(updated August 11th, 2026)
A cappuccino and a latte usually contain the same amount of espresso. The difference is the milk: a cappuccino is a small drink with a thick cap of foam, and a latte is a much larger one with far more steamed milk and only a thin layer on top.
That catches most people out, because a cappuccino tastes noticeably stronger. It is not carrying more coffee. It is carrying less milk, so the espresso has less to hide behind.
Cappuccino vs Latte: The Short Version
Three things separate them, and size is the one you notice first. A cappuccino is served in a small cup you can wrap a hand around. A latte turns up in something close to twice the volume.
| Cappuccino | Latte | |
|---|---|---|
| Typical size | 150 to 180 ml (5 to 6 oz) | 236 to 340 ml (8 to 12 oz) |
| Espresso | 1 shot, sometimes 2 | 1 to 2 shots |
| Foam depth | at least 1 cm | about 0.5 cm |
| How it reads | espresso forward, distinct layers | milder and milkier, mixed through |
Those cappuccino figures are the Speciality Coffee Association’s current definition: a 150 to 180 ml drink built on a single shot, with at least a centimetre of microfoam. The same piece puts a modern latte at 236 to 340 ml with roughly half a centimetre of foam.
Do They Have The Same Amount Of Coffee?
Usually yes, and often the latte has more. Both drinks start from the same espresso base, and plenty of cafes pull an identical shot for each. Where a shop scales up, it is the larger drink that gains the second shot, so a big latte can easily carry more caffeine than a traditional cappuccino.
So the strength you taste is not a coffee measurement, it is a dilution one. A cappuccino puts roughly a single shot into 150 ml of cup. A latte puts the same shot into up to twice that, and most of the extra is liquid milk. Same coffee, more to get through.
This is also why the old “equal thirds” description of a cappuccino does not survive contact with the actual recipe. The certified Italian version is 25 ml of espresso to about four times as much milk, which we go through properly in how many ml is a cappuccino.
How Much Foam Should Each One Have?
A centimetre for a cappuccino, about half that for a latte. Foam depth is the most reliable way to tell them apart in the cup, more so than size, because cup sizes drift between cafes and countries while the texture does not.
Carmen Clemente, the 2022 World Latte Art Champion and co-founder of the World Latte Art & Coffee Center in Milan, is firm about it: “I think it is right to have rules. The cappuccino requires at least 1cm of microfoam.”
That difference is made at the steam wand rather than in the cup. Both drinks use milk taken to the same 60 to 65°C; the barista spends longer letting air into the jug for a cappuccino. If you want the mechanics, that is covered in how long do you steam milk for a cappuccino.
It also explains the serving glass. A latte’s thin foam pours flat and holds a pattern, which is why latte art turns up on one and a plain domed top on the other.
Where Does A Flat White Fit In?
Between the two, and closer to the cappuccino. A flat white is a small drink like a cappuccino but with the thin foam of a latte, which makes it the most coffee forward of the three.
The reason is the shot. Where a cappuccino is traditionally a single, a flat white is usually built on a double in a cup of much the same size, so there is more coffee in less room. Its foam sits at half a centimetre or under, thin enough that the milk reads as part of the drink rather than a layer on top of it.
If a flat white is the comparison you actually came for, we go through it properly in the difference between a cappuccino and a flat white.
Which One Should You Order?
Order a cappuccino when you want to taste the coffee and a latte when you want a longer, milkier drink. That is the decision in one line, and it holds whatever the cafe calls its sizes.
Two things worth knowing before you do. If you are ordering for the caffeine, the bigger drink is usually the stronger one, which is the opposite of how they taste. And if a cappuccino arrives in a large cup with a shallow top, you have effectively been handed a latte with chocolate on it, because the foam is what makes it a cappuccino.