What does Piccolo coffee mean? Is Piccolo Latte a mini latte?

"I'll have a cup of piccolo coffee."

"all right, no problem." Boss, your cup of coffee is too small, isn't it? "

In the eyes of most people, Piccolo seems to be a mini latte, or rather, 1/2 of a regular hot latte, in terms of the structure of the drink and the taste it tastes. So why does the coffee shop keep piccolo on the menu when it is so small and tastes like a latte?

Where does Piccolo Coffee come from?

Looking through the materials in front of the street, we learned that the "piccolo" of Piccolo Latte is an Italian word, meaning Piccolo. In other European language systems, it has the most primitive meaning of the word: small, young. The word "piccolo" has not been around for a long time, first appeared in publications in the mid-19th century, and Piccolo coffee as a drink, compared with other espresso, also seems a bit new.

The most widespread theory about the origin of piccolo coffee is that about a decade ago, baristas (bakers) in Sydney developed the method of milk coffee in order to save materials while testing coffee beans and extraction parameters.

Debugging is generally divided into concentrated and milk coffee, the former is to feel the aroma of the beans themselves, and the latter is to test whether the flavor is masked after matching the milk, here the barista will use the shunt handle to split the concentration into two halves, one shot will be tasted directly, and the other shot will add a small amount of steamed milk to make a small latte to drink.

In fact, this claim is not groundless. In Australia, Piccolo is no less popular than Australia and White. It can be said that Piccolo is the best-selling TOP3 in almost every boutique cafe. But once out of Oceania, it may not be easy to see this cup of exquisite milk coffee, replaced by a larger cup of Cabo, Australia White, latte.

In addition, the iconic characteristics of Piccolo Coffee are also in line with Australian coffee culture. It has both strong concentrated and milky aroma of latte; it can not only satisfy caffeine intake in a short time, but also take into account the mellow fat (crema) unique to Italian coffee. When you order a cup of piccolo coffee, you can drink the whole cup of milky coffee without stopping your work at all, so it fits the Australian pursuit of fast and refined coffee.

A mini cup of piccolo coffee is a little difficult to make.

Traditional piccolo coffee is made from a 3-ounce (90ml) glass mixed with a single espresso (15~20ml) and 60ml whirled milk with thin bubbles (less than 0.5cm). Apart from the size of the mini cup, Piccolo is not much different from the regular latte in structure, but since the container is half the size of the original, there is no doubt that the difficulty of making it is much higher than that of the latte.

Since they are all called "little lattes", then the standard hot lattes can not be less, but a smaller cup means less space for baristas. Complying with the shrinking of the whole cup of coffee, the barista blends the 60ml-only milk in the milk jar into silky foam and blends it evenly with the coffee liquid, without losing the exquisite appearance of the regular hot milk coffee. This is why the piccolo coffee we often see in cafes is almost all simple patterns such as tulips, small leaves and love.

What is the selling point of Piccolo?

In cafes in the early years, it was almost difficult to see piccolo coffee on Chinese menus, and some baristas didn't even know where this unpopular Australian milk coffee came from.

In recent years, with the popularity and expansion of the market, baristas know the stories and characteristics behind learning different Italian drinks in the morning, and learn from each other. Over time, they are able to promote the concept of this mini latte. But in terms of fame, Piccolo is still a nobody compared to the well-known Latte Australia White.

But today, the market has long been diversified. In order to make piccolo on the menu have more distinctive features and stand out among a large number of milk cafes, some boutique cafes have begun to concentrate the traditional mix into SOE, or a single espresso into a Ristretto base, while coffee containers have evolved from transparent glasses to a variety of exquisite small cups.

In addition to a la carte category, Piccolo Coffee has made it into the more popular coffee category: "Coffee Combo" with its small and exquisite definition.

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Front Street Cafe

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