What Does the History of Coffee in Europe Say About Milk?

Adding milk to pour-over coffee is a matter of taste, not a rule broken. Europeans were putting milk in drip and immersion brewed coffee more than two hundred years before espresso-based latte existed. Letters from the French writer Madame de Sévigné in the 1690s note that a Vienna café was already selling milk coffee from the 1680s.

That early drink is the Café au Lait now reappearing on café menus. The vienna coffee origin story matters because it shows milk coffee came first, not as a compromise. Café au Lait is pour-over or French press coffee with milk added, and the milk is not aerated or frothed, which separates it from latte.

As specialty coffee grows ever more popular today, many believe that adding milk to pour-over coffee destroys its original flavors. Yet looking back over centuries of coffee history, milk has always been an important partner to coffee. This article will walk you through the reasonableness of adding milk to pour-over coffee, trace the origins of Café au Lait, clarify its essential differences from latte, and explore how different milk choices affect coffee flavor. Whether you are a purist or a milk-coffee lover, coffee's inclusiveness deserves respect.

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"Could I get a pour-over, please, with a little milk on the side."

—Huh? Isn't pour-over coffee meant for appreciating the bean's own flavors? Doesn't adding milk ruin its soul!

With specialty coffee all the rage nowadays, more and more people are chasing coffee's most original taste, and so quite a few see adding milk to coffee as a sign of not knowing how to appreciate specialty coffee.

But in fact, the original intent behind the concept of "specialty coffee" was to encourage everyone to drink better-quality coffee and, through traditional brewing methods, experience a purer taste. It was never stipulated that you can't drink it with milk.

Looking across centuries of coffee history, milk has almost always played the role of soulmate in making coffee taste better. As early as more than two hundred years before espresso-based latte appeared, Europeans were already adding milk to drip or immersion brewed coffee.

According to the letters of the French female writer Madame de Sévigné in the 1690s, a café in Vienna, Austria had already begun selling milk coffee from the 1680s. This was the first café in history to sell milk coffee, and that drink is precisely the Café au lait that many coffee shops today are scrambling to "revive."

However, many coffee shops nowadays use espresso when making Café au Lait, leading quite a few friends to mistakenly think that Café au Lait and latte are the same thing.

In fact, Café au Lait is made by adding milk to pour-over or French press coffee, and the milk does not need to be aerated or frothed. (The technique of steaming and frothing milk only appeared after the invention of the espresso machine.)

Café au Lait is probably the most ordinary and easiest milk coffee to make, so this way of drinking it quickly spread across Europe. Around the 18th century, the Japanese brought the popular culture of Europe at the time back to their country, and Japan thus became one of the first countries in Asia to develop coffee houses, with Café au Lait going on to become one of the best-selling categories in major cafés. In China's early coffee houses, Café au Lait was likewise very popular.

Originally, Café au Lait came about to mask unpleasant flavors in coffee, but as people increasingly valued coffee bean quality and roasting, adding milk to brewed coffee has become more and more of a refined art.

The addition of hot milk not only neutralizes coffee's bitterness but also creates more distinctive flavor experiences.

Depending on the different flavors the coffee presents, choosing milk with different amounts and different milk fat or protein content can let the coffee reveal an entirely new flavor profile.

Because Café au Lait has different versions around the world and is made in a variety of ways, but no matter the method, it never departs from drip or immersion brewed coffee and hot milk.

The reason for insisting on hot milk is that after milk is heated, the lactose in it gives off a caramel-like sweetness, which both enhances the coffee's smooth, full-bodied mouthfeel and adds sweetness to the coffee.

As for the strength of the coffee, there really aren't many hard-and-fast rules; you could say it's entirely up to personal preference. The café owner can do whatever he thinks is suitable—that's how casual it is. As long as the drinker is satisfied, then it's a good Café au Lait.

As coffee consumption trends evolve, although more and more people are pursuing coffee's true flavor, milk and coffee remain an inseparable combination in many people's hearts, no matter in what form it blends with coffee.

The rise of specialty coffee certainly hopes everyone can drink coffee with ever better flavor and quality, but regardless of flavor, for most consumers, not everyone can actually tell the difference.

Adding milk to pour-over coffee is an entirely normal thing. Everyone's requirements for coffee strength and taste differ, and perhaps a coffee that meets the golden cup extraction standard on paper is still too strong for some people.

Or perhaps, after adding hot milk, it brings a flavor they like even more, and thus sparks an even deeper interest in specialty coffee?

Coffee is an extremely inclusive beverage. The drinker liking it and enjoying drinking it—that's the bottom line!

Image source: Internet

The above content is compiled by CoffeeHunters, a coffee news website.