Homemade Espresso Cremina Is The 2-Ingredient Trick To Better Lattes

Have you been dreaming about a cappuccino you had in Italy since you first sipped it 10 years ago, desperate to recreate the silky-smooth, slightly sweet coffee drink, but unsure how to do so? While we can't bring the vibrant, nostalgic Italian coffee bar of your memories to your kitchen, adding homemade Italian cremina to your espresso drinks is a sure way to up your latte game and capture some of that velvety texture you remember in your everyday morning brew.

Simply put, Italians are known for their fantastic coffee — so it's no surprise they've pioneered a few coffee innovations. Cremina was popularized by the Neapolitan community, otherwise known as the citizens of Naples, a city located in southern Italy. It's made by whisking sugar together with the first drops of coffee until it forms a frothy golden cream that you can use to top and mix in with the milk and espresso that make up your latte. Cremina is traditionally made using an Italian Moka pot coffee maker, but you can also use your espresso machine.

While topping your latte with this delicious combination might be the obvious choice, you can truly embrace the Italian way by instead using it to sweeten a straight-up shot of espresso, a cappuccino, or a ristretto (that last one being a super-concentrated espresso brewed with half the typical amount of water).

If you do have a Moka pot, brew the coffee how you usually would, but once the first bit of coffee starts brewing through the valve inside, take it off the heat and pour that coffee into a small cup or bowl to use for your cremina. Then return the Moka pot to the stovetop and continue to brew the rest of your coffee. With an espresso machine, brew a small amount of espresso to whisk with your sugar (typically two or three teaspoons of white sugar for every espresso drink you plan to make) and then brew the amount you want for your beverage. Either way, you can mix the cremina in right before your first sip. And that's not the only tool variation you can use to make this method doable for you — while many Italians grew up whisking cremina by hand with a spoon, you can also use a milk frother or an electric whisk. The result will be a creamy, delicious coffee drink you won't be able to put down.