The Cortado, Explained For Beginner Coffee Enthusiasts

Once you get past the basic concepts of brewed coffees, Americanos, cappuccinos, and lattes, the coffee world can start to feel intentionally confusing. In part, this is because so much of the world has influenced the consumption of coffee in its own ways, and in the United States in particular you can find most version of the beverage in some form or another. Café con leche is Spanish for coffee with milk, café au lait is French for coffee with milk, and yet the two are different drinks. None of this has been helped by coffee shops like Starbucks serving drinks called macchiatos which are notably different from a traditional Italian macchiato.

The cortado is an exemplar of how confusing the coffee world can be. It is similar to a macchiato, a noisette, a piccolo, and a cortadito. However, despite close similarities, no two of these drinks are actually identical. They're all variations on espresso combined with milk for those who enjoy the strong flavor profiles of espressos but would like to take the edge off of the harsher notes. Many of them come from different parts of the world, and the exact preparation makes more difference than you might imagine.

As with so much of food history, the exact origins of the cortado get a little murky at times. The cortado first originated in Spain in the Basque region. From there, it spread across the Iberian peninsula, through Latin America, and eventually found popularity in the United States. In Spanish, cortar is the infinitive form, "to cut." In a cortado, the added to the drink cuts the bitterness and the acidity of the espresso while maintaining the rich flavors of the coffee itself, along with the more nuanced elements of the taste.

The roots and mystery of the cortado are clouded by part of its history within the United States. While the cortado has existed in Spain since the early 20th century, the beverage didn't start to gain popularity in the United States until the start of the 21st century. It is generally agreed to have found its way to San Francisco, where a coffee roaster named Steve Ford created a drink that was extremely similar to a cortado but was served in a specific 4 ½ ounce glass. The glass was manufactured by the brand Libbey and was called a Gibraltar. This led to the drink also being called a Gibraltar and now, in most of the United States, the two names are synonymous for the same drink.

The vast majority of espresso drinks boil down to ratios, exactly how milk is warmed, and the texture that results. Many drinks want milk to be steamed and aerated. The steamed milk is stretched and aerated as the steam emulsifies with the milk, this results in warm milk with a smooth silky texture and milk foam. In a cappuccino, both are used with the steamed milk making up the body and the foam topping the drink for an iconic look. These processes are expected in these espresso drinks, but the cortado sets itself apart by not using this.

A cortado's size varies depending on where you order it, but it will most often be made with either one or two shots of espresso and then have a 1:1 or 1:2 ratio of coffee to milk. But the milk is not steamed to the point of stretching where the texture changes, it is only gently warmed. The warm milk can be added to the espresso without cooling the drink down and helps to highlight the natural flavors of the espresso. Milk has a slight natural sweetness from the lactose content, and when it is steamed, that lactose breaks down into simpler sugars, making it taste sweeter. The lack of that extra sweetness or foam makes a cortado unique and sets it apart from its relatives such as the cortadito, which is made with sugar or sweetened condensed milk.

A cortado needs to be enjoyed while it is still hot. That can be a challenge, as the large surface area and small quantity that you receive for this beverage means that it will start to cool fast. It's not intended to be downed in one go, but you won't be nursing it for half an hour or waiting for all your friends to show up before you start drinking it.

It might seem tempting to drink the cortado alongside a sweet treat. Many similar espresso drinks go wonderfully with a slice of cake, a piece of flan, or a nice biscotti. However, it's best to avoid sweet sides with the cortado. Because the milk is only warmed and is aimed at not making the espresso overly sweet, just eating a sweet food alongside it can be enough to make the drink taste bitter by comparison. A savory side is going to be a win here, making it a great morning or afternoon drink to have with a snack on the go.

Most local coffee shops should be happy to make you a cortado to order, even if you have to explain what it is. But sometimes you're out and about, need that hit, and all you can find is a Starbucks. Given the confusions that were made around the macchiato at independent coffee houses because of the version that Starbucks serves, it's reasonable to be unsure how available specialty espresso drinks might be there.

If you're in the United Kingdom, then you can order a cortado at Starbucks. It is a part of its menu, but might not be commonly ordered, so the baristas may or may not be aware of it. It's important to note that Starbucks' version of the cortado uses two shots of espresso and a 1:2 ratio of coffee to milk, making a longer six-ounce drink. If you're in the United States, the cortado is not part of the Starbucks menu. A barista might be willing to make it for you as a special order if there isn't a big line, but there's sadly no guarantee.