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For everyday drinking-nothing beats coffee straight up-i.e., black: no cream, no sugar. On the weekends, I enjoy a latte or a cappuccino made via my stovetop espresso maker.

We bought a La Pavoni EuroPiccolo 10 years ago, after several trips to Italy, and have two cappucino's--one each--every morning. The real trick to a great Cappuccino is to use real Italian Beans, we preferr Segafredo.
Fortunately, we rarely ever get coffee from a Starbucks or other chain.

I'm a coffee addict myself. I used to have an espresso machine that was handmade, and did the microfoam that made the latte art (hearts, leaves, etc). I pulled all my shots reistretto. I even had the commercial grade burr grinder. Of course, that's not where I stopped. I also roasted my own coffee.

I have a French press at the office. I have a syphon pot at home. I've switched to a much smaller burr grinder, and I no longer roast my own beans thanks to Blue Bottle coffee being so fresh. I do miss having kona and Jamaican Blue Mountain, though.

I drink coffee black, no cream, no sugar. Every once in a while I will have a cappucino, but only if I go to a place where the barista can do the right kind of foam. Otherwise, I stick to black coffee.

But, as I always tell people, just because I love good coffee, doesn't make me a snob. If there was nothing else but Folger's instant coffee in a cup, I'd happily drink that. I'm addicted to my caffeine, and I don't want to go without it.

This is awesome because I was not quite sure what I was making at home except yum. I brew a cup in my stovetop Bialetti, heat milk in my french press and then pump the press part to foam up the milk. Pour it over and yum.

I guess sometimes its a latte, sometimes its a cappuccino and sometimes its a machiatto, depending on whether I pour or spoon from the french press, haha.

Perhaps it's a local variation, but café au lait and caffé latte are interchangeable terms (in most establishments). A mixture of brewed coffee and warmed milk is usually called a demi-tasse.

these descriptions actually clear up nothing. first you say that a cafe au lait is made with brewed coffee, then you say that a latte is similar to a cafe au lait in that it is made with a shot of espresso. which is it? brewed coffee or espresso? i'm actually more confused after reading this.

i'm partial to lattes because i really love the taste of warm milk. the sharpness of the espresso is a great complement. i used to be able to get them at a fancy-pants italian coffeeshop in the city (philly) where you were served the heated milk in a tall slender glass mug, along with a shot of espresso alongside in a small metal cup so you could pour it right into the milk. absolute heaven.

Where I worked (maybe Montreal is different, Michelle?) a cafe au lait was coffee and milk. We usually just steamed the milk and then let the customer figure out their ratio though it typically is somewhere around 1to1. I've only heard the term demi-tasse describing a cup, and that wasn't at the coffee shop.

A latte is espresso and steam milk with foam on top (about a pinkie-nail's worth, not that we would have ever stuck on the the cup- eww!) The ratio was much more milk to espresso than in a latte.

However the similarity is that both a latte and cafe au lait have much more milk than a cappuccino, which is mostly foam. Other similarity being that when the tired architecture students we served came to order and sleepily mumbled, latte and au lait sound alike.

@LegsBattaglia When I did a course on coffee making we were taught a latte is a shot of espresso, and is typically considered 1/3rd coffee to 2/3rds warmed milk with a thin layer of foam.

According to Wikipedia this is not the traditional Italian style of latte, but the "international version." Its what you are most likely being served if you order a latte outside Italy.

Oh, and here's another coffee term popular in Australia: the flat white (its was around here in Aus before everyone started ordering latte's and the like)

The antipodeans are master scientists in coffee-ology: it's not a drink here, it's an art. Cosmopolitan kiwi's are stupidly precious about their coffee and as a result I have failed to find a cup of coffee outside of New Zealand that's lived up to my expectations - best just to stick to a short espresso for the sake of getting my daily caffeine intake! Oh, the curse of living in Wellington, where we have more cafes per capita than New York...

espresso con panna (cream, literally, though in the US it's understood as whipped cream :), how I usually start my morning! I usually rock the doppio con panna. $2.12, much cheaper than a latte!