Caffè macchiato (Italian pronunciation: [kafˈfɛ mmakˈkjaːto]), sometimes called macchiato, is a espressocoffee drink, made out of espresso with a small amount of milk.
"Macchiato" simply means "marked" or "stained," and in the case of caffè macchiato, this means literally "espresso stained/marked with milk." Traditionally it is made with one shot of espresso, and the small amount of added milk was the "stain." However, later the "mark" or "stain" came to refer to the foamed milk that was put on top to indicate the beverage has a little milk in it, usually about a teaspoon. In fact, the Portuguese word for a macchiato is "pingo," which means "drop".
The reason why this coffee drink got its name, was to show that the barista, the waiter the difference between an espresso and an espresso with a little milk used in their view, was the last chosen.
In the United States, "macchiato" is more of this variant (as opposed to latte macchiato), describe, and so there is the confusion, the common "macchiato" literally means "foam", or necessarily that a macchiato foam. (As the term "macchiato" to describe this kind of coffee that are older than the common use of foam in the coffee by centuries, the staining "agent" of the additive that dark espresso lighter is traditionally not the foam.)
In the United States, "macchiato" is more of this variant (as opposed to latte macchiato), describe, and so there is the confusion, the common "macchiato" literally means "foam", or necessarily that a macchiato foam. (As the term "macchiato" to describe this kind of coffee that are older than the common use of foam in the coffee by centuries, the staining "agent" of the additive that dark espresso lighter is traditionally not the foam.)
