For all the crap top baristas have given Starbucks for perverting the term "macchiato" by calling their big caramel calorie bombs by that name, it's not like a lot of "third wave" baristas are helping.
With the advent and popularity of ristretto shots, odds are many cafes where you'd order a macchiato will give you two shots, since they're smaller in volume (each shot is around 0.5-0.75oz, so that's 1.0-1.5 oz total espresso for a double ristretto, or roughly the same as a standard shot*). That's not the problem.
The problem is when the milk volume far exceeds the "one tablespoon" (0.33oz) of the classic drink. And how that milk is steamed. A traditional, classic macchiato has a ratio of 4-5 parts espresso to 1 part milk.
Too often we see photos posted from top cafes and baristas of macchiatos that are nothing more than miniature lattes - about a 1:1 ratio of milk to espresso with the milk steamed latte-style so the barista can show off their rosettas pouring skills.
Once you start featuring the milk as much or more than the espresso, you've got a different drink. Many shops correctly call this a "latte piccolo" (which we can do on request - it's not on the menu - and nobody has ever asked for one.)
It's possible, if you're really, really good, to pour a heart with a little more than a tablespoon of milk. But you can't do much else. So using that guideline, any macchiato with clearly defined latte art is not actually a macchiato, but more of a milk drink in the latte piccolo vein.
There's also a slightly larger version of this drink, called a "cortado", that's usually served in a 5oz glass instead of a cup and has closer to a 2:1 milk/espresso ratio. But generally no foam, or very little.
Naturally, a lot of baristas will disagree with this. Even though they espouse the wonders of their particular espresso, it's the latte pouring skills that get the oohs and aaahs from customers and Flickr users. So they want to pour their art without regard to the history or legacy of the classic macchiato.
But it makes us wonder, if given the opportunity to showcase their self-proclaimed wonderful espresso by using the barest amount of milk possible in a macchiato, why don't they?
Above image from FoodGPS as we don't have a decent camera at our disposal at the moment.