There are a wide variety of terms and coffee based drinks out there today. This is your quick guide to types of coffee drinks. How many have you tried?

20 Types of Coffee Drinks – The Ultimate Guide

Twenty Types of Coffee You Should Know

Step into any coffee shop today you are presented with a wide variety of coffee drinks. If you are adventurous, you may try out a variety of them. If you’ve not tried them all but are curious about some of them, then you’ve come to the right place. Here’s our guide to the different types of coffee drinks, both hot and cold.

Types of Hot Coffee Drinks

Types of Coffee

Types of Coffee Drinks without Milk

1. Espresso (& Double Espresso or Doppio) – Espresso is the hot drink you get when pressurised water is passed through coffee powder. The key is no additional water is added to this drink. A typical shot is 30ml. A double espresso is two shots of espresso and also known as the Doppio. Read more about what is an espresso here.

2. Ristretto – The ristretto is an espresso that is cut short, so it is the first 22ml of an espresso that has an intensity of  flavour. 

3. Lungo – The lungo is the opposite of the ristretto since this is an espresso that has more water. The espresso is extracted for a longer period of time.

4. Americano – The Americano is an espresso with hot water added to it after. At some coffee shops, they serve you the espresso in a larger cup with a pot of hot water, letting you create the dilution that you want.

5. Filter Coffee – The term filter coffee means  coffee that’s been made by passing coffee grounds through either a mesh or paper filter. The equipment differs country to country.  In the UK, filter coffee usually means using a chemex or V60. Some also refer to the french press coffee this way. The way filter coffee is made can differ based on personal tastes. Take a look at our “How to make coffee” to find one of the typical ratios. 

But in Vietnam for instance, filter coffee is a coffee made with a different metal filter maker with a mesh. This coffee also has chicory, similar but slightly different to the South Indian filter coffee. In the case of the latter, a “decoction” is a intense concentrated coffee liquid that is diluted with hot milk. 

6.Long Black – The long black is very similar to the Americano in that it has hot water added to the espresso, but because the espresso is usually added to the hot water, it has the crema on the top. You may also taste the difference if you drink through the crema since that does have intense flavours. This term is also used to refer to a black coffee that might be instant or from a filter as well. 

Types of Coffee with Milk and/or cream

1. Cappuccino – An espresso with milk and a stiff milky froth on top. It feels like the coffee is buried under the foam. To find out some more about the cappuccino, read this

2. Latte – An espresso with a lot of milk, so it’s a milky drink.

3. Flat white – An espresso with textured milk. Textured milk is hot milk and micro foam that’s been well mixed. This creates a silky thick form of milk. In some places, it’s the cappuccino without the stiff foam on top.

4. Macchiato – An espresso with a bit of the milk foam on top.

5. Piccolo – This is a small flat white.

6. Cortado – A double espresso topped with silky textured milk, usually with awesome latte art on top.

7. Café Mocha – An espresso with steamed milk, chocolate syrup and whipped cream or stiff foam. This is made slightly differently in various countries, but is a chocolate-coffee flavoured hot drink.

8. Café Bombon – Spanish coffee served in a glass cup with condensed milk at the bottom, espresso in between and strong milk foam on top.

Three Types of Coffee seen on dinner menus

1. Floating Coffee – A hot black coffee with double cream on the top. There are two distinct layers here.

2. Irish Coffee – An alcoholic floating coffee, this is a hot black coffee with Irish whiskey and double cream on top. There are two distinct layers here.

3. Affogatto – An espresso served with vanilla ice cream – more a dessert than a coffee drink 😉

Affogato - Types of Coffee

Types of Cold Coffees

The names used for cold coffees vary from recipe to recipe and shop to shop. You have ones that are a combination of coffee, milk, sugar and ice. These can be with ice cubes sitting on top or ice blended in with the other. To this basic set of ingredients, flavours of all kinds can be added.

Then there are cold coffee drinks with condensed milk and ice or other cold coffee drinks with ice cream added to it. Here are some of the standard cold coffee drinks

1. Iced coffee – Cold coffee with milk and sugar poured over ice cubes or crushed ice.

2. Frappe – A combination of coffee, milk, sugar and ice blended together.

3. Coffee shake – A combination of coffee, milk, sugar and ice cream.

Coffee frappe

​Which of these are your favourites? Which one do you want to try next time? 

Read about coffee roasters in the UK to discover some of the best coffee beans.  Want to have a coffee experience, try out a coffee tasting course in London