Latte Coffee

Caffè latte means milk coffee, and that is the honest description: a double shot under a large volume of steamed milk, with only a thin layer of foam on top. It is the mildest of the classic espresso drinks and the most forgiving to make.

What you need

• A double shot of espresso — 18 g of coffee in, 36 g in the cup
• 180–220 ml of cold full-fat milk
• A 240–350 ml cup

How to make it

1. Pull the double shot into the cup.
2. Steam the milk with only a short burst of air — a second or two of stretching, then submerge the wand and spin until glossy.
3. Pour steadily into the centre, keeping the jug high so the milk goes under the crema.
4. As the cup fills, bring the jug close to the surface and let the foam come through. This is where latte art happens, if you want it.

The ratio

Around 1:3 to 1:5 espresso to milk. A 40 g double with 200 ml of milk sits at about 1:5 — milky, sweet, and easy. Want more coffee through it? Move towards a flat white rather than adding a third shot.

The foam layer should be about a centimetre, and the milk underneath should be one continuous texture, not a layer of liquid with froth floating on 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

• Over-stretching. Too much air turns it into a cappuccino by accident.
• Overheating. Milk scalded past 70°C loses its sweetness, and a latte is mostly milk, so it has nowhere to hide.
• Letting the milk sit in the jug. Pour within a few seconds or it separates.

Flavoured variations

A latte takes syrup well. See our Iced Vanilla Coffee, Caramel Coffee, Hazelnut Coffee and Cinnamon Coffee recipes for proportions that do not drown the shot.

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.