Latte
A double espresso shot with a larger volume of steamed milk and a thin layer of foam, giving a milder, milkier drink than a cappuccino or flat white.
- Coffee dose
- 18g
- Yield
- 240ml
- Milk
- 200ml
- Intensity
- medium
- Preparation time
- 3 min
- Skill level
- intermediate
Caffeine estimate
Approximately 120-160mg (double shot).
Well established
Brewing method
Made using Espresso machine.
Taste, variation and common mistakes
Mild and milky, with a thin layer of foam and the largest milk volume of the standard espresso-milk drinks, so the coffee flavour is the most diluted of the group while still being clearly present.
Common mistakes
- Using too much milk relative to espresso for the cup size, making the drink taste like warm milk with little coffee character.
- Overheating the milk past roughly 65-70°C, which can give a scalded, less sweet taste.
- Steaming milk without enough microfoam, leaving a flat texture rather than the velvety mouthfeel a well-textured latte should have.
Size and ratio vary considerably by market — a UK or US café latte is often noticeably larger than a traditional Italian caffè latte, which is closer in size to a cappuccino.
Steps
- Pull a double espresso shot.
- Steam a larger volume of milk to a thin foam.
- Pour milk over the espresso.
Equipment
Related drinks
- milk based version of Espresso
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Build this drink
Tools for working out the quantities this drink needs.
How to make it well
Step-by-step techniques this drink depends on, each with what to change when it does not work.
- Steaming milkProduce hot milk with a fine, integrated foam that pours as one liquid rather than as foam sitting on milk.
- Making microfoamReduce the air in steamed milk to bubbles too small to see, so the foam and the liquid behave as one substance.
- Judging milk temperatureStop steaming at a temperature that keeps the milk sweet and the texture fine, without needing to read a thermometer mid-drink.
- Steaming plant milkTexture a plant milk without splitting it, and know when the carton rather than the technique is the problem.
- Frothing milk without a steam wandGet a usable milk foam using an electric frother, a whisk, a French press or a jar, and know what each can and cannot produce.
- Purging and wiping the steam wandClear milk from the wand before it dries, so the next drink is not made through yesterday's residue.
- Pouring latte artPlace textured milk on the surface of an espresso in a controlled pattern, by managing height, flow and cup angle.
Milk that suits it
How each behaves when steamed — foaming, stability and splitting risk. No health comparisons.