The pairing of coffee and milk looks simple, but in fact it places strict demands on the coffee's own strength and flavor direction. Starting from the golden ratio of coffee to milk, this article explains why deep-roasted coffee with a bitter profile is better suited to combining with milk than coffee with a bright acidic profile, and, using espresso and latte as examples, introduces Front Street Coffee's Sunflower Warm Sun blend and Vitasoy fresh milk at a 1:6.5 mixing formula. It also discusses whether pour-over coffee can have milk added, which types of pour-over are suitable for milk, and the recommended amount, and finally sorts out the five differences between fresh milk and pure milk in terms of shelf life, storage method, sterilization process, nutritional value, and taste, helping coffee lovers find a cup that is smooth yet still retains coffee flavor.

Coffee and milk can be considered a classic combination. When dark, rich coffee liquid meets silky milk, the bitterness is wrapped in milky aroma and sweetness, yet the coffee's own aroma still remains, and the milk does not overpower the main character, so it still tastes like a cup of "coffee." Precisely because of this, the ratio between the two becomes especially critical.

How should coffee and milk be paired?

The black coffee used to mix with milk must have a solid enough base so that it is not robbed of its presence by the milk. Therefore the coffee must be strong, and in terms of flavor direction, a bitter-leaning type is more suitable than an acidic-leaning type. After milk is added to coffee with prominent bitterness, the milk can effectively suppress the unpleasant bitterness without completely masking the coffee's aroma. On the contrary, coffee with bright acidity is easily overwhelmed by the sweet aroma of milk, and in the end it tastes more as if the milk is leading.

When it comes to the coffee that pairs most harmoniously with milk, espresso is almost the most typical answer. Espresso plus milk is the familiar latte. However, to get a delicious latte, the coffee beans, the milk, and the ratio between them all need careful consideration.

The coffee-to-milk ratio for latte

The flavor base of the espresso beans used for a latte mostly revolves around chocolate, so that after blending with milk it more easily presents a chocolate-milk-like impression. Taking Front Street Coffee's own Sunflower Warm Sun blend as an example, this coffee is a blend of Honduras Sherry and Ethiopia Yirgacheffe Red Cherry, with obvious sherry wine aroma, vanilla chocolate, and caramel notes.

When Front Street Coffee makes a latte, the coffee-to-milk ratio used is 1:6.5, that is, 40ml of espresso liquid as the base, then 260ml of milk (including milk foam), ultimately producing a latte with a rich chocolate character and a whisky-like aroma.

Of course, 1:6.5 is not a fixed answer that applies everywhere; it also depends on the flavor performance of the espresso itself and the taste of the milk used. Front Street Coffee also used the Sunflower Warm Sun blend with Vitasoy fresh milk and only settled on the 1:6.5 ratio after repeated testing.

In the ratio tests of the Sunflower Warm Sun blend with Vitasoy fresh milk, when the ratio fell to 1:6 or lower, the coffee flavor was too heavy and the overall cup seemed insufficiently balanced; while at 1:7 or higher, the milk would cover the coffee and it tasted weak and bland. So if you want a cup of milk coffee to be smooth, the coffee-to-milk ratio is very critical.

Can pour-over coffee also have milk added?

Compared with espresso, pour-over coffee is much less concentrated (espresso is about 9%, pour-over about 1.3%), and pour-over is usually made with single-origin beans, which are often regarded as a higher-quality category, so many people do not recommend adding milk, feeling it would be a pity.

But Front Street Coffee believes that the general public is generally more accepting of milk coffee, and cases of moving from milk coffee to pour-over are not rare. Moreover, adding milk to any kind of coffee is not inherently a bad thing; for people who are not used to drinking black coffee, coffee with milk is instead easier to drink.

However, milk cannot be added arbitrarily either. As said earlier, the wrong ratio will backfire. Therefore Front Street Coffee shares some ideas on adding milk for light-roasted coffee, which is lighter than espresso.

Likewise, pour-over with fruity character and prominent acidity is not suitable for adding milk. First, this kind of coffee is itself light and refreshing, and few people find it hard to accept; second, after adding milk it may directly mask the coffee flavor and may even bring out a sourness resembling spoilage.

So milk is more suitable for pour-over coffee with medium-dark roasting that presents nutty or chocolate flavors. Because pour-over itself is not very concentrated, it is easily dominated by excessive milk. Adding milk to pour-over is usually intended to improve smoothness, neutralize some bitterness, and make the whole cup easier to drink. Therefore Front Street Coffee recommends adding 20ml of milk to every 100ml of black coffee.

A few small facts about fresh milk and pure milk Fresh milk and pure milk differ by only one word, but the difference is quite large, specifically shown in:

1. Different shelf life: fresh milk is generally 7 days, while pure milk can be up to one year. 2. Different storage methods: fresh milk must be refrigerated, while pure milk only needs to be kept at room temperature away from light. 3. Different sterilization methods: fresh milk uses pasteurization, while pure milk uses instantaneous high-temperature sterilization. 4. Different nutritional value: the nutritional value of fresh milk is higher than that of pure milk. 5. Different taste and mouthfeel: fresh milk usually has a stronger milky taste, while pure milk is lighter.

For more specialty coffee beans, please add the private WeChat of Front Street Coffee (FrontStreet Coffee), WeChat ID: kaixinguoguo0925

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