Cortado coffee is a drink made from coffee and milk, taken in equal proportions. This drink is especially popular in Spain, Portugal, Latin America, where it is customary to drink it in the afternoon. But the Italians attribute the invention of this drink to themselves.
Its peculiarity is serving in a glass container with a volume of about 200 ml.
What is cortado?
The drink is prepared on the basis of espresso, in which hot milk is poured. Cortado coffee recipes can vary, for example, it is prepared with the addition of whipped cream or condensed milk. It is believed that baked milk is used to make the original drink.
How to do?
To make cortado coffee at home, you need the following ingredients:
- two teaspoons of freshly ground coffee (finely ground);
- a teaspoon of sugar;
- 100 ml of milk;
- 20 ml sour cream;
- 150 g of water.
Cooking Cortado:
- Pour milk in a clay pot, put sour cream in it and put in the oven, heated to 80 ° C for two hours. The mixture should not boil.
- Wrap a clay pot with milk and place in heat for three hours. Home-made creation of baked milk is not an easy process, but it turns out to be much tastier than purchased.
- Brew espresso from ground coffee and water. You can do this in a Turk or a coffee maker, at your discretion. If it is boiled in a Turk, you need to bring it to a boil several times, only in this way you can get a fragrant drink.
- When the espresso is ready, pour it into a glass, which must first be warmed up well.
- Beat the baked milk. This is done using a conventional whisk or blender. But best of all, if such a function is in the coffee machine.
- When the milk is frothed, lay the froth on the surface. This must be done very carefully, avoiding mixing layers. If you adhere to these recommendations, you will get real cortado coffee (photos are presented in the article). It can be seen that it is as if cut into two layers - dark at the bottom and light at the top.
Tips & Tricks
For those who want to learn how to cook a real cortado at home, there are several tips:
- A selection of coffee beans. For such a drink, grains of the varieties "Santa Domingo", "Tanzania", "Kenya" are suitable. They must be strong roasted and freshly ground. It is not recommended to use ground coffee that has been stored for a long time. It won't make a good cortado. Typically, coffee that stays ground for a long time acquires a ripe smell.
- Cooking is best on an open fire in a Turk. Bring it to a boil three to four times. When the foam rises for the first time, the Turk must be removed from the stove for several minutes, then returned to the fire. Thanks to this procedure, coffee will get a deeper taste, become richer.
- Cortado coffee gains its characteristic taste thanks to baked milk. It is with him that the original drink is prepared. Baked milk gives softness and a slightly sweet taste. Beating milk is better by hand, that is, with a whisk, and it must be warm. If you beat with a mixer, it is easy to interrupt, and then it will become dense, with lumps and not suitable for adding to coffee.
- To get a fatter drink, you need to replace the milk with cream.
- Some cook it with condensed milk, but this option is far from a real cortado, besides it turns out to be too sweet.
- Pour the drink into a glass cup. It must first be warmed up, do it with boiling water or steam. Then coffee is poured, sugar is added, mixed, heated milk is poured, foam is laid on top. It is allowed that it does not reach the edge of the glass, it can fill it only two-thirds. Sugar can also not be added to the glass, but served separately.
You can make cortado coffee in a simpler way by taking purchased baked milk. To do this, you need 50 ml of espresso, 50 ml of milk and a teaspoon of granulated sugar (no more). Freshly made espresso with sugar is poured into a heated glass cup. Separately, slightly warmer the baked milk and beat down with a whisk to make a soft, soft foam. Warm milk is gently poured into a glass of coffee in a thin stream, and the remaining foam is placed on top. Do not mix the drink.
Other cooking options
To the varieties of cortado it is customary to include a drink prepared not on baked milk, but on cream. He received the name galliano. He will need 100 ml of Americano or espresso, 100 ml of cream, one and a half teaspoons of Galliano liqueur. Coffee is poured into a glass, whipped cream with liquor and spread on coffee.
In Mexico, a con con leche drink is classified as a cortado. It is prepared on the basis of strong Mexican coffee, which will require two servings. First, a spoonful of sugar is added to the coffee and mixed. The same amount of ordinary milk is heated without boiling. Then the milk is carefully poured into sweet coffee, a cinnamon stick is placed on top.
Another drink resembling cortado coffee is piccolo. To make it, milk needs a little more than coffee. Milk is heated and poured into a glass first, the second layer is sweetened espresso.
And finally, the option with condensed milk, which is called bon-bon coffee. To prepare it, pour 50 ml of condensed milk into a heated glass, pour fresh hot espresso on it with a thin stream so that the layers do not mix.
How to serve and drink
In Spain and Latin America, this drink is drunk in the afternoon, even in the late afternoon.
It is served in a thick glass dish, usually on a porcelain saucer with a small spoon and a bag of sugar. Milk must be warmed up.
In France, cortado coffee is served with cold milk and even chocolate chips, caramel syrup, nuts, and cream are added to it.
Conclusion
This drink is not as common as latte, glasse and others. Nevertheless, in some coffee houses on the menu you can find melted cortado coffee. Reviews of such establishments indicate that coffee fans do not miss this drink and always note its unusual taste. By the way, it costs a lot in coffee houses when compared with other types.