What makes coffee from Spain, like the cortado, so balanced?

Cortado is a small Spanish milk coffee from the Basque region, made with a 1:1 ratio of espresso to hot milk. The name comes from the Spanish verb cortar, meaning to cut, because the milk softens the sharp bitterness of espresso while leaving the coffee flavor dominant. It is served in a small glass and usually has less milk foam than a cappuccino.

Compared with the similarly sized Piccolo, a cortado carries a stronger coffee taste, with milk playing a supporting role rather than leading. The drink is well known in Spain but rare in many other markets, including Australia, where the flat white and piccolo dominate cafe menus. Among classic coffees, it sits between a macchiato and a flat white in milk content.

In the espresso family, Espresso can transform into countless drinks, and today Front Street wants to talk about Cortado, one of them. It comes from the Basque region of Spain, and is made by using an equal amount of hot milk to "cut" the strong bitterness of espresso, while still letting the coffee aroma take center stage. Compared with the similarly small-volume Piccolo, Cortado has a stronger coffee flavor, with milk only playing a supporting role. This article will take you through the origin of the name Cortado, the classic 1:1 ratio, the interesting evolution of milk foam, and how it differs from Piccolo in recipe and taste. If you also like adding a little milk to your espresso, then you may have already had Cortado.

"Espresso is really so satisfying, you see, add water and it becomes another coffee, add milk and it's another one, add cream or even ice cream and it can have its own name, and the most exaggerated thing is, if you accidentally add too little milk, there's still a coffee to match it. Rounding it off, that means I know how to make twenty kinds of coffee!" In the end, Front Street cast him a look of admiration—for his coffee knowledge.

That's how the espresso system is; one Espresso can spawn thousands of varieties. For example, the Piccolo that Front Street introduced before—if you've already tried it, then congratulations, you've already opened the door to the niche espresso series.

"This niche espresso series refers to coffees that have a certain level of fame globally but are rarely seen domestically. Take Piccolo, for example: in Australia it's a national-level drink, but in China, compared with the Flat White that also comes from Australia, it seems quite niche."

And today the Cortado that Front Street wants to share with everyone is even more niche than Piccolo. Cortado is usually translated as "科尔塔多" or "可塔朵", and is a distinctive milk coffee originating from the Basque region of Spain.

The word Cortado derives from the Spanish "cortar"; cortar means "to cut" or "to weaken", and in practice it means adding an appropriate amount of milk to neutralize the sharp bitterness of espresso while still preserving a strong coffee taste. In the Basque region, this ratio is 1:1, that is, one part espresso to one part hot milk, and after mixing, it is Cortado.

So this is another small-cup coffee drink that finds it hard to make much headway in the domestic market. Before latte art became popular, Cortado did not add milk foam, or only allowed a small amount of thin milk foam, because during heating, some foam is sometimes accidentally produced, so having a super-thin layer of milk foam is also considered reasonable.

However, as latte art became more and more popular, almost anywhere steamed milk is used, people are eager to pour a beautiful pattern, and Cortado gradually gained a thin layer of milk foam for latte art. At this point, it becomes hard for us to tell from appearance whether it is a Cortado or a Piccolo. But in terms of recipe, there are still differences between the two:

With the same 90ml cup size, Cortado is a double Espresso 40g (about 45ml) plus milk (thin milk foam) 45ml; Piccolo is a single Ristretto about 15ml plus milk (thin milk foam) 75ml. In terms of taste and mouthfeel, Cortado has a richer coffee flavor.

Although Cortado is not popular in China, according to the customers Front Street has talked with, some also like to drink espresso with a little milk added.

So, on the surface you're drinking Espresso, but in fact you're drinking Cortado! Perhaps, as the customer at the beginning said, this is the joy of espresso!!

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