Nous Nous
نص نصnoos noos
A short glass, half coffee and half foamy hot milk, usually sweetened at the table. It is the drink every Moroccan café terrace runs on, somewhere between a cortado and a small cappuccino.
At a glance
- Espresso : milk
- 1:1
- Active time
- 2 min
- Total time
- 4 min
- Makes
- 1 small glass
- Serve
- Hot, in a glass
- Kit
- Espresso machine
Ingredients
Note: Without a machine, 60 ml of strong moka pot coffee and hot milk frothed with a handheld frother is very close.
Method
-
Warm the glass
Rinse a small heatproof glass with hot water. Around 120 ml is the right size.
-
Steam the milk with foam
Steam 60 ml of milk to about 60°C with more air than you would use for a flat white. You want a foamy, almost cappuccino texture.
In Moroccan cafés it is often poured first, with the coffee added through it.
Steam 15 seconds -
Pull the coffee
Pull a double espresso. A slightly longer shot than you would for a cortado, around 50 to 60 ml, is closer to the café version.
25 to 30 seconds -
Half and half
Pour the milk onto the coffee, or the coffee through the milk, until the glass is half each with a cap of foam. Serve with sugar on the side.
Done right, you can see the line between them through the glass.
Why this works
Nous nous means half half in Moroccan Arabic, and the name is the recipe. Equal coffee and milk puts it in the same family as a cortado, but the café version differs in two useful ways. The milk is foamier, closer to a cappuccino's texture, so the top of the glass is soft and airy. And the coffee is usually a longer, darker pull than an Italian or Spanish shot, which keeps the drink tasting strong even at one to one.
That balance is a practical one. At equal parts, the milk's fat and casein take the edge off espresso's bitterness without burying it, which is why so many cultures independently landed on half and half as a mid-morning coffee. The milk's natural sugars also become sweeter-tasting as it is heated, up to about 60°C. Beyond that the proteins start to break down and it tastes cooked.
The glass matters more than it looks. It shows the layers, which is half the appeal, and a small glass cools faster than a thick porcelain cup, so the drink is at a comfortable temperature by the time it has been carried out to the terrace.
Morocco's café culture took a great deal from the French protectorate, from the terrace layout to the habit of sitting for an hour over one coffee. The espresso machines arrived with it. Nous nous is what Moroccans made of that, and it is now so standard that you can order it in a single word anywhere from Tangier to Marrakech.
Variations
- Café cassé: a black coffee broken with just a splash of milk.
- Café noir: a black coffee, often with sugar.
- Café au lait: mostly milk, in a larger glass.
- With spices: some cafés in the south add a pinch of cinnamon or a ras el hanout coffee blend.
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Questions
What does nous nous mean?
Half half, in Moroccan Arabic. It describes the drink: half coffee and half frothed milk in a small glass.
Is nous nous the same as a cortado?
Close. Both are roughly equal coffee and milk. Nous nous usually uses a longer, darker shot and foamier milk, and is always served in a glass.
How do you order coffee in Morocco?
Nous nous for half and half, café noir for black, café cassé for black with a splash of milk, and café au lait for mostly milk. Sugar is usually brought separately.
Can I make nous nous without an espresso machine?
Yes. Use 60 ml of strong moka pot coffee and 60 ml of hot milk frothed with a handheld frother.