Spain
Cortado
Equal parts espresso and warm milk
Cut, not drowned. 1:1 in a small glass, barely any foam. The fastest way to make a hot-tasting shot friendlier.
Small glass
Espresso
36 ml
Milk
36 ml
Glass
90–120 ml
Servings
1
Ingredients
- espresso36 ml
- whole milk, warmed to 60 °C36 ml
Method
1
Warm the milk barely
Heat it, texture it almost not at all. A cortado is about temperature and softness, not foam.
2
Combine
Pour straight in. It should look uniformly caramel through the glass.
3
Drink it hot
A cortado is 70 ml in a glass with no foam cap to insulate it. It is at its best for about two minutes and noticeably worse after five.
Notes
- Cortado bombón: in Valencia, swap the milk for sweetened condensed milk poured in first so it layers.
Made it? See how the pour actually looks.
Photograph this pour and Brew scores the symmetry, contrast and definition, and names the exact mistake to fix next time.
Score my pour →What you need
- Espresso machine (pump) or Lever / piston machine or Moka pot
- Steam wand or Handheld milk frother