What is a cortado?
Everything you need to know about this super-strong yet milky coffee drink
TL;DR The cortado is a double shot of espresso topped off with equal parts freshly steamed whole milk. It’s a small drink with a strong coffee taste and a smooth, milky body perfectly integrated together.
What is it?
The cortado is without a doubt one of the more uncommon drink requests we get in the Forest of Dean, but at Hips, it’s a fan favorite for some of the team. The perfect balance of both steamed milk and a double shot of espresso, it combines the intense flavors and bitterness of good coffee with just a dab of milk to take away that bitter edge.
There’s a lot of confusion when it comes to the cortado, as it’s not a common drink in the UK or the US and is better known in continental Europe; however, the formula is very simple. To begin with, your barista will typically pull a double shot of espresso into a small, flat-white-sized cup. Once that espresso has been pulled, they will then add a small amount of freshly steamed milk on top. The milk itself should be very similar in quality to that found in a latte or a flat white. Smooth, with a small amount of foam on top.
At Hips, we wholeheartedly believe that a good cortado is equal parts espresso and steamed milk; however, depending on where you go, your mileage may vary. It's worth noting though, this is the traditional way to make a cortado.
As for flavor, a cortado is quite an intense drink, with a strong hit of coffee, followed by that smooth sweetness associated with your milk of choice. It’s great if you really want to taste those unique characteristics of the coffee the shop is using, and perfect for any coffee lover because of it.
If you find the flat white starts getting a little dull, try the cortado for even more of a coffee kick (Image Credit: Hips Social)
A similar drink to the cortado is the macchiato. The macchiato, however, has far less milk in it and typically has such a small amount added to it (again to take that bitter edge off) that it’s hard to tell the difference between that and a double espresso at first glance. This led early Italian baristas adding a small dollop of white milk foam on top of the drink so their customers could identify which was a macchiato and which, an espresso, and that still happens to this day. Similarly to the cortado, the macchiato recipe isn’t written down in stone and may vary with more or less foam and more or less milk depending on where you ask for it.
The Coffee
We’re incredibly proud of our espresso here at Hips, in the Forest of Dean. It’s a key ingredient and really does make or break a good coffee, regardless of how you like it. Our house espresso is a phenomenal little number, roasted to perfection by our friends over at Studio Coffee Roasters.
This mix of Ethiopian and Brazilian coffee beans unites the fantastic flavors and characteristics of both African and South American coffee trees into the stunning espresso we use for all of our core drinks, including the cortado. Roasted to a medium profile, our House blend is bespoke to Hips, and provides our drinks with an incredibly well-rounded base. There’s enough bitterness to keep even the most hardened of dark roast lovers sated, yet enough character and acidity for those who prefer their coffee on the lighter side too.
Each and every cortado we make starts with our House blend and 18g of freshly ground coffee each and every time. This is then added to a group handle, where it’s carefully distributed, evenly tamped, and then locked into our espresso machine.
Getting a good tamp is critical. It needs to be equally distributed and with plenty of force (Image Credit: Hips Social)
Once locked into position, our espresso bar will then force hot water through the coffee puck at 92°C until we end up with roughly 36g of espresso on the other side. We typically aim to do this within 28-32 seconds per shot, including three seconds of pre-infusion (where the espresso machine will wet the puck to help draw out the flavors). Any less than 28 seconds and the espresso will be too acidic, and any longer than 32 and it will be too bitter, losing that well-balanced profile.
If caffeine just isn’t for you, however, at Hips, we also offer a decaf solution in the form of our Columbian roast, expertly picked and roasted to perfection by Studio Coffee Roasters.
The Milk
Like all of our milky drinks here at Hips, you can choose exactly which milk you’d like your cortado to be made with. We have a number of milks available, including skimmed, whole, coconut, and oat milk as standard. However, if you do order a Cortado and don’t specify, it’ll be made to spec with whole milk.
We use whole milk as the mixture of fats and proteins in it blends perfectly when steamed, creating a super silky sweet milk that compliments espresso extremely well and allows our baristas to decorate each drink with intricate latte art patterns as they pour it into the drink.
Similar to a latte or a flat white, the milk in a cortado has only a minor amount of foam on top of it. It’s a lot thinner by design; the milk (or “wet”) barista on shift will typically add less air to the milk during the steaming process to reduce the amount of foam you get during the heating process.
Once at around 67° C, or so, the barista will then stop steaming the milk and begin to pour it into the cup. Slowly incorporating the milk into the espresso, creating that signature creamy drink. This removes some of that bitterness as elements in the milk bind to the bitter particles in the coffee.
Custom Cortados
Although the cortado is an incredibly small drink, that doesn’t mean you can’t make it your own. There are plenty of ways to tweak this small beverage to add just an extra touch of spice to your daily coffee dose. Milk choice is a great place to start. Oat and coconut both alter the characteristics of the espresso, either adding that signature coconut taste or a hint of sweet creaminess from the oat.
Alternatively, if you really are craving something unique, try adding a half pump of hazelnut to your cortado to give it a slight nutty hint without going too overboard.
The Origins of the Cortado
The Cortado originated in Spain as a competitor to the flat white. Its name originates literally from the word “cortar,” meaning "cut,” or, in other words, “to cut” something with something else, or dilute it.
It's often confused with the picolo, a similar style of drink that leans more on the milky side of things. Blending a single shot of espresso with milk in a 1:1.5 ratio.