The cortado recipe
for your table
Grind eight grams of beans finely, distribute the grounds evenly in the portafilter and tamp them level. Extract about twenty-five millilitres of espresso in twenty-five to thirty seconds, directly into the preheated glass.
Meanwhile, heat a little whole milk to about sixty-five degrees. Keep the steam wand just below the surface and stop as soon as the jug becomes too hot to hold; you want warm milk with at most a thin layer of fine bubbles, not firm foam.
Pour an equal amount of milk and coffee into the glass, about twenty-five millilitres, gently along the inside wall. The milk sinks below the crema and you’ll see the coffee change from dark to light brown; that’s where the name comes from.
Serve the cortado straight away and place the sugar cube beside it rather than in it, so anyone who wants to can first taste how it is without sugar. In five centilitres, coffee cools quickly, so there’s no point waiting.
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The story
Cortado comes from the Spanish verb cortar, to cut. The milk cuts the coffee: it takes away the sharpness without turning it into a milk drink. That is also the immediate difference from a cappuccino, which contains much more milk and where the foam takes centre stage. In Spanish bars, you order a cortado at the bar and drink it in a few sips, and it is almost always served there in a small glass rather than a cup. Sometimes that glass sits in a metal holder, simply because it becomes too hot to hold. This custom has travelled to coffee bars outside Spain.
The right glass
A cortado is served in a small glass of about ten centilitres. Larger makes no sense: five centilitres of drink sits as a thin layer at the bottom of a large cup and becomes lukewarm within a minute. Glass has an additional advantage over porcelain here, because you can see the milk sink through the crema and therefore tell whether the ratio is right. A double-walled glass keeps this small amount at the right temperature for the longest and stays comfortably warm on the outside; you can find them among the double-walled coffee glasses.
Luigi Bormioli Thermic Glass Espresso Glass 10.5 cl Espressino (2 pieces)
La Rochère Zinc Espresso Glass 10 cl (6 pieces)
Both sets together € 47,90.
The right tools
For a cortado, you need little besides the glass: a jigger to measure the espresso and milk using the same measure, and a grater for anyone who wants to add some dark chocolate on top. These are the bar tools we use ourselves; you can find everything in our bar tools & cocktail sets.
Glass set (our choice 01) + 2 bar tools together € 42,85.
What shot goes into a cortado?
A cortado is coffee with milk and nothing else. If you still want to add something, stir a splash of liqueur into the milk and it becomes a small dessert. Sweet, creamy bottles work better here than dry spirits, because the milk already softens the alcohol. On each drink page, you can read the alcohol percentage, what it tastes like, which cocktails it pairs with, and which glass you need.
Variations & twists
With condensed milk instead of warm milk, the same coffee is called a bombón in Spain. In American coffee bars, you’ll find it under the name gibraltar, named after the glass it is served in there. Oat milk works too, provided you choose a barista version that does not curdle in hot coffee. And if you froth the milk anyway, you are already halfway to a cappuccino. Looking for more inspiration? Browse more than 100 cocktail recipes.
Serving tip
Warm the glass with hot water and discard it before pulling the shot, because five centiliters will otherwise cool down within a minute. Place the sugar cube beside it instead of in it. Drink it within a few minutes: as soon as the milk cools, the sweetness created by heating it disappears.
Good to know
What cortado means
Cortado is the past participle of the Spanish cortar, meaning “to cut.” The warm milk cuts the espresso: it takes away the sharpness without diluting the coffee into a milk drink. So the word refers to what the milk does to the coffee, not to a brewing method.
The difference from a macchiato
A macchiato is espresso with just a spot of milk or milk foam, about a spoonful, and nothing else. A cortado gets an equal amount of milk and coffee. That makes a macchiato smaller and distinctly stronger; a cortado is milder and contains about twice as much drink.
The difference from a flat white
A flat white is larger: expect fifteen to sixteen centiliters, with a double espresso and a generous amount of steamed milk topped with a thin layer of microfoam. A cortado stays around five centiliters and has barely any foam. The same idea, a completely different size.
Why there should be almost no foam on top
You heat the milk, but you do not froth it. Foam increases the volume without adding more milk, and in a five-centiliter glass that immediately comes at the expense of the coffee. Therefore, keep the steam wand just below the surface, so you bring warmth but hardly any air into the milk.
Milk at the right temperature
Milk tastes sweetest between sixty and sixty-five degrees. If you go well above that, it develops a boiled taste and that sweetness disappears. A thermometer helps, but in practice, the jug becoming too hot to hold is a good enough measure.
Why a glass instead of a cup
In Spain, the glass is standard, and that is not just tradition: you can immediately see the ratio of coffee to milk. If you use a double-walled glass, the air layer keeps the coffee warm while the outside remains comfortably warm to the touch.
Frequently asked questions
What is a cortado?
An espresso with approximately the same amount of warm milk, together around five centiliters, served in a small glass. The milk is heated but barely frothed, so you do not get a layer of foam like you do with a cappuccino.
What is the difference between a cortado and a macchiato?
The amount of milk. A macchiato has only a spot of milk or milk foam on the espresso, while a cortado has equal amounts of milk and coffee. That makes a macchiato stronger-tasting and smaller.
Is a cortado the same as a flat white?
No. A flat white is larger, about fifteen to sixteen centiliters, with a double espresso and much more steamed milk with microfoam. A cortado remains around five centiliters and has almost no foam.
Which glass do you use for a cortado?
A small glass of about ten centiliters. It holds five centiliters of coffee with milk at a comfortable height, so it does not cool down immediately. A double-walled glass keeps it warm the longest and remains easy to hold on the outside.
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