(updated October 26th, 2026)
A cappuccino has foam because the foam is what makes it a cappuccino. Take the layer away and you are holding a different drink, which is why the standards specify a foam depth and specify almost nothing else about the milk.
The foam isn’t a third ingredient sitting on top of two others, either. It’s the same milk you pour, with air worked into it as it steams.
What Is Cappuccino Foam Made Of?
Milk and air, and nothing else. Steaming drags air into the milk and the milk’s own proteins hold the bubbles up. That’s the whole trick. Pour 100 ml of cold milk into a jug, steam it properly, and you get roughly 125 ml of the same milk with air in it, which is where the extra volume in the cup comes from.
The Istituto Espresso Italiano puts a cappuccino at 25 ml of espresso to 100 ml of milk. There is no separate line in that recipe for foam, because there was never a third thing to pour.
How Much Foam Should A Cappuccino Have?
Around a centimetre at minimum, and a bit more if you are being taught properly. Carmen Clemente, the 2022 World Latte Art Champion, told Perfect Daily Grind that “the cappuccino requires at least 1cm of microfoam”. Melissa Caia, who runs the William Angliss Institute’s Coffee Academy, gave the teaching standard to the Sydney Morning Herald as “two centimetres for a cappuccino, one centimetre for a caffe latte, and minimal foam on a flat white”.
Notice what that measurement is doing. Foam is set as a depth, not as a share of the drink, which is a different kind of rule from the ratios people usually quote.
Can You Order A Cappuccino Without Foam?
You can ask, and a barista will make you something. What you won’t get is a cappuccino, because the foam is the part that makes it one.
It’s also worth knowing that none of the standard milk drinks is actually foamless. By Caia’s figures a caffe latte still carries about a centimetre and a flat white carries minimal foam, which is not the same as none. So the honest answer to “what is a cappuccino without foam called” is that it’s closest to a latte, and you’ll get a better drink by ordering that by name than by asking for a cappuccino with a part taken out.
Does Ordering It Dry Mean Less Foam?
No, it means more. A dry cappuccino has more foam and less steamed milk, so if you want less foam, “dry” is the wrong word to use: ask for it wet, or order a latte. The whole scale, from bone dry to super wet, is laid out in wet vs dry cappuccino.
Is A Cappuccino Mostly Foam?
No, and it’s a reasonable thing to think, because the foam is the only part you can see. The drink underneath is 25 ml of espresso and 100 ml of milk, and the foam is the top centimetre or two of that, not the bulk of the cup. The volumes are worked through here if you want the arithmetic.
Unless you’ve ordered it dry, a cappuccino that’s mostly foam has usually been made badly. The cause is normally too much air worked in too early, which gives you a stiff, bubbly cap that sits up like meringue instead of a dense layer that pours.
