Coffee Specialties: Cortado

When it comes to coffee, no drink is as popular at the moment as the Cortado. It is one of the many variations of coffee with milk. There are differences between all these types: more milk, less foam, double espresso, etc. And those differences certainly make a difference to the final result. In this blog post, we will tell you more about the Cortado, a Spanish drink.

Coffee culture

This multitude of coffee types is surrounded by a culture similar to the Italian one. Just as people in Italy have their own preferences, opinions, and guidelines for every type of pasta, the same goes for coffee. And the modern form of coffee drinking that we have embraced here in the Netherlands naturally has its origins in espresso, an Italian invention.

The variety of coffee specialties seems to be here to stay. And besides the ways of making coffee with an espresso machine, there is also, of course, a huge variety of coffee types, not to mention the alternatives to cow's milk. More on that later.

How do you make a Cortado?

Unlike most coffee types we know, the Cortado comes from Spain. The word Cortado comes from the Spanish word for cut. You cut through the bitterness of the coffee with a little milk and milk foam. 

For a Cortado, the ratio between milk and coffee is crucial. You use equal parts coffee and milk, so 1:1. With a small amount of foam.
So your volume is smaller than a cappuccino, where you provide an espresso with the same amount of milk AND another equal amount of foam. So 1:1:1.

The base for your Cortado is an espresso. But even more exciting is a double ristretto. (A ristretto is a cut-short espresso. So you take the usual grind and coffee dosage, but you stop the flow of your espresso machine after 15-20 seconds. Your coffee then contains fewer bitters and the final result of your cortado is softer. I will deal with what exactly a ristretto is later in a following blog post.)

If you are going to decorate your cortado with Latte Art, you need to be careful with your milk: because you use less milk than in a cappuccino, you must also pour out your figures quickly. Timing is essential and practice makes perfect.

You serve a cortado in a glass. An espresso or double ristretto will yield about 30 ml of coffee. Add an equal amount of milk and you have a glass in which 60 ml must fit. Not too big, so.

The Cortado may look like a Flat White. However, the Flat White contains a double espresso, and that is therefore more coffee than the Cortado. And more milk is also added.

Which coffee do you use for the Cortado?

If you make the Cortado from an espresso, then a mild espresso, such as Arabica Espresso or Single Estate - Peru, would be a nice choice. 

If you take a double ristretto as a base, which is milder in taste by itself (fewer bitters), than you could take a punchier coffee such as our Italian Espresso or Single Estate - Indonesia.

It remains a matter of taste, of course. Find the beautiful balance between coffee and milk, where the coffee flavor remains intact, and you only soften the sharp edges with the creamy taste of the milk.

In summary

A Cortado is a Spanish coffee specialty made from an espresso or double ristretto with milk in a ratio of 50% coffee and 50% milk with a little milk foam, served in a glass.

Cheers!