If you love coffee, you know there are different flavors you can enjoy. Breve is one of them. Breve coffee is a favorite drink to many due to its rejuvenating flavor.
Breve coffee is an espresso-based beverage similar to a cappuccino but has half steamed and half whole cream (half-and-half) instead of milk. As a result, it is creamy with little or no sugar. Some people call it café breve or breve latte.
There is more to breve coffee than you can imagine. You need to know how to prepare it, its taste and its health benefits. There are also different flavors of coffee that you need to know if you are a lover of coffee. Finally, you need also to know what breve is made with and the difference with latte coffee.
What Is a Breve Made With?
A breve coffee is a product of steamed half-and-half rather than whole milk. Half-and-half means it has half cream and half steamed milk.
It has a rich foam at the top that comes from the half and half. The espresso is also a vital ingredient in making breve.
If you wonder how to make breve, it is easier than you think. This is because there are already half and half that you can acquire and to make your breve. You can also choose to make your half and half at home.
Once you have your half-steamed milk and half cream, mix them with espresso. Also, ensure that whatever you are using contains only ten to twelve percent fats.
Does a Breve Have Coffee in It?
Breve is an espresso-based drink; therefore, it contains coffee. You can use any coffee to prepare the espresso for making a breve latte.
The flavor, taste, and strength that you want in your drink will determine the type of coffee you use. Medium-dark to dark roast is the best choice for coffee as they are readily soluble and extract faster.
In addition, dark roast coffee will produce a more robust espresso and breve.
Correct measurements determine the quality of the espresso, which is vital for a good breve coffee. A standard dose of thirteen to eighteen grams is good for two shots (two ounces).
Fresh coffee will also contribute to quality tasting breve. You can use coffee that has stayed a couple of weeks after roasting and finish any open pack sooner to avoid losing the coffee’s flavor.
Newly roasted coffee contains carbon dioxide, which is not suitable for breve.
What Does a Breve Taste Like?
A breve tastes much like a standard latte though it is richer and has more flavor. It combines a strong coffee flavor with a creamy latte taste. The cream in the dairy gives it a dessert-like flavor, which is why many people use it.
Breve latte is naturally sweet even without added sugar due to the top creamy foam. In addition, the half-and-half adds a rich texture to the beverage.
You can consider adding some powder cinnamon or nutmeg on top to boost the flavor.
Is Breve Coffee Sweet?
Breve coffee is sweet and still bold, thanks to the espresso in the beverage. The sweetness is natural from the cream, so you do not need to add any sugar. It is, in fact, sweeter than a traditional latte.
What Is a Cafe Latte Breve?
Café latte is a kind of espresso drink similar to a cappuccino, only that it is made with steamed half-and-half rather than milk.
It is fluffier than a traditional latte made with regular milk as the half-and-half increases the volume of foam in the espresso.
A caffe latte has more average fats and cholesterol than other lattes made with standard milk, whether whole milk or not.
While some people would prefer a café latte as a dessert without added sugar or sweetener, others want it as a morning caffeine treat.
If you are not strict with authenticity, you can add a syrup flavor or sweetener to your caffe breve to make it more of a treat.
How to Make Café Latte Breve
Making a caffe latte is an easy process. Just like any other coffee flavor, you need to follow these steps:
- Steam and froth the half-and-half
- Place a shot of espresso, two ounces, in a cup.
- Pour the hot half-and-half in the cup while straining the foam.
- Top up the drink with the foam from half-and-half with a spoon.
Please note that you can have your caffe latte hot or cold according to your preference, but a breve is better when hot.
Is Breve Better Than a Latte?
Breve is better than a latte in terms of creaminess and richness. However, as much as they both use espresso and milk as ingredients, the kinds of milk are different.
Latte uses steamed milk to give flavor to the espresso, while a breve uses half steamed milk and half cream.
Both latte and breve use foam at the top, but breve becomes better as it uses more foam than the latter.
Breve also has a better taste than a latte. The half-and-half gives breve an authentic sweet taste without the need for sweeteners and still maintains the strong original flavor and aroma of coffee.
You can also consider breve better than a latte if you are looking for a heavier and tastier dessert and not a healthy cup of refreshment.
What Is the Difference Between a Latte and a Breve?
Many differences exist between latte and breve. The most obvious is the type of milk that makes each beverage.
Latte combines steamed whole milk with espresso, while a breve uses espresso with steamed half-and-half in place of milk, which brings about the difference in taste, foam, and creaminess. There are more differences besides ingredients.
The taste
A breve has a creamy taste, thanks to the half-and-half. It also bears a mild caramel flavor as the steaming burns down some of the sugars in the milk.
You can enjoy a more robust coffee flavor in breve as well. On the contrary, a latte is slightly sweet and milky due to the high milk percentage. The coffee flavor is mild.
Appearance
You can easily recognize a breve at a glance. It appears much similar to a dry cappuccino with the half-and-half separating the espresso and the cream in layers.
The top foam layer is also significant and visible. The latte, on the other hand, is homogenous. The milk mixes with the espresso, and the top layer of foam is considerably thin.
Number of Calories
Breve beats latte in the number of calories with a triple as much as in latte, making latte the healthier option.
The high calories content comes from the half-and-half, which contains up to twelve percent of fats. The whole milk in the latte comprises a maximum of 3.5% fats.
Serving Preference
You can serve latte hot or cold without noting any significant difference except the temperature. But, on the other hand, you can only enjoy a hot cup of breve due to the half-and-half.
Is Breve Latte Keto?
An authentic breve is not fit for a ketogenic diet. The best way to make it is by removing the half-and-half.
The natural sugar in the milk has skim and regular that is too high in carbs to be Keto. There is, however, a keto-friendly version of a breve latte.
The keto-friendly breve coffee has no milk, which is a significant ingredient in breve.
In Keto, water replaces the milk, resulting in a lighter product since water weakens the espresso and changes the coffee flavor.
Therefore, it will not be a genuine breve latte but much like a regular latte with heavy cream instead of milk.
Plant products are also ideal for making a keto-friendly breve latte. A good example is coconut milk or cream, which are permissible ingredients. Nuts are Keto, which makes them perfect substitutes for dairy milk.
You can make nut milk to use instead of the normal milk since it has less sugar and other components.
Adding cashew or almond milk to your breve coffee will give the beverage a better flavor with the keto diet benefits, whether as a dessert or morning caffeine treat.
Please be careful not to add a plant-based alternative to an espresso that is not keto-friendly.
Final Thoughts
At this point, you already know what kind of coffee is breve, and more that I have covered about other flavors. Then, of course, there are various espresso drinks to enjoy, and breve latte is just one of them.
Making any coffee flavor is easy, as discussed above, making a café latte breve. So you can give it a try and enjoy the flavor you want without hassle.
You can also make and enjoy an iced breve by simply stirring the half-and-half and espresso with ice. However, this is not the best way to serve most people since hot breve is more preferred than cold breve.