What Is a Cortado? Ratio, Size and How to Make One
A cortado is a small coffee made with espresso and about the same amount of warm milk. It’s stronger than a latte and smoother than a straight espresso, which is why it has become a regular on specialty café menus.
Here’s where the drink comes from, how big it should be, how it differs from similar drinks, and how to make one.
What is a cortado?
The name comes from the Spanish verb cortar, “to cut”: the milk cuts the espresso and softens its bitterness. Barista Magazine traces the drink to the Basque region of Spain, from where it spread across Spain and Portugal and then to Latin America.
According to Barista Magazine, a cortado is equal parts espresso and milk, made with a double shot of about 2 oz (around 60 ml) and the same amount of milk. That gives a drink of about 4 oz, or roughly 120 ml. The milk is steamed to temperature with little or no foam, unlike a cappuccino.
Beans made for espresso and milk drinks
For lattes, cappuccinos and iced coffee, try our Arabica-Robusta Blend or bold Robusta, roasted daily and ground to order for espresso or moka pot.
Shop the Blend →Cortado at a glance
| Cortado | |
|---|---|
| Espresso | A double shot |
| Milk | About the same amount as the espresso, warm, with little foam |
| Size | About 4 oz (around 120 ml) |
| Glass | Often a small Gibraltar glass, which is 4.5 oz |
| Taste | Strong coffee, softened and slightly sweetened by the milk |
Cortado vs macchiato vs flat white
| Drink | Milk | Foam | Size |
|---|---|---|---|
| Macchiato | Just a spoonful | A small cap of foam | Smallest |
| Cortado | About equal to the espresso | Little or none | About 120 ml |
| Flat white | About two-thirds of the drink | A thin layer, about 0.5 cm | About 150 ml cup |
The flat white figures come from Perfect Daily Grind. See our lessons on the macchiato and flat white vs latte for more.
Other names for similar drinks
Barista Magazine lists several drinks around the world that are close to a cortado: the piccolo in Australia, the cortadito in Cuba (usually sweetened), and the noisette in France. In parts of the United States, a cortado is also called a Gibraltar, after the glass it’s served in.
How to make a cortado
- Pull a double espresso into a small glass or cup. Our espresso ratio lesson explains how to set your dose and yield.
- Steam a small amount of milk to drinking temperature, keeping the steam tip a little deeper than usual so you add only a little air. Our steaming lesson covers the technique.
- Pour about the same amount of milk as espresso into the shot. Stop when the drink is roughly half milk.
- Serve straight away. A small drink cools quickly.
Iced version: a cortado over ice is simply a double espresso and the same amount of cold milk poured over ice in a short glass.
Should cafés add a cortado to the menu?
A cortado uses the same double shot as your other espresso drinks and much less milk, so it’s easy to add without new ingredients. It suits customers who find a latte too milky but espresso too strong. Our guides to coffee shop menu ideas and the menu pricing calculator help you decide where it fits and how to price it. For the coffee, a medium or dark espresso blend holds up well with a little milk. Cafés can see wholesale pricing.
More lessons are in the Caffeine Brothers Coffee Academy.
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