Where did “Caramel Macchiato” come from?

I worked at a coffee shop last year and we made real macchiatos which by definition are “Espresso marked with milk.” Basically it’s just however many shots of espresso with a dollop of frothed and foamed milk on top. Every time I go into a coffee shop, other than the one I worked at and 1 other, the people have no idea what I’m talking about when I tell them a “charamel macchiato” is not at all like a real macchiato. The “macchiatos” that they serve are basically 1-2 shots of espresso, a few pumps of chocolate and caramel, and about 6-8 ounces of milk. Why is this absolutely nothing like what a macchiato really is? Did big names like Starbuck’s just say “Let’s call this something fancy so people will order it”?

I run a ‘proper’ coffee shop and we too make traditional a machiato. It always makes me laugh when people order this and I give them an espresso. The look on their face is priceless and now I’ve stopped offering to make into the bastardised Starbucks version, I much prefer watching them try and drink it!

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