Cortado
Cortado comes from cortar, to cut: the milk cuts the espresso rather than diluting it. It is a Spanish and Latin American drink, traditionally served in a small glass, and it is the most coffee-forward of the milk drinks.
What you need
- A double shot of espresso — 18 g of coffee in, 36 g in the cup
- 40–60 ml of cold full-fat milk
- A 120–150 ml glass
How to make it
- Pull the double shot straight into the glass.
- Steam the milk with almost no air — you want it warm and silky, with barely any foam.
- Pour it straight in. There is not enough milk here for latte art, and that is the point.
The ratio
1:1. Equal parts espresso and steamed milk, give or take. That is the whole definition, and it is what separates a cortado from a flat white (more milk) or a macchiato (far less).
Because the milk volume is so low, the coffee has nowhere to hide. A cortado is an unusually honest test of the shot underneath it — if the espresso is sour or harsh, you will taste it.
Dose and yield, so the numbers below are unambiguous
Throughout these recipes, a double shot means 18 g of ground coffee going IN and about 36 g of liquid espresso coming OUT, in 25–30 seconds. That 1:2 ratio by weight is the modern specialty standard, and 18 g is the usual dose for a 58 mm double basket; anywhere from 17 to 20 g in is normal depending on your basket.
The two numbers are different things and it matters: the grams of coffee you grind are not the grams of espresso in the cup. Weigh both if you can.
The traditional Italian figures are smaller. The Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano certifies a SINGLE at 7 g ± 0.5 of coffee producing 25 ml ± 2.5 in the cup, in 25 seconds ± 5, at 9 bar and 88°C — so a traditional doppio is around 14 g in rather than 18. Both are correct; they are different traditions, and the modern one is what most specialty cafés and home machines are built around.
Steaming milk, briefly
Whatever the drink, the milk is half the work. Start with cold full-fat milk, keep the steam wand just under the surface until the jug is blood-warm to stretch in air, then submerge it to spin the milk smooth. Stop at 60–65°C. Past about 70°C the lactose stops tasting sweet and starts tasting scalded, and no amount of latte art will get that back.
Common mistakes
- Too much foam. A cortado is warm milk, not a small cappuccino.
- Using a big cup. Serve it in 120–150 ml or the proportions stop making sense.
- Old shots. With this little milk, a stale or badly pulled espresso is unmissable.
No espresso machine?
A moka pot or an AeroPress will stand in. Use 60–70 ml of strong moka pot coffee, or an AeroPress brewed short at about 1:5, wherever the recipe says a double shot. It will not be espresso, but it is concentrated enough to hold its own against milk.
Which coffee to use
Anything on our shelf works, but milk drinks reward a coffee with body and sweetness over one built for delicate florals — the milk will bury the top notes either way. Check the tasting notes and the process on each product page; a natural or a honey-processed lot usually cuts through milk better than a light washed one.