Has America gone latte crazy? If not, why would Burger King add a 12-ounce “coffeehouse latte” to its menu?

Enough with the questions:

Starting today, you can kick-start your morning or take your coffee break at Burger King. The menu includes caramel, mocha, plain and vanilla lattes in regular and nonfat varieties. The lattes are brewed with 100% Latin American arabica espresso from Seattle’s Best Coffee.

The suggested retail price starts at $2.29, but for a limited time, you can try them for just $1.00.
It’s time to round up the gang and head to BK for your coffee break!

Coffeehouse lattes are now on the menu at Burger King. Photo courtesy Burger King.

WHAT’S A LATTE?

Caffe latte, called latte (LAH-tay) for short, is a shot of espresso with steamed milk in a 3:1 ratio of milk to espresso. In France and Italy, it is a breakfast drink. In America it also serves as the base for flavored lattes, where a sweet syrup is added in any variety of flavors—caramel, hazelnut, mocha, vanilla and a long list of specialty flavors.

See all the different types of espresso drinks in our Espresso Glossary.
COFFEE 101: COFFEE CHERRIES

The fruits of the coffee tree are called cherries, and you can see why in the photo: They look just like Queen Anne cherries. Other varieties can be solid red or burgundy.

Inside the fruit are two seeds: the coffee beans. The seeds are a pale green color, and turn brown when they are roasted.

There’s a sweet, sticky pulp surrounding the seeds that tastes like a delicate blend of watermelon and hibiscus. But this is not an eating fruit: Most of the cherry interior is taken up by the seeds.

Thank goodness: Otherwise, we’d need to buy even more tiny beans to make a cup of coffee.