Originally Posted by
datlas
Yup, although in Spain I like "cafe con leche" which is half espresso and half milk. Is that what 'mericans call a latte?
I don’t think the original coffee and milk mixtures in Europe were made with espresso except in Italy. A latte isn’t half and half, because the espresso is too strong to use that much of it. It is like 80 milk and 20 espresso or even more skewed. And cappuccinos and lattes are very weak, very milky. I doubt the Spanish version is 50/50 if they use espresso. That would be hellishly strong for a coffee with milk. The French cafe au lait and Austrian halb und halb used to be made with strong drip coffee which you could use at 50%. That drip coffee was nothing like espresso. But nowadays all the real national coffee drinks have been replaced with espresso-based drinks like in Italy. I remember being surprised to hear the espresso machine working 15 or more years ago when I ordered a cafe au lait in Paris. Funnily the one place you still get a 50/50 cafe au lait made with drip coffee is New Orleans. That is one place where things just never change.