Cortado
Equal parts espresso and steamed milk, with barely any foam. Enough milk to cut the shot and not a drop more, which is what cortar means.
At a glance
- Espresso : milk
- 1:1
- Active time
- 3 min
- Total time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 glass
- Serve
- In a small glass
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: Whole milk is standard. The drink is small enough that the difference between milks is obvious.
Method
-
Steam the milk flat
Texture about 100 ml, but keep the aeration very short, a second at most, then submerge the wand and roll it to 60°C.
A cortado wants milk that is silky and hot with almost no foam on it. If you can build a tall head, you have gone too far.
-
Pull the shot into the glass
A double straight into a 130 ml glass. It should fill it about a third.
25 to 30 seconds -
Pour an equal measure of milk
Swirl the jug, then pour from a low height straight into the middle so the milk goes under the crema rather than sitting on it.
Stop when the glass is level with the espresso volume, around 40 ml. The surface should be pale brown with a thin white edge.
Why this works
Cortar is Spanish for to cut, and the drink is exactly that: the shot cut with just enough milk to take the edge off. The ratio is the definition, not a guideline. Equal parts, roughly, and that is what separates it from everything larger.
What the milk does at 1:1 is specific. There is not enough of it to make the drink taste of milk, but there is enough for the lactose and the fat to round off the acidity and coat the mouth. The coffee is still unmistakably the subject. Go to 1:2 and the balance tips and you are approaching a piccolo; go to 1:4 and it is a flat white.
The near absence of foam is the other half. A cappuccino's foam is a structural element you drink through; a cortado has essentially none, so the texture is liquid all the way down. That is why the milk is steamed flat rather than aerated, and it is a harder thing to get right than a thick head of foam.
The glass is traditional and practical. Spanish bars serve it in a small heavy tumbler, usually on a saucer, and the clear sides show the gradient between coffee and milk, which is how a barista checks the pour went in rather than on top.
Variations
- Cortado condensada: with sweetened condensed milk instead, the Spanish bombón.
- Gibraltar: the same drink in a particular 4.5 oz glass, with a San Francisco origin story.
- Single: one shot and 20 ml of milk in a smaller glass.
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Questions
Cortado vs flat white?
Milk volume. A cortado is one to one, around 80 ml in total with almost no foam. A flat white is roughly one to four, around 160 ml, with a thin layer of microfoam. The cortado tastes far more of coffee.
Cortado vs macchiato?
A macchiato is a shot with a spoonful of foam, perhaps 10 ml. A cortado has an equal volume of liquid milk. The macchiato is an espresso; the cortado is a small milk drink.
What size glass?
Around 120 to 130 ml. The classic is the 4.5 oz Libbey Gibraltar, which is where the gibraltar gets its name.
Should a cortado have foam?
Barely any. A few millimetres at the surface is fine; a visible head means it has drifted towards a small cappuccino. Steam the milk with almost no aeration.