Piccolo latte

What is in the glass

Typical range

Why a small drink is harder to make

CoffeeHQ explanation

There is nowhere to hide in a piccolo. With only about 70 ml of milk, a slightly sour or bitter shot is obvious in a way it would not be under 200 ml. The espresso has to be right first.

The milk is awkward for a practical reason. Steam wands need a certain depth of milk to work in, and 70 ml is well below it, so the milk has to be steamed in a larger quantity than the drink needs. Cafés make piccolos alongside other drinks and share the jug; at home it means some waste, or making two.

Making one

Widely documented

1. Pull the shot into the glass. Extract a single espresso, or a ristretto if you prefer a sweeter and heavier base, straight into a small pre-warmed glass.
2. Steam the milk with very little air. Stretch the milk for only a second or two and then keep it spinning, so the result is thin and glossy with no stiff foam.
3. Pour low and fill to the rim. Pour steadily from close to the surface so the milk and coffee mix, finishing with a few millimetres of foam on top.

Piccolo, cortado or macchiato

Accounts differ

These three are routinely served as one another, and the definitions genuinely differ between countries and cafés. The distinctions below are the usual ones.

• Cortado — Spanish in origin, typically a double shot with about the same volume of milk and little foam. Stronger and less milky than a piccolo.
• Macchiato — An espresso marked with a spoonful of milk foam. Far less milk than either of the others.
• Flat white — The next size up: a double shot under about twice as much milk as a piccolo.
• Latte — The full-sized version, in which the same shot would taste much milder.

Getting it right

CoffeeHQ explanation

Tastes sharp or sour

Usually because: The shot is sharp, often because too little was taken from the coffee, and there is too little milk to cover it.

Change first: Correct the espresso first.

Sour coffee

A cap of stiff foam fills half the glass

Usually because: Too much air went into the milk for such a small drink.

Change first: Stretch the milk for only a moment.

Foam too stiff

Cannot steam so little milk

Usually because: The wand needs more depth than a piccolo's worth of milk gives it.

Change first: Steam the smallest amount your jug allows and pour off what you need.

Milk quantity calculator

Where the piccolo comes from

Accounts differ

The piccolo is generally traced to Australian cafés, with Sydney and Melbourne both credited. One common account is that it began as a small drink baristas made for themselves to taste the coffee with milk through the day. That story is widely repeated and not documented.

What to do next

• Making microfoam — A small drink needs fine, thin foam, and this is how to get it.
• The cortado — The drink most often confused with a piccolo.
• The ristretto — The base many cafés use for a piccolo, and why.
• Become a barista — A structured programme from dose and grind through milk, drinks and maintenance.