What's the difference between mocha and latte in Italian style? How is the traditional mocha made?

I think friends are no stranger to the word "mocha", but mocha coffee under the third or fourth wave of boutique coffee seems to be more and more difficult to find on the menu. Unfortunately, the old chocolate sauce was found in Qianjie at the end of the year, and asked Qianjie to make a cup of mocha coffee and tell you more about the past life and life of "mocha coffee".

What is mocha coffee?

Mocha is a coffee made of espresso, milk and chocolate sauce. The name "mocha" actually comes from the Yemeni port of Mocha. For more than 300 years since the 15th century, it has been a major commercial port exported on the Red Sea of Yemen, because coffee beans grown and produced from Yemen are concentrated here and then shipped abroad. At the same time, the port of Mocha will also import coffee beans from places such as Ethiopia in present-day Africa and re-export them.

As a result, coffee exports from the Yemeni port of Mocha once accounted for 100% of the world coffee trade, and because the sacks containing coffee beans were printed with the "MOCHA" logo to prove that they were transported from the port of Mocha, Europe and other major coffee importers collectively referred to them as "mocha coffee".

Mocha coffee beans are famous for their small and fragrant beans. combined with the deep roasting at that time, the brewed coffee tastes mellow, moderate, and has a strong chocolate flavor, which is highly sought after by Europeans.

The Italian mocha we are now familiar with, made with chocolate sauce, dates back to Italy in the 18th century. Due to the hostile relationship between the Ottoman Empire and the European powers and the control of coffee beans, coupled with the outflow of coffee species, the port of Mocha lost its monopoly on coffee, and mocha beans became scarce in Europe.

Therefore, people try to add cocoa powder to the coffee in order to imitate the rich chocolate flavor of mocha beans. Later, with the birth of the espresso machine and the gradual popularity of fancy coffee based on concentrate, this kind of milk coffee with chocolate became an important member of the espresso family.

Mocha coffee formed under the second wave of coffee

After World War II, the method of steam pressure extraction of espresso in Italy was familiar and accepted, but the quality of coffee beans was mixed at that time. In order to maintain the stability of coffee products and reduce the cost, coffee shops often use beans from multiple areas to blend, and then bring out rich oil and roasting aroma through deep roasting. Therefore, "bitter" was the common impression left by coffee at that time.

You know, the concentration of high-temperature and high-pressure extraction will magnify the advantages (/ deficiencies) of coffee beans, and not everyone can taste the concentrate as directly as the coffee hometown of Italy. In order to cover up the bitterness of coffee and cater to the market demand, mixing syrup, chocolate sauce, ice cream, cream and other excipients into the concentrate became important materials for beverage research and development at that time. Fancy coffee was also popular all over the world with the popularity of chain cafes.

Traditional mocha coffee is based on espresso and hot milk, adding chocolate sauce as seasoning, and using cocoa powder, dark chocolate and chocolate-flavored syrup instead of chocolate sauce. The coffee is usually topped with whipped cream, often decorated with cocoa powder, cinnamon or chocolate sauce. The addition of chocolate and cream not only masks the bitterness of the coffee, but also increases the hierarchy of the drink, so it is deeply loved by consumers.

Why is mocha coffee so rare?

This is because with the development of the third wave of boutique coffee, while emphasizing the characteristics of coffee origin and individual flavor, both practitioners and consumers pay more and more attention to coffee cultivation and post-processing methods to bring different tasting experiences. After a long period of joint efforts, the quality of coffee beans has been improved, and roasting has gradually moved from deep baking to medium-shallow baking characterized by the fragrance of flowers and fruit acid.

On the other hand, tea, as one of the three major drinks in the world, after combining the tastes of young people with all kinds of milk tea and fruit tea, began to become active in the domestic market, and there are more choices for sweet drinks. The market for mocha coffee is also diluted.

With the booming economy in recent years, people pay more and more attention to health issues, emphasizing that low-sugar, sugar-free healthy diet is continuously promoted, high-sugar, high-calorie diet gradually lost the market and faded out of our menu. Therefore, the flavor of coffee is masked by excipients, and the high-sugar mocha coffee is gradually "eliminated" by the market.

Although the classic Italian mocha has been weakened and faded out, drinks mixed with coffee and cocoa have always had loyal fans. In addition to fancy coffee with chocolate flavor, it is not uncommon for coffee flavors to be made with chocolate.

The article is almost over, and the mocha coffee in my hand is almost finished.

Although mocha coffee has been permanently on and off the front street menu, it just found the chocolate sauce at the bottom of the box. Let's revisit the way ice mocha is made. You only need to prepare double espresso, a little chocolate sauce, 200g fresh milk and some ice cubes, and conditional friends can add some cocoa or cinnamon.

Take out a glass, squeeze chocolate sauce on the wall, add ice cubes and 100g iced milk, then pour in Italian concentrate (pre-mix 10g chocolate sauce), pour into the ice foam from the warp press, and finally draw a pattern on the surface of the foam with chocolate sauce. A cup of good-looking iced mocha coffee is finished.

(ps: draw two concentric circles, one big and one small, cross from inside to outside, and then cross from outside to inside.)

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Front Street Cafe

No. 10 Baoqian street, Yandun road, Dongshankou, Yuexiu district, Guangzhou, Guangdong province