The Barista, James Bond, and Me

I was in a local coffee shop and ordered a cappuccino. I was the only one in there, and as the barista was steaming my milk she asked me this: Why do you like cappuccino in particular? I was wondering since, really, a cappuccino is just like a latte only that the milk is frothed. Does the foam even taste like anything?

Oh dear.

I put down my purse. This was going to take a while.

This is what I said:

It's like this: you can take four basic ingredients like eggs, butter, salt and pepper. Using those same ingredients, you can make scrambled eggs or fried eggs. Same ingredients, but the results are different.

I was on a roll, so I continued:

Or take James Bond. He orders his martini shaken, but not stirred. Again, same ingredients (gin, vermouth, olive) but with a subtle difference on the preparation (stirred versus shaken) and there you have it: James Bond's beverage of choice.

So, a latte is espresso and steamed (but not frothed) milk; the cappuccino is all about thirds: 1/3 espresso, 1/3 steamed milk, 1/3 frothed milk. Again, same ingredients, but the proportion and the process create the subtle degrees of  preference. 

Then, because I wanted her to think I was passionate rather than snooty, I smiled like an idiot.

And she laughed as she handed me my cappuccino.