The cappuccino’s name comes from the reddish-brown woolen robes of the Capuchin friars. In late 18th century Vienna, under the Habsburg monarchy, coffee houses served the Kapuziner, a brewed coffee with just enough cream to match that shade, and a lighter Franziskaner for the paler Franciscan habit. The drink moved south to Trieste, the Austrian-ruled free port that served as the Mediterranean’s coffee capital. The episode dismantles two myths: the story of friar Marco d’Aviano sweetening leftover Ottoman coffee after the 1683 Battle of Vienna, and the claim that the white foam represents a monk’s shaved tonsure.

The modern drink needed the early 1900s espresso machine, its steam wand, and commercial refrigeration for fresh milk. A true cappuccino follows the rule of thirds, espresso, steamed milk, and thick foam, in just 150 to 180 milliliters, starting from 25 milliliters of espresso, with milk heated to 55 to 65 degrees Celsius so its lactose tastes sweet. Italy restricts it to mornings before about 11 a.m. for digestion reasons, while fast food chains in the U.S. sell 600 milliliter versions that break the ratio entirely. From there the drink spread through Italian enclaves, the UK, Seattle, and South Korea.

• Heat unravels whey proteins, which wrap around injected air bubbles to hold the foam.
• Caffe Reggio in New York claims it introduced the cappuccino to America in 1927, and Caffe Trieste in San Francisco claims 1956.
• Tosca Cafe’s 1919 cappuccino in San Francisco held hot chocolate, steamed milk, and brandy, with no coffee.
• Cocoa dusting is standard in Europe, Australia, and South America, while the U.S. and South Korea favor cinnamon.
• Greece invented the freddo cappuccino in 1991, iced espresso topped with cold, mechanically whipped afrogala foam.