Mocha coffee or mochaccino (or mochachino, mocaccino, or just mocha or any other spelling!) is a hot coffee drink from Italy. Mocha coffee is made with cream, cappuccino, chocolate, and for decoration cocoa powder.
The best part? Served in transparent glass the different layers are revealed for a guaranteed wow effect! Read on to learn how to make mocha coffee at home.
The classic recipe of mocha coffee
The ingredients to make mocha cafe at home:
- a dab of whipped cream (optional)
- an espresso
- 20 cl of whole milk
- chocolate powder.
Make your espresso or strong drip coffee and add a tablespoon of chocolate powder.
Froth the milk, with an independent frother or with your espresso machine if it has a frother. If you don’t have a milk frother, heat the milk in a pot and whisk it briskly for 2-3 minutes.
Prepare the mocha coffee in a glass, first, pour the espresso then pour the frothed milk keeping the froth.
Mix (or not) the two and then put the milk froth on top. Finally, top with homemade whipped cream. Sprinkle with cocoa powder, or even make pretty patterns by adding a chocolate coulis, and enjoy your homemade mocha.
Of course, you can swap the whole milk with your favorite plant milk.
An espresso machine is better to make a mocha coffee. Yet you can perfectly use an Italian coffee maker or even filter coffee if you don’t have one. If you like the intensity of the taste of the espresso, make a strong coffee. If you prefer a milder taste, just do a regular coffee.
Recipe for Nespresso mocha
For the aficionados of the espresso version of the mocha, here is the Nespresso mocha coffee recipe made with an electric Barista milk frother.
Put 100 ml of milk and 4 squares of chocolate in the electric frother, and add a Nespresso (40 ml). Close the machine, turn it on and let it do its cycle. For the best effect, serve in large clear glasses, for a change sprinkle the drinks with cinnamon.
If you don’t have a milk frother, prepare the coffee and chocolate. Heat the milk without boiling it then whisk for two or three minutes. Assemble the coffee-chocolate mixture with the milk and the milk froth on top. For more details check our guide on how to make milk froth.
On a side note, don’t forget to descale your Nespresso machine regularly to keep the taste of the coffee unaltered.
Recipe for Starbucks mochaccino
The ingredients to make Starbucks mochaccino at home:
- whipped cream
- 2 tablespoons of chocolate sauce
- 250 ml of dairy milk or plant milk
- one Espresso
In a glass, pour the espresso and the chocolate sauce. Any cup will do, but of course, your favorite is the best.
Pour gently the dairy or plant milk frothed. For a nice and gourmet finish top your homemade Starbucks mochaccino with a homemade whipped cream sprinkled with chocolate chips.
Recipe for a Thermomix mocha coffee
Blend at speed 10 for 10 seconds 2 squares of chocolate. Add sugar, a teaspoon of instant coffee, and 250 ml of milk and leave at speed 4 and 80 °C or 175ºF for 5 minutes. To froth the milk, finish with speed 8 for 20 seconds.
How to choose: mochaccino or cappuccino?
If you like the sweetness of chocolate and are less of a coffee fan, go for the mochaccino.
On the other hand, if you’re not a big fan of chocolate and like intense coffee flavors, check out our cappuccino recipe.
Mochaccino vs chocolate cappuccino
The chocolate cappuccino has less milk cream than the mochaccino. A mochaccino is also called a “mocha coffee“, a “chocolate coffee” or a “chocolate mochaccino”.