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Espresso and milk drinks · built in front of you

Every drink is the
same two things
in different proportions.

Coffee and milk. That is the whole menu. What separates a cortado from a latte is not a secret recipe, it is how much milk, how much foam, and in what size cup. Pick a drink below and watch it built, layer by layer, with the dose, yield, volumes and temperatures a barista actually works to.

Select a drink

Espresso Steamed milk Foam Water

 

 

 

 

    The shot underneath all of it

    Get the espresso right
    and the rest is arithmetic.

    Every drink on this page starts with the same shot. If it is sour or bitter, no amount of milk will hide it.

    Dose

    18 to 20 g

    In a standard double basket, level and tamped flat. Weigh it; a scoop is not a measurement.

    Yield

    36 to 40 g

    Roughly twice the dose, a 1:2 ratio. Weigh the cup, not the volume, because crema lies about volume.

    Time

    25 to 30 s

    From pump on. Faster means grind finer, slower means coarser. Change one thing at a time.

    Water

    92 to 94 °C

    At about 9 bar. Hotter extracts harshness, cooler leaves it sour and thin.

    Sour, sharpUnder-extracted. The water ran through too fast. Grind finer, or raise the dose slightly.
    Bitter, dryingOver-extracted. The water took too long. Grind coarser, or pull a shorter yield.
    Thin, paleStale coffee or too coarse. Fresh beans, rested a week after roast, change everything.
    Sweet, balancedYou are there. Write the grind setting down before you forget it.
    Learn it properly on CMH Machines and grinders

    Milk, texture and heat

    Milk is sweetest
    just before you ruin it.

    Steaming is two separate jobs done in order: stretch air in while the milk is cold, then spin it smooth while it heats. Swap the order and you get bubbles instead of microfoam.

    Stage one

    Stretch, 4 to 37 °C

    Tip just under the surface so it hisses gently. Every second of air you add here decides the foam depth later. Cappuccino needs more, flat white almost none.

    Stage two

    Texture, 37 to 60 °C

    Sink the tip, set the milk spinning in a whirlpool. No more air. This is where big bubbles get broken into microfoam with the shine of wet paint.

    Serve

    60 to 65 °C

    Hot enough to stay hot in a cold cup, cool enough to drink and to still taste sweet.

    Never

    Past 70 °C

    Milk proteins denature and lactose stops tasting sweet. Scalded milk cannot be rescued, and it cannot be re-steamed.

    4 °CStart cold, straight from the fridge. Warm milk gives you less time to work.
    37 °CBlood heat. The pitcher still feels neutral in your hand. Stop adding air here.
    55 °CThe pitcher is hot to hold. Latte art pours best around here.
    60 to 65 °CTarget. Perceived sweetness peaks around this range.
    70 °C and upScalded. Flat, cooked, slightly eggy. Start again with fresh milk.

    Full-cream dairy foams most forgivingly because of its protein and fat. Oat barista blends are formulated to behave similarly; most other plant milks need a little less air and a slightly lower finishing temperature.