What are the 12 types of coffee drinks?

There is no official twelve, but the dozen you will meet on almost any menu are espresso, ristretto, lungo, Americano, macchiato, cortado, flat white, cappuccino, latte, mocha, iced latte and cold brew. Learn the first ten as ratios of espresso to milk and you can read any menu.

What are the top 10 coffee drinks?

By how often you will see them ordered: latte, cappuccino, Americano, flat white, espresso, mocha, iced latte, cortado, macchiato and cold brew. That is menu frequency, not a ranking by quality; the best drink is the one whose ratio matches how much milk you want.

Which coffee drink is the strongest?

Per sip, a ristretto or a straight espresso; per cup, whichever has the most shots. USDA puts restaurant espresso at about 63 mg of caffeine per 1 oz shot, so a double-shot flat white and a double-shot latte carry the same caffeine, about 126 mg, however different they taste. An 8 oz drip coffee is about 95 mg, more than a single-shot anything.

Which coffee drink has the least caffeine?

Among espresso drinks, anything built on one shot, about 63 mg: a single espresso, a macchiato, a traditional cappuccino, a single-shot latte. A cafe au lait made with half drip coffee is lower still, around 48 mg for 8 oz. Decaf versions of any of them drop to a few milligrams.

What is the difference between a latte, a cappuccino and a flat white?

Milk and foam. A cappuccino is a single shot with equal thirds of espresso, steamed milk and thick foam in 5 to 6 oz. A flat white is a double shot under thin, glossy microfoam in 5 to 6 oz, so it tastes stronger. A latte is one or two shots in 10 to 12 oz of steamed milk with a thin foam layer, the mildest of the three.

What is the difference between an Americano and drip coffee?

How the water meets the coffee. An Americano is espresso diluted with hot water to a drip-like volume; drip coffee is water passed through grounds under gravity. They land at similar strength in the cup but taste different, and a single-shot Americano has less caffeine than an 8 oz drip, about 63 mg against 95.

Espresso & Coffee Drinks

Types of Coffee Drinks: Every One, by Ratio and Family

By Coffee Studies Editorial·Published November 13, 2026·5 min read

Quick answer

Coffee drinks fall into five families: straight espresso (espresso, ristretto, lungo, Americano), espresso with milk (macchiato, cortado, flat white, cappuccino, latte, mocha), brewed coffee with milk (cafe au lait, egg coffee), cold (iced latte, espresso tonic, affogato) and coffee with a spirit (Irish, carajillo, Spanish). What separates drinks inside a family is the ratio and the cup: a cortado is espresso and milk in equal parts in a 4 oz glass, a flat white is a double shot under microfoam in 5 to 6 oz, a latte is one part espresso to three or four parts milk in 10 to 12 oz. The caffeine follows the shot count, about 63 mg a shot by USDA, not the size of the cup.

Figure

Caffeine in each coffee drink, as usually served

Values in mg per drink

Cafe au lait, 8 oz

48half drip coffee

Espresso, ristretto, macchiato

63one shot

Cappuccino

63one shot

Affogato, espresso tonic, Irish coffee

63–71one shot, or 6 oz drip

Americano

63–126one or two shots

Latte, mocha, iced latte

63–126one or two shots

Drip coffee, 8 oz

Cortado, flat white, doppio

126two shots

USDA FoodData Central SR Legacy: restaurant espresso 212 mg per 100 g (about 63 mg per 1 fl oz shot) and brewed coffee 40 mg per 100 g (about 95 mg per 8 oz). Shot counts are the drinks as the pages on this site describe them; a cafe that pulls doubles by default moves every one-shot row to 126 mg.^[1]

Every coffee drink you can order is a few ingredients in a ratio, served in a particular cup. Once you know the ratio, the names stop puzzling you: a cortado is espresso and milk in equal parts, a flat white is a double shot under thin foam, a latte is one part espresso to three or four parts milk. Here is every common drink you will meet, in five families, each with its ratio, its cup and its caffeine, and a link to the full page when you want more.

25 mL

the certified Italian espresso, from 7 g of coffee in about 25 seconds, the base of most drinks on this page^[2]

63 mg

caffeine in a 1 fl oz restaurant espresso by USDA, so a drink's caffeine follows its shot count, not its cup size^[1]

5 families

straight espresso, espresso with milk, brewed with milk, cold, and with a spirit; every drink on a menu belongs to one^[6]

How much caffeine is in each drink?

Count the shots. A shot gives you about 63 mg by USDA, so a double-shot drink gives you about 126 mg whatever size the cup, and an 8 oz drip coffee at 95 mg gives you more than any single-shot drink. ^[1]

The chart is the reason a flat white feels stronger to you than a latte. It is not stronger per shot; it has two shots in less milk, so you taste the coffee more and you drink the same caffeine as a double latte.

Family 1: straight espresso

Coffee and water, nothing else. What changes is how much water you run through the same dose. ^[2] ^[3]

Drink	What it is	Ratio and cup	Read more
Espresso	7 g of coffee pushed through under pressure in about 25 seconds	about 25 mL in a 2 to 3 oz cup	What is espresso
Ristretto	the same dose, half the water, stopped early	about 15 to 20 mL	Ristretto
Lungo	the same dose, about twice the water	1:3 to 1:4 coffee to liquid, 50 to 110 mL	Lungo
Doppio	two shots	about 50 mL	Ristretto vs espresso vs lungo
Americano	espresso diluted with hot water after the pull	one or two shots to 6 to 8 oz	What is an Americano
Cafe cubano	a moka-pot shot whipped with sugar as it brews	a few sweet ounces	Cuban coffee

If you want more coffee flavour, go shorter; if you want more cup, go longer or add water. When you add water after the pull (Americano) you get a different taste from running more water through (lungo), because the lungo keeps extracting.

Family 2: espresso with milk

The same shot, with steamed milk in a rising ratio. Read this table top to bottom and you watch the milk go up and the coffee taste go down.

^[4] ^[5] ^[6]

Drink	Shots	Milk and foam	Cup	Read more
Macchiato	one	a spoonful of foam on top, nothing else	espresso cup	Macchiato
Cortado	usually two	equal parts warm milk, barely any foam	4 to 5 oz glass	Cortado
Flat white	two	steamed milk textured to thin, glossy microfoam	5 to 6 oz	Flat white
Cappuccino	one	equal thirds espresso, milk and thick foam	5 to 6 oz	Cappuccino
Latte	one or two	three to four parts milk, a thin foam layer	10 to 12 oz	Latte
Mocha	one or two	a latte with chocolate syrup or powder, often cream on top	10 to 12 oz	Mocha
Breve	one or two	a latte made with half-and-half instead of milk	10 to 12 oz	Latte

The three you are most likely to confuse are the middle three. You can tell them apart by the cup and the foam: cortado in a glass with almost none, flat white in a small cup under a thin shine, cappuccino in a small cup under a thick cap. The full comparison is on its own page: latte vs cappuccino vs flat white.

Family 3: brewed coffee with milk

Not espresso. These start from drip, French press or a phin filter, which is why you count the caffeine by the cup rather than the shot.

^[7]

Drink	What it is	Ratio and cup	Read more
Cafe au lait	brewed coffee with an equal volume of hot milk	1:1, 8 to 10 oz	Cafe au lait
Vietnamese egg coffee	strong phin coffee under a whipped yolk-and-condensed-milk cream	a small glass	Vietnamese egg coffee
Standing egg coffee	the same idea, a different city	a small glass	Standing egg coffee

Family 4: cold

Espresso or brewed coffee over ice, with or without milk. The caffeine is whatever you put in; ice changes nothing for you but the volume.

Drink	What it is	Ratio and cup	Read more
Iced latte	hot shots poured over ice, then cold milk	1:3 to 1:4, 12 to 16 oz	Iced latte
Espresso tonic	a shot over ice and tonic water	one shot to 5 to 6 oz tonic	Espresso tonic
Affogato	a hot shot poured over a scoop of ice cream	one shot, one scoop	Affogato
Iced coffee and cold brew	chilled drip, or coffee steeped cold for 12 to 24 hours	by the glass	Cold brew guide

Family 5: coffee with a spirit

Hot coffee, a measure of alcohol, usually sugar and cream. You are drinking a cocktail that happens to carry a coffee's worth of caffeine.

^[7]

Drink	What it is	Read more
Irish coffee	strong hot coffee, Irish whiskey, brown sugar, lightly whipped cream floated on top	Irish coffee
Carajillo	a small hot coffee with brandy, rum or a liqueur; in Mexico, with Licor 43	Carajillo
Spanish coffee	a flamed sugar-rimmed glass of rum and triple sec, coffee liqueur, hot coffee and cream	Spanish coffee

What to do

Want the coffee taste? Stay near the top of the milk table: espresso, macchiato, cortado, flat white.
Want a mild, milky cup? Latte or mocha, and ask for one shot.
Watching caffeine? Count shots, not ounces. One shot is about 63 mg; a drip coffee is about 95.
Ordering abroad? The ratio travels better than the name. Ask for "a double shot with a little milk" and you will get a cortado anywhere.

The short version

Five families, one rule: inside a family, the ratio and the cup define the drink you get, and the caffeine follows the shot count at about 63 mg a shot. Learn ten ratios and you can read any menu in the world.

Watch

See it, not just read it

3 videos picked for this page. They play right here, full screen on a phone, and you come straight back to the article.

Epicurious6312k viewsOwners of Coffee Project NY teach you how to make almost every coffee drink, covering many families and ratios.

Morgan Eckroth691k viewsMorgan Eckroth guides you through essential coffee, espresso, milk, and iced drinks with clear explanations.

James Hoffmann2216k viewsJames Hoffmann explains espresso drinks with their histories and recipes, offering deep insight into ratios.

Hosted on YouTube. Credit belongs to the channels named.

Frequently asked questions

What are the 12 types of coffee drinks?: There is no official twelve, but the dozen you will meet on almost any menu are espresso, ristretto, lungo, Americano, macchiato, cortado, flat white, cappuccino, latte, mocha, iced latte and cold brew. Learn the first ten as ratios of espresso to milk and you can read any menu.
What are the top 10 coffee drinks?: By how often you will see them ordered: latte, cappuccino, Americano, flat white, espresso, mocha, iced latte, cortado, macchiato and cold brew. That is menu frequency, not a ranking by quality; the best drink is the one whose ratio matches how much milk you want.
Which coffee drink is the strongest?: Per sip, a ristretto or a straight espresso; per cup, whichever has the most shots. USDA puts restaurant espresso at about 63 mg of caffeine per 1 oz shot, so a double-shot flat white and a double-shot latte carry the same caffeine, about 126 mg, however different they taste. An 8 oz drip coffee is about 95 mg, more than a single-shot anything.
Which coffee drink has the least caffeine?: Among espresso drinks, anything built on one shot, about 63 mg: a single espresso, a macchiato, a traditional cappuccino, a single-shot latte. A cafe au lait made with half drip coffee is lower still, around 48 mg for 8 oz. Decaf versions of any of them drop to a few milligrams.
What is the difference between a latte, a cappuccino and a flat white?: Milk and foam. A cappuccino is a single shot with equal thirds of espresso, steamed milk and thick foam in 5 to 6 oz. A flat white is a double shot under thin, glossy microfoam in 5 to 6 oz, so it tastes stronger. A latte is one or two shots in 10 to 12 oz of steamed milk with a thin foam layer, the mildest of the three.
What is the difference between an Americano and drip coffee?: How the water meets the coffee. An Americano is espresso diluted with hot water to a drip-like volume; drip coffee is water passed through grounds under gravity. They land at similar strength in the cup but taste different, and a single-shot Americano has less caffeine than an 8 oz drip, about 63 mg against 95.

References

Every factual claim in this article is drawn from the sources below. See the source library for how we grade evidence.

[1]FoodData CentralU.S. Department of Agriculture · Official dataset · Tier 1 · Strong
[2]The Certified Italian Espresso and CappuccinoIstituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano · 2014 · Reference work · Tier 3 · Contextual
[3]Ristretto vs. Lungo: The Espresso Ratio GuideLavazza USA · 2026 · Industry report · Tier 3 · Contextual
[4]LatteWikipedia · Reference work · Tier 3 · Contextual
[5]Caffè mochaWikipedia · 2026 · Reference work · Tier 3 · Contextual
[6]Brewing FundamentalsCoffee Science Foundation · Reference work · Tier 2 · Moderate
[7]CoffeeEncyclopaedia Britannica · Reference work · Tier 3 · Contextual