You can make cafe-style Nescafe coffee drinks -- latte, cappuccino, americano, mocha and flat white -- in two ways: pour hot water over a ready-mixed sachet like Nescafe Gold Latte, or build the drink yourself from plain Nescafe instant plus your own milk. A Nescafe latte is the easiest starting point: stir a spoon of instant into a splash of hot water, then top it with plenty of hot, frothy milk.
This guide covers the ready-mix Nescafe cafe range and the exact spoon-and-milk ratios for making each drink from plain instant, plus iced and whipped versions and a couple of no-machine frothing tricks. For the wider story of the brand -- spray-dried versus freeze-dried, Gold versus Classic -- see our Nescafe brand guide.
Two ways to make a Nescafe latte and other cafe drinks
Every Nescafe cafe drink comes down to one of two routes, and it helps to know which you are using before you shop or start brewing.
- Ready-mix sachets. Pre-blended sticks or sachets that already contain instant coffee, milk powder and sometimes sugar or foaming agents. You just add hot water and stir -- no separate milk needed. These sit under names like Nescafe Gold and Cafe Menu, depending on your market.
- Plain instant plus your own milk. Start with a jar of ordinary Nescafe -- Classic, Gold Blend, Azera or similar -- and control the coffee, water and milk yourself. This gives a fresher, more customizable cup and lets you choose dairy or plant milk.
The ready-mix route wins on speed and travel convenience; the DIY route wins on flavor and control. Many people keep both: sachets for a suitcase or a busy morning, and a jar with a milk frother at home.
The ready-mix Nescafe cafe range
Across most markets Nescafe sells a shelf of "just add water" cafe sachets. Exact names and line-ups vary by country, so treat the list below as a guide to the formats rather than a fixed catalogue.
- Nescafe Gold Latte and Cappuccino. Smooth, milky sachets that foam up when you add hot water; the cappuccino version usually froths to a thicker head than the latte.
- Nescafe Gold Flat White. A stronger, less foamy milky sachet aimed at people who want more coffee and less froth.
- Cafe Menu Latte, Cappuccino and Cafe au Lait. A classic sachet range (sold under the Cafe Menu name in several markets) covering the everyday milky drinks.
- Mocha sachets. A Nescafe mocha sachet adds cocoa to the coffee-and-milk mix for a chocolatey cup; look for it in the Gold or Cafe Menu lines.
- Two-in-one and three-in-one sticks. Simpler coffee-plus-creamer (2-in-1) or coffee-plus-creamer-plus-sugar (3-in-1) sticks that make a quick milky coffee rather than a foamy latte.
To use any of them, tip the sachet into a mug, add hot (not fiercely boiling) water to the fill line suggested on the pack, and stir well so the foam develops. That is the whole method -- which is exactly why the range is so popular for offices, hotels and travel.
How to make a Nescafe latte from plain instant
Making a Nescafe latte from a plain jar takes about two minutes and tastes fresher than a sachet. The trick is to loosen the coffee in a little hot water first, then add a lot of milk with a thin layer of foam. For the full definition of the drink and its espresso-bar origins, see what is a latte.
- Add 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of Nescafe instant to your mug.
- Pour in a small splash of hot water -- about 2 tablespoons -- and stir into a smooth, syrupy paste. This step stops any grit.
- Heat and froth around 200 ml of milk until it is warm with a light foam.
- Pour the milk in, holding back the foam with a spoon, then top with the foam. Sweeten to taste.
Want a Nescafe cafe latte that is a touch stronger or milder? Adjust the instant up or down by half a teaspoon rather than changing the milk. Keep the foam thin -- a latte is defined by lots of steamed milk and only a small foam cap.
Nescafe cappuccino
A Nescafe cappuccino uses the same coffee base as the latte but with more foam and slightly less liquid milk, giving a lighter, airier cup. Froth the milk harder so you build a deep foam head, then spoon extra foam on top and dust with cocoa if you like. Our guide to what is a cappuccino breaks down the classic thirds of espresso, steamed milk and foam that this is imitating.
Nescafe flat white
For a Nescafe flat white, use a little more coffee (closer to 1.5 to 2 teaspoons) and less milk than a latte, with only a thin veil of microfoam. The result is a smaller, stronger, silkier milky coffee -- coffee-forward where the latte is milk-forward. It is the drink to reach for when a latte tastes too diluted.
Nescafe americano
A Nescafe americano is the simplest of all: 1 to 2 teaspoons of instant in a mug, topped up with hot water and no milk. Add the water gradually and taste as you go so it is strong but not bitter. It is essentially black instant coffee served long, and a good base if you later decide to add just a splash of milk.
Nescafe mocha
A Nescafe mocha is a latte with chocolate. Stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of cocoa powder or a spoon of drinking chocolate into the coffee paste (add a little sugar to balance the cocoa), then build the milk exactly as for a latte. Finish with foam and, if you want, a dusting of cocoa. A ready-made mocha sachet does the same job in one step.
Nescafe espresso, Gold espresso and Azera
Instant coffee cannot produce true espresso -- there is no pressure and no real crema -- but a Nescafe espresso style is easy to fake for milk drinks. The idea is a concentrated shot: use the same 1 to 1.5 teaspoons of instant but only a tablespoon or two of water, so the base is intense before you add milk.
For a closer imitation, reach for the micro-ground lines. Nescafe Azera and Nescafe Gold Espresso blend finely ground roasted coffee into the soluble coffee, so they dissolve into a darker, more espresso-like cup with a little foam on top. Use these as your "shot" when you want a punchier Nescafe cafe latte, flat white or mocha. They still are not pulled espresso, but they get the strength and color much closer.
Iced and cold Nescafe drinks
Instant coffee is ideal for iced drinks because it dissolves without a machine -- the one rule is to dissolve it in warm water first so you never get gritty crystals in a cold glass. For a full walk-through, see iced coffee with instant coffee.
- Iced latte. Dissolve 1.5 teaspoons of instant in 2 tablespoons of warm water, pour over a glass of ice, then top with cold milk.
- Iced americano. Same coffee base, poured over ice and topped with cold water instead of milk.
- Whipped (dalgona) coffee. Whisk equal parts instant coffee, sugar and hot water until thick and pale, then spoon the fluffy foam over a glass of cold milk and ice.
Frothing milk without a machine
You do not need an espresso machine to get foam on a Nescafe latte or cappuccino:
- Jar shake. Half-fill a sealable jar with warm milk, screw the lid on tight and shake hard for 30 to 60 seconds, then microwave for a few seconds to set the foam.
- Handheld frother. A cheap battery whisk froths warm milk in seconds and is the easiest upgrade for daily milky drinks.
- Whisk the coffee. Even without frothing the milk, whisking or shaking the dissolved coffee adds a little crema-like foam to the top of the cup.
Nescafe coffee drinks ratio table
Amounts are per single mug and are a starting point -- adjust the instant to taste. "Foam" describes how thick the milk foam should be.
| Drink | Instant coffee | Hot water | Milk | Foam |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Latte | 1-1.5 tsp | 2 tbsp (to dissolve) | ~200 ml | Thin |
| Cappuccino | 1-1.5 tsp | 2 tbsp | ~120 ml | Thick |
| Flat white | 1.5-2 tsp | 2 tbsp | ~150 ml | Very thin |
| Americano | 1-2 tsp | Fill mug | None | None |
| Mocha | 1-2 tsp + cocoa | 2 tbsp | ~200 ml | Thin |
| Espresso style | 1-1.5 tsp | 1-2 tbsp only | None (or as base) | Light |
What to look for when choosing
Whether you buy sachets or a jar, a few things decide how good your homemade cafe drink will be.
- Instant type. Freeze-dried (like Nescafe Gold) keeps more aroma than spray-dried; micro-ground lines such as Azera and Gold Espresso give a stronger, more espresso-like base for milk drinks.
- Sachet versus jar. Sachets are portion-controlled and travel-proof but you cannot adjust them; a jar plus your own milk is more flexible and endlessly tweakable.
- Sugar content. Many ready-mix latte and cappuccino sachets are pre-sweetened -- check the pack if you prefer to control sweetness yourself.
- Milk choice. Building from a jar lets you use whole, skim or plant milks; ready-mixes usually rely on their own milk powder, so plant-milk drinkers often prefer the DIY route.
Common mistakes to avoid
- Adding cold milk to undissolved coffee. Always dissolve the instant in a little hot water first, or you get bitter crystals -- especially in iced drinks.
- Using fiercely boiling water. Water just off the boil tastes smoother; water at a rolling boil can scorch instant coffee and make it harsh.
- Drowning the coffee. If your latte tastes weak, add half a teaspoon more instant rather than less milk, so you keep the creamy texture.
- Skipping the froth. Even a 30-second jar shake transforms a flat milky coffee into something that looks and feels like a cafe drink.
The beauty of Nescafe cafe drinks is how forgiving they are: once you can loosen a spoon of instant in a little water and froth some milk, the difference between a latte, cappuccino, flat white and mocha is just the ratio of coffee, milk and foam. Start with the table above, tweak it to your taste, and you have a whole cafe menu in a single jar.