that doesn't stop anyone from selling them.

The cutting edge trend in a very small number of high-end espresso shops involves making both cappus and lattes with "microfoam", which is frothed milk blended to a uniform silky consistency and does not have visible bubbles or separation between the milk and foam portions. Microfoam allows the creation of "latte art" on drinks to show off the barista's skills. When using microfoam, the only real difference between a latte and a cappu is the size of the cup and thus the volume of milk. A cappu is generally around 6oz and a latte can be 12oz or more. Purists tend to stick to the 6oz cappu as a large amount of milk will drown out the taste of the espresso.