Coffee is a global sensation and one of the most powerful industries in the world. With coffee being so popular, there are a few coffee shop drinks that are more common than others. Today, we’re going to take a look at some of the most popular coffee shop drinks throughout the globe.
Most popular coffee shop drinks throughout the world:
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- Americano
- Café au lait
- Cortado
- Latte
- Macchiato
- Café mocha
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Americano
As you may have been able to decipher from its name, the coffee drink is known as the Americano originally came from the European country of Italy.
With the drink’s incredible popularity, being found in nearly every corner of the world, the Americano has a very interesting and odd origin story.
The origin of the Americano traces back to the late years of World War Two when American G.I.s found themselves in Italy after pushing back Italian and Nazi forces.
It is believed that the drink came to be when these American G.I.s would dilute their espresso with hot water to create a drink that more closely resembled what they were used to.
As a result, Italian coffee shops began offering a drink known as the Americano to better serve these American G.I.s, with the name obviously being a reference to the Italian word for American.
Thus, the Americano drink was born!
Now, more than 70 years after its birth, the Americano lives on being available in nearly every coffee shop across the globe.
If you are going to open a coffee shop, not offering an Americano could be a grave mistake!
Learn more about the coffee beans YOU MUST have HERE!
Café au lait
This drink, which is particularly popular in Western Europe, is a French drink consisting of hot coffee and scalded milk
Interestingly enough, a traditional café au lait is prepared and served in a bowl instead of a cup.
Most commonly, a bowl with a wider mouth is used to facilitate preparation and cool the drink down faster, making it ready for consumption.
Although this drink had been made in French homes for decades, possibly even centuries before it appeared in any coffee shop setting, it is believed that the drink first made an appearance in a coffee shop in Vienna, Italy!
Since its creation, the drink has become fairly throughout Europe and has even made a slight appearance in the United States!
Cortado
Reigning from the great country of Spain is the coffee drink known as the cortado
The drink originated from the Basque country of Spain and after it gained popularity, it began to spread to the Galicia region of Northern Portugal and even to what was at the time the Spanish colony of Cuba.
Since then, the drink has become a staple of the Spanish coffee industry, becoming incredibly popular throughout the region.
The cortado is an espresso-based coffee drink that is mixed with hot milk but isn’t frothed nor scalded, giving it a milky finish without the thick creamy texture that comes with most other milk-based coffee drinks.
All in all, the cortado is a drink that not too many different people who aren’t from Spain have tried, but is absolutely one that everyone should if they ever have the chance!
Latte
Lattes have become a staple in the coffee industry with nearly everyone trying one at one point or another.
Lattes are so popular that if you listen to any movie with a scene that takes place in a coffee shop, I can almost guarantee that you will hear someone order a latte!
Despite its incredible popularity, lattes have not been around as long as some of the other drinks on our list.
The latte was invented in Italy in the 1950s by a man named Lino Meiorien and became popular in Seattle, Washington in the 1980s.
Since its popularity in Seattle, Washington in the 1980s, the latte has become a staple throughout the rest of the United States in nearly every coffee shop you could walk into.
Despite its incredible popularity, the latte is not a very complicated drink to make.
The drink is simply made by taking espresso and mixing it with steamed milk and adding a dash of froth on the top!
After you have a latte, you can make a large number of different flavored drinks, which is part of the reason it is so incredibly popular throughout the world.
Macchiato
Yet another famous coffee shop drink hailing from the great country of Italy is a drink formally known as the macchiato.
In Italian, the name macchiato means “stained” or “marked”, which refers to the way the drink looks when milk is added.
The drink is made by simply taking an Italian bold espresso and adding a splash of steamed milk or froth.
The drink exploded in popularity in the late 1990s when the famous coffee chain Starbucks began offering different flavored versions of the macchiato such as the caramel macchiato.
Since then, the macchiato has become one of the most common coffee drinks throughout the world.
Café mocha
Also known as the mochaccino, this drink originates in Mocha, Yemen, which is also where the drink gets its name from.
The cafe mocha is a latte made with chocolate flavoring mixed in as well layered on top.
The drink is very common throughout the Middle East, but can also be found quite regularly throughout Europe and North America.
The drink also has a great number of variations, one of which is known as the white mocha.
It just so happens that the white mocha is the favorite drink of famous pop artist Miley Cyrus!
The cafe mocha is a fantastic coffee drink that your local coffee shop may not offer, so if you get a chance to try one, I would absolutely recommend you take the chance!
Frequently Asked Questions
Coffee shops are abundant throughout the world available in nearly every corner of the globe.
Some places, however, drink and sell more coffee than others, so it can be important to understand if the area you are looking to move into has a good coffee market.
As a base list to help you get started, here are some of the best places to open a coffee shop throughout the world:
Finland
Finland is known for quite a few things: socialized medicine, a fantastic standard of living, and incredibly snowy winters, but the thing that they should be most known for is coffee consumption.
Consuming the most amount of coffee in any country throughout the world.
It is estimated that the average Finish citizen will consume 12 kilograms of coffee over the next year.
Because of the sheer amount of coffee that Finnish citizens consume, starting a coffee shop here is an opportunity you truly can not pass up.
Norway
Norway drinks an absolutely absurd amount of coffee and coffee products.
Despite only having a population of about 5.238 million people, the European country drinks the second most amount of coffee in the world
In this year alone, Norway is expected to consume 8.3 kilograms of coffee per capita.
Long story short, if you are looking to start a coffee shop anywhere throughout the world, you simply can not go wrong with Norway.
Iceland
Yet another Nordic country, Iceland is the next country on our list of the best places to open a coffee shop.
If you haven’t caught on by now, our main criteria are the amount of coffee that country consumes.
Well since we aren’t planning on breaking our trend anytime soon, the next country on our list, Iceland, also happens to consume the third most amount of coffee in the world.
The average Icelandic citizen consumes an incredible 9 kilograms of coffee per year.
While it may not be as much as the first two countries on our list, it is certainly nothing to laugh at and definitely carves a spot out for itself as one of the best countries to open a coffee shop in.
When operating a coffee shop, some items are going to bring in more money than others.
While some of these items are going to be different coffee products, others are going to be other types of products that you still may encounter in a coffee shop.
Cakes
Cakes can be sold at a fairly high rate and are usually pretty simple to make.
They also pair well with coffee, making them a fantastic option to offer in a coffee shop and allowing you to increase your profits significantly.
Lattes
As we’ve explored on this list, there are plenty of different options for specialty drinks, but studies have shown time and time again, lattes are one of the most profitable coffee shop items out there.
Cookies
Cookies are incredibly easy to make and can be sold individually with coffee and other products.
If you place items like cookies in a display window, they can be almost impossible to turn down, making them incredibly profitable.
Salads
Salads are a bit different than some of the options on this list, but they are still one of the best things you can offer in a coffee shop.
They can serve as a meal in themselves, giving people yet another reason to come into your shop, making them one of the most profitable items you can offer!
Smoothies
Smoothies are a fantastic option for those who wish to be particularly healthy in dietary decisions.
Offering smoothies, especially when in combination with salads, can be a fantastic way to attract a nontraditional crowd.
To learn more on how to start your own coffee shop checkout my startup documents here
Please note: This blog post is for educational purposes only and does not constitute legal advice. Please consult a legal expert to address your specific needs.
Hi! I’m Shawn Chun
My adventure in coffee began when I first launched my first coffee shop back in the early 2000s. I had to figure out so many things on my own and to make it worse within 2 years of opening two large corporate coffee chains moved in just blocks away from me!
As I saw smaller and even some larger coffee shops in the neighborhood slowly lose customers to these giant coffee chains and slowly close up shop, I knew that I had to start getting creative…or go out of business.
I (like you may be) knew the coffee industry well. I could make the best latte art around and the foam on my caps was the fluffiest you have ever seen. I even had the best state-of-the-art 2 group digital Nuova Simonelli machine money could buy. But I knew that these things alone would not be enough to lure customers away from the name brand established coffee shops.
Eventually, through lots of trial and error as well as perseverance and creativity I did find a way to not only survive but also thrive in the coffee/espresso industry even while those corporate coffee chains stayed put. During those years I learned to adapt and always faced new challenges. It was not always easy, however, in the end, I was the sole survivor independent coffee shop within a 10-mile radius of my location. Just two corporate coffee chains and I were left after that year. All told the corporate coffee chains took down over 15 small independent coffee shops and kiosks and I was the last one standing and thriving.
Along the years I meet others with the same passion for coffee and I quickly learned that it is not only “how good a barista is” that makes a coffee shop successful, but the business side of coffee as well.
Hence why I started this website you are on now. To provide the tools and resources for up and coming coffee shop owners to gain that vital insight and knowledge on how to start a coffee shop successfully.
Stick around, browse through my helpful blog and resources and enjoy your stay! With lots of LATTE LOVE!
Shawn
