Best Espresso and Espresso Machine Terms

People around the world are fans of coffee. In various areas people love various types. Then some people love their coffee in any form or fashion. Other coffee connoisseurs enjoy only particular types. There are many particular types to choose from, coffee, cappuccino, latte, americano, or espresso which is the base of the other drinks. For those who stand at the menu looking confused, here is some help.

Espresso or Caffè espresso is a concentrated traditional Italian coffee beverage brewed by forcing hot water under pressure through finely ground coffee with an espresso machine. Espresso is the base for other drinks, such as lattes, cappuccino, macchiato, mochas, and americanos.

A latte or caffe latte is a coffee drink made with espresso and steamed milk.
A cappuccino is an Italian coffee drink prepared with espresso, hot milk, and steamed-milk froth.
Macchiato or Caffe macchiato is a coffee drink, made out of espresso with a small amount of milk.
Americano or Caffe Americano is a style of coffee prepared by adding hot water to espresso, giving a similar strength but different flavor from regular drip coffee.
Mocha or caffe mocha is similar to a latte but with chocolate added.
Now here are some other terms you may need to know.
Barista is Italian for bartender. These are what the coffee house employees are called who prepare and serve the various espresso-based drinks.
The demitasse cup is where most of these drinks start. This is a preheated cup that the Barista uses for their espresso pull.
Pull this may also be called a shot, this is the amount "pulled" from the machine to form a shot of espresso.
Espresso machine is needed to create espresso from coffee beans. There are a wide variety of machines available that can make the process from manual, semi-automatic, automatic to super-automatic. The super automatic even has a coffee grinder.
Grinder is what you need to create fresh coffee and espresso grounds. Espresso needs finer (or longer) grinding than coffee.
Blade grinders produce heat from friction which for coffee aficionados would lessen or taint the natural flavor. Although many people own this affordable grinder.
Burr Coffee Grinders keep the flavor and aroma of the coffee beans intact. Even better is the conical burr grinders which create consistently sized grind for the coffee or espresso which makes it great for tamping.
Tamp is compression of the espresso grounds for use in the espresso machine.
Steam wand is used to steam or froth liquids. Steamed and frothed milk is used in several different espresso based drinks.

Latte art is a showcase at some coffee houses. By carefully pouring steamed milk into a shot of espresso a trained barista can create a pattern or design. The art is further created by drawing a stir stick or similar through the foam to create designs. They may also sprinkle confectioners sugar or cinnamon or add syrups like chocolate syrup to help create a design.