With the availability of Italian coffee machines (invented by Gaggia) that used fresh ground coffee & steam pressure to deliver coffee directly into the cup, (& rapidly heat milk with steam pressure, which made it frothy) people started to get a choice of ordinary coffee with cold milk or “frothy coffee”. The terms “Espresso” and “Cappuccino” were born.

Retailers have sought to “reposition” coffee in marketing terms and found that they could sell a “Cappuccino” for a higher price than “a milky coffee”. They also found that as milk was cheaper than coffee, they could further increase their profit by selling “milky” coffee. The trend has continued and alternative ways of making coffee and words from abroad have appeared in our language.