Types of Coffee

My gf has asked me "why is a long black called a long black?" several times and I couldn't answer, so this time I decided to do some research on it. (At the very least, it will give me some peace of mind too.)

I thought of some common coffee terms below. This is not meant to be extensive, so I have only indicated very basic explanations.

So here goes.

An espresso is a thick and strong drink prepared by forcing hot water through finely ground coffee. It is one of the core constituents of many other drinks, as shown below. If you allow twice the amount of water to pass through the coffee grounds, it becomes lungo.

A long black is made by pouring a double-shot of espresso over hot water. There is usually a layer of crema (foam) on top. A short black is just another name for the normal espresso, so I guess adding it over water just changes the name to 'long black'. When you add even more water and dilute it further, it becomes an Americano.

A cafe au lait consists of 50% milk and 50% espresso (or just strong coffee). 

A cafe latte is quite simlar to a cafe au lait, but with more milk. It generally consists of 67% milk and 33% espresso. If steamed non-fat milk is used, it becomes a skinny latte.

A cappuccino is a shot of espresso with a combination of hot milk and steamed milk. It has more foam than cafe latte. 

A mocha is prepared by adding chocolate syrup or powder to cappuccino or cafe latte.

A frappe is espresso or instant coffee blended with sugar, water, milk, and ice.

A flat white is made by pouring microfoam (steamed milk) over espresso. In this sense, it is extremely similar to cafe latte and cappuccino, with roughly the same ratio of coffee to milk. But according to Wikipedia, it can differ in milk texture or number of espresso shots.