# Café con Leche Source: https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-con-leche/ Last updated: 2026-10-21 > Café con leche is Spanish for "coffee with milk": equal parts espresso and hot milk, Spain's most popular coffee. In a Spanish bar you may be asked if you want the milk hot, warm or cold, and whether you'd like it in a cup or a small glass. It's mainly a breakfast and mid-morning drink. ## At a glance - Chapter: Milk coffees - Served: Hot - Brewing method: https://dailyextraction.com/methods/espresso/ - Origin: Spain - Glass: Cup or small glass (vaso) - Also known as: coffee with milk ## Ingredients - 1 shot espresso - the same amount as the coffee hot milk - 1 sachet sugar (optional) ## Steps 1. **Make the coffee**: Brew a shot of espresso into a cup or a small glass (vaso). 2. **Heat the milk**: Heat or steam milk until it's hot, or warm it only a little if you want it templada. 3. **Combine**: Add the milk to the coffee, in about equal parts. 4. **Sweeten at the table**: Serve with a sugar sachet on the side, so the drinker can sweeten it to taste. **Café con leche** is Spanish for "coffee with milk", and it's Spain's everyday coffee: a shot of [espresso](https://dailyextraction.com/methods/espresso/) with about the **same amount of hot milk**. Devour Tours calls it the most popular coffee drink in Spain, and Escuela Hablamos says it's by far the most popular choice all over the country. It's simple, but ordering one in a Spanish bar comes with a few questions. Here's what's in it, how to order it, and how it fits with the cortado and the manchado. ## The short version - **Half espresso, half hot milk.** - **Choose your milk temperature**: caliente (hot), templada (warm) or fría (cold). - **Cup or glass**: en taza or en vaso, a small glass with no handle. - **Sugar on the side**, in a sachet, not stirred in for you. - **A breakfast and mid-morning drink**, with toast, tortilla or a pastry. ## What's in a café con leche? Devour Tours describes it as equal parts espresso and milk, with no sugar added during preparation: you're given sugar packets to sweeten it yourself. It's one point on a scale of Spanish milky coffees: | Order | What you get (Devour Tours) | | --- | --- | | Café solo | A straight shot of espresso, no milk | | Café cortado | Espresso with just a splash of milk | | **Café con leche** | **Equal parts espresso and milk** | | Manchado (leche manchada) | Mostly warm milk "stained" with a splash of coffee | | Café bombón | Espresso with sweetened condensed milk | Devour Tours adds that many traditional Spanish cafés still use **torrefacto** coffee, where sugar is added near the end of roasting and burnt onto the beans, a practice popularised during the Spanish Civil War to stretch the coffee supply. It gives the coffee a distinctly bitter taste. ## How do you order one in Spain? Ask for *un café con leche*, then be ready for questions: - **The milk's temperature.** Escuela Hablamos says you'll be asked if you want your milk *caliente* (hot) or *templada* (warm). Devour Tours suggests asking for *leche fría* or *leche templada* if you're in a hurry and can't wait for hot milk to cool. - **Glass or cup.** *¿En vaso o taza?* Devour Tours says most traditional bars serve coffee in a *vaso*, a small clear glass with no handle. - **The size.** At breakfast you may be offered a bigger breakfast cup (*taza grande de desayuno*) or a medium one, Escuela Hablamos says. ## How is it different from a latte? Café con leche is stronger. Devour Tours says the two are similar, but a latte has slightly more milk and is topped with a bit of foam; café con leche is closer to half and half. If you want something like a flat white at a traditional Spanish bar, Devour Tours suggests a café con leche as the closest thing. Its French cousin, [café au lait](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-au-lait/), uses brewed coffee rather than espresso, CoffeeGeek explains. ## When do Spaniards drink it? At breakfast and mid-morning. Devour Tours lists the usual partners: toast with olive oil, crushed tomato and ham, a slice of potato omelette, or a sweet pastry. Coffee is common with or instead of dessert, it adds, but never with the main meal. Escuela Hablamos recalls that former Madrid mayor **Ana Botella**, in the city's Olympic bid, invited the world to "a relaxing cup of café con leche". ## Café con leche vs other milk coffees - **[Cortado](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cortado/):** the shot with just a splash of milk. - **[Café au lait](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-au-lait/):** France's brewed coffee with hot milk, in a bowl. - **[Caffè latte](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/caffe-latte/):** espresso with more steamed milk and some foam. - **[Café bombón](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/cafe-bombon/):** espresso with sweetened condensed milk. Explore every drink in the [milk coffees chapter](https://dailyextraction.com/drinks/milk-coffees/). ## FAQs ### What is the difference between café con leche and a latte? Café con leche is about half espresso and half milk. Devour Tours says a latte has slightly more milk and is topped with a bit of foam, so café con leche tastes stronger. ### How do you order café con leche in Spain? Just ask for "un café con leche". You may be asked if you want the milk caliente (hot), templada (warm) or fría (cold), and whether you want it en vaso (in a glass) or en taza (in a cup), and what size, says Escuela Hablamos. ### What is the difference between café con leche, cortado and manchado? The amount of milk. A cortado is espresso with just a splash of milk; café con leche is about half and half; a manchado, or leche manchada, is mostly milk "stained" with a splash of coffee, Devour Tours explains. ### Is café con leche sweetened? Not when it's made. Devour Tours says sugar usually comes in packets on the side, so you can sweeten it yourself. Many traditional cafés use torrefacto coffee, roasted with sugar, which gives a more bitter taste. ### When do Spaniards drink café con leche? Mostly in the morning, with breakfast: toast with olive oil, tomato and ham, a slice of potato omelette or a pastry, Devour Tours says. Escuela Hablamos mentions café-and-toast or croissant breakfast deals in Spanish cafés. ## Sources - [How to order coffee in Spain: the complete guide](https://devourtours.com/blog/ordering-coffee-in-spain/) - [How to order a coffee in Spanish](https://www.escuela-hablamos.com/en/how-to-order-a-coffee-in-spanish/) - [The café au lait](https://coffeegeek.com/guides/howtos/cafe-au-lait-how-to)