A latte is an espresso drink with frothed milk. See how to recreate this Starbucks drink at home using an espresso machine or Nespresso.
Recipe Highlights
- A Starbucks Caffè Latte (shortened to Latte), is a hot drink that’s made with espresso (never with brewed coffee from a drip coffee machine) and steamed milk that has a light layer of foam.
- Use an espresso machine or a Nespresso to make espresso at home for this drink.
- An electric milk frother can be used to make frothed milk.
- Lattes don’t come sweetened but you can add simple syrup or any flavored syrup like vanilla syrup to dress it up.
- This copycat recipe recreates a grande size (16 ounces) Starbucks Latte using just 2 ingredients.
RELATED: Starbucks Vanilla Latte Copycat
Lattes at Starbucks
The Latte is the starting point of all the flavored lattes at Starbucks. A Vanilla Latte is a Latte with vanilla syrup and a Pumpkin Spice Latte is a Latte with pumpkin spice sauce.
The espresso used in a latte is Starbucks Signature Espresso, which is a dark roast.
Lattes come in 4 drink sizes: short, tall, grande, and venti. Short and tall drink sizes are made with 1 shot of espresso, and grande and venti are made with 2 shots.
RELATED: Starbucks Iced Latte Copycat
Ingredient Notes
- Espresso: Use Starbucks Signature Espresso Roast to get the closest in flavor to Starbucks.
Whole beans: Starbucks Espresso Roast
Nespresso Original: Starbucks Espresso Roast
Nespresso Vertuo: Starbucks Espresso Roast - 2% Milk: Starbucks uses 2% milk to make all their lattes but you can use any milk you like.
For full ingredients and detailed instructions, please see the recipe card at the bottom of the post.
Step-by-Step Instructions
Step 1: Put espresso into a cup.
Use 2 Nespresso espresso pods or pull 2 shots from an espresso machine.
Step 2: Add frothed milk. Frothed milk can be made using an electric milk frother or with the steam wand from an espresso machine. Another method is to simmer milk on the stovetop, pour it into a French press, then pump the plunger a few times to create froth.
Photo Credit: williams-sonoma.com
Using a Nespresso
Espresso is essential to a latte and it’s super easy to make espresso from a Nespresso machine.
1 shot of espresso = 1 Nespresso espresso capsule
You’ll need 2 espresso shots for a 16 ounce drink, which means you’ll need 2 Nespresso pods to recreate the Starbucks Latte. You can also use 1 double espresso capusule.
To get the drink to taste as close to the one at Starbucks, use Starbucks Espresso Roast pods from Nespresso. Starbucks pods are made by Nespresso.
Nespresso Starbucks Espresso Vertuo capsules
Nespresso Starbucks Espresso Original capsules
Try making the drink with Starbucks Blonde Espresso capsules which are more popular than the regular Espresso capsules.
Expert Tips
- Milk will increase in volume when frothed. To get 1 ½ cups of frothed milk, use 1 cup of cold milk.
- No espresso machine or a Nespresso? Use instant coffee instead although it won’t taste quite the same as espresso. Combine 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and 1/4 cup hot water to replace the 2 shots of espresso in the recipe.
- Nespresso Aeroccino froths milk, but it doesn’t hold enough milk to make a grande size latte. Get a milk frother that can create 1 ¾ cups of steamed milk, like the Breville milk frother.
- Lattes are always assembled with espresso first, then the steamed milk.
- To make flavored lattes, add 2 tablespoons of flavored simple syrup to the latte. The most popular flavor is vanilla.
Questions You May Have
A grande Latte has a double shot of espresso and steamed milk.
Yes. There are two espresso shots in the recipe that makes a 16 ounce size drink. If you use Starbucks Signature Espresso Roast, it will be about 150 mg of caffeine.
Yes. At home, you can use any alternative milk you like. Some dairy-free milks, like oat milk and almond milk, come in barista versions, which are blended to froth up the way dairy milk would.
Both drinks are made with espresso and steamed milk but a latte has just a light layer of foam while a cappuccino has a thicker layer of foam at Starbucks.
Related
- Starbucks Blonde Vanilla Latte Copycat
- Salted Caramel Latte
- Starbucks Pumpkin Spice Latte Copycat
- Starbucks Salted Caramel Mocha Copycat
- Starbucks Peppermint Mocha Copycat
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Starbucks Latte Copycat
INGREDIENTS
- 2 capsules Nespresso espresso (or 2 espresso shots)
- 1 ½ cups frothed 2% milk
INSTRUCTIONS
- Put espresso into a cup.Use 2 Nespresso espresso pods or pull 2 shots from an espresso machine.
- Add frothed milk.Frothed milk can be made using an electric milk frother or with the steam wand from an espresso machine. Another method is to simmer milk on the stovetop, pour it into a French press, then pump the plunger a few times to create froth.
EQUIPMENT
NOTES
- 2 shots of espresso = 2 Nespresso espresso capsules
- To make a 16 ounce (grande) Starbucks drink, you’ll need 2 Nespresso espresso or ristretto capsules. You can also use 1 Vertuo double espresso.
- Any kind of milk can be used but Starbucks makes theirs with 2% milk.
- Milk will increase in volume when frothed. To get 1 ½ cups of frothed milk, use 1 cup of cold milk.
- No espresso machine or a Nespresso? Use instant coffee instead although it won’t taste quite the same as espresso. Combine 1 tablespoon of instant coffee and 1/4 cup hot water to replace the 2 shots of espresso in the recipe.
- Lattes are always assembled with espresso first, then the steamed milk.
- To make flavored lattes, add 2 tablespoons of flavored simple syrup to the latte. The most popular flavor is vanilla.