What You’ll Need:

Fresh beans, your milk of choice, milk pitcher, dry and wet cloth, 4oz cup.

Step 1: Make Your Perfect Espresso

Refer to our “Perfect Espresso” page to prepare for your cortado! You will be steaming the same amount of milk your espresso shot is pulling. If your shot is pulling around 2 ounces, match that with the amount of milk for your next step.

Step 2: Pour 4oz of Milk

Take your milk pitcher and pour cold milk up to the 4oz line (shown inside pitcher). You're going to steam this milk like you would a latté. You will have more milk in your pitcher than you will pour into your cup. This is to ensure you froth your milk to its fullest potential.

Step 3: Steam Milk

Press the steam preheat button in standby. When the steam light is solid, submerge the wand in your milk pitcher to the line shown on your wand. Then bring the wand to the top of your milk to aerate the milk and prevent it from “screaming.”  Micro foam is the goal. Less air, less foam. Cortados are smaller drinks and are meant for drinking quickly. This means you will stop steaming before the pitcher gets too hot to touch. Steam until milk gives a velvety shine. Return the steam knob back to standby before removing the wand from the milk.

Step 4: Clean and Purge Steam Wand

(Caution: Hot) Take your damp cloth and wipe your steam wand immediately after steaming milk. Purging the wand helps release excess milk in the wand. Activating the steam feature for only a quick moment after you have wiped it clean. Make this a strong habit as this is what preserves your machine for years of coffee to come.

Step 5: Pour 2oz of Milk into 2oz of Espresso

Pour equal amounts of micro foam and espresso into a 4 oz glass. TIP: Cortados shouldn't have macro foam. Latté art is possible with the type of foam you're aiming for here! This drink takes practice but is a classic favorite when done right!