macchiato
Pluralmacchiatos
- 1A shot of espresso topped with a small amount of steamed milk.
He sipped his macchiato slowly while reading the paper.
The café is known for serving a properly made macchiato with just a dab of foam.
Note
The name describes the look of the cup. Italian caffè macchiato means "stained coffee," espresso marked with a spot of milk, and the word runs back through Latin maculātus to macula, the root of English macula. The everyday plural is macchiatos. The Italian macchiati is rare but appears in coffee-savvy writing, as when Time Out Sydney (2004) sets macchiati beside ristretti. If you choose it, keep the Italian plurals together.
- 2Ellipsis of latte macchiato.
The barista handed her a caramel macchiato in a clear glass.
At most American coffee shops, a macchiato is a sweet, milky drink.
Note
Here the stain runs the other way. It is a tall glass of steamed white milk marked with espresso, using half or less of the shot in the espresso-based drink, so the proportions are reversed. American usage clips latte macchiato to plain macchiato, which means the same order can bring two very different cups. When the difference matters, say latte macchiato or caffè macchiato in full.
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Origin
From Italian caffè macchiato ("stained coffee"), from macchiato ("stained, marked"), since the coffee is "marked" with a spot of milk. It goes back to Latin maculātus ("stained"), a form of macula ("stain"), and is cognate to English macula ("dark spot") and French maculé.