The Cafe au Lait, Step by Step
The most traditional way to make a café au lait is with a moka pot and milk heated in a soup pan on the stovetop. We’re going the espresso machine route for both convenience and a much better tasting beverage.
Time Needed: 5 minutes
Equipment Cost $ 440
Necessary Supplies
Fresh Roasted Coffee
Filtered Water
Whole Milk
Necessary Tools
Pump Driven Espresso Machine ($250 minimum, though a moka pot will also do)
Quality Burr Grinder ($150 minimum)
Ceramic or Porcelain bowl
Steaming pitcher (included with many machines)
Spoon (for stirring and holding back foam)
Cafè au Lait Steps
Prepare Everything Needed
The cafe au lait is served in a, ironically enough, “cafe au lait” style bowl, like the one in this photo. It’s a ceramic bowl with scalloped sides. You can get these almost anywhere, in sizes holding as little as 150ml, and as much as 500ml or larger. We’re using a 300ml bowl. No need to pre-heat, as this beverage is pretty hot. We also have our milk ready to go and a steam pitcher.
Prepare Portafilter
Because of the volume of our bowl (300ml), we’re going to be brewing a full double shot of espresso. With the Breville Barista Touch, we’re dosing 18g in the portafilter and preparing it just like any normal espresso shot pull.
Add Hot Water to Bowl
Add about 50ml of hot water to the bowl, or about the same volume that you’ll be brewing for espresso.
Brew the Double Shot
Brew your espresso right into the hot water, in your cafe au lait bowl. We’re aiming for 45-50ml brewed, giving us just under 100ml of liquid (including your hot water) in the bowl once the shot is done.
Stir the Brew
Once your shot is done, stir it up to thoroughly mix it with the hot water. Our goal is also to reduce the crema produced.
Steam the Milk
We’re steaming about 150-175ml of milk (using whole milk here), and trying to create as little froth as possible. With the Barista Touch, the entire steaming and frothing (or lack thereof) process is automated (and works quite well); if you’re manually steaming, make sure the steam wand is completely submerged from the get go.
Steam to 65C (150F)
Again, thanks to the robotic like brainiac the Barista Touch is, I set it to 65C, and no froth, and the machine took care of the rest. With a more traditional wand, if you don’t have a thermometer handy, steam until you can’t comfortably wrap your hand around the pitcher, then steam for a few seconds longer; that’s around 145-150F (62-65C). Or you could get the cool temperature indicator pitcher from Breville that we’re using.
Wipe the Wand
It’s always important to get into the good practice of wiping your steam wand immediately after use.
Pour Steamed Milk, using Spoon
Once your milk is up to temperature, pour about 125-150ml into your bowl, using a spoon to restrict any foam that may have been created; this drink is all hot milk and hot coffee, no foam added.
Serve and Enjoy!
This is a fantastic morning beverage, especially when paired with a traditional European breakfast of fresh fruits, some bread and cheese.
