In Spain, coffee is serious business, but don’t expect giant mugs of filter coffee.
Here, espresso is the name of the game. They brew it strong, short, and fast, by blasting hot water through super-fine coffee grounds.
If you stroll into any café and mutter something about coffee, chances are you’ll end up with one of the local staples: café con leche or cortado. Both involve espresso and milk, but the difference lies in how much milk ends up in your cup. The Spanish don’t usually add sugar during brewing, you’ll get a sachet or two on the side.
Over the past ten years or so, Spain’s gotten really into its posh coffee. Fancy cafés have popped up all over the place, serving up single-origin beans, foam art, and enough coffee snobbery to rival a hipster barista in London.
A word of warning for the decaf crowd: it’s slim pickings. Most places will give you instant decaf, which comes as a little packet next to a cup of hot milk. Ask for a “café descafeinado de sobre” and that’s what you’ll get. Some cafés do have a proper machine-made version (called descafeinado de máquina).
Café solo is your straight-up espresso, tiny cup, big flavour. If that’s a bit too intense first thing in the morning, café americano is the watered-down version. Same kick, just stretched out with hot water.
Café cortado is for those who want a bit of milk but not too much. The name means “cut,” as in coffee cut with a splash of milk.
Café con hielo is coffee with ice. You will get a glass of hot espresso and a glass with ice cubes. Add sugar if you like, stir, then pour the coffee over the ice.
Then there’s carajillo, which skips the milk and goes straight to the strong stuff, alcohol. Espresso with a shot of rum, whisky, or brandy.
Prefer your coffee milky? Café con leche is half espresso, half milk. You might be asked if you want the milk hot, cold, or somewhere in between. If you’ve not got time to sit there blowing on your coffee forever, ask for cold or lukewarm milk – leche fría or leche templada.
Leche manchada (or just manchado) is basically warm milk with just a hint of coffee. The name literally means “stained milk,” which sounds a bit odd, but it’s ideal if you fancy the taste of coffee without the full caffeine hit.
Finally, for those who like their coffee more like dessert, there’s café bombón. This one’s a sweet treat: espresso mixed with thick, sugary condensed milk. Like coffee and pudding in one little glass.
