Cappuccino From A Cafeteria?

Q: I have lately been getting Cappuccinos here in the dining hall of my university, and I was curious if anyone would figure that it really isn't a Cappuccino. I mean to say, the machine available offers hot chocolate, English Toffee Cappuccino, and French Vanilla Cappuccino. Would anyone suppose there is no real Espresso in this drink because it certainly does not taste like there is even a hint of coffee flavor in it. It appears as if this machine uses a powdered mix for the milk and added flavors.

A: Yes, John, you've figured it out. It's not rocket science. You are drinking a Cappuccino like drink. It's probably what you think it is, adding real coffee might be too expensive, so they just add mountains of sugar. It would depend on the type of the machine. There are vending machines out there that actually do produce real coffee and Espressos, but most of them just use a powdered preform mix with ingredients that help to give it that 'froth'. These machines normally serve other 'non-drinks' too, like, crappy orange drink, nasty water soup, or flavoured coffee/chocolate. You can easily tell because the powder stuff tastes awful and is usually much cheaper than the real thing.