This Spanish espresso drink is made with equal parts coffee to milk. While the ingredients remain the same, the quantities for both espresso drinks vary to a large extent. To understand the difference between a cortado and a macchiato, you should take a look at how the two are made. Originating in Italy, macchiatos are an extremely popular early-morning beverage for most coffee drinkers. The small amount of milk takes the edge off the espresso without taking anything away from the flavour. Cortados are from Spain, and contain at least 50% of milk, sometimes even more to make a smoother and creamier drink.Ī macchiato, on the other hand is a single shot of espresso with a dash of foamed milk. A cortado on the other hand, is a double shot of espresso with an equal amount of steamed milk that is added to it.Ī cortado is a double shot of espresso with equal amounts of steamed milk. However, that's exactly where their similarities end.Ī macchiato is a shot of espresso with foamed milk that is added on top. How is a cortado different from a macchiato? A macchiato and a cortado are both small drinks that are made by combining espresso with milk. Both drinks should have the same amount of caffeine because they both should be made with one to two shots of espresso.Avid coffee drinkers have tirelessly argued about cortado vs macchiato which are two of the lesser known espresso drinks.A cortado tends to have a more calories than a macchiato simply because it has more milk.If that still doesn’t help you make a decision, and you’re curious about calories and caffeine, then you’ll find this interesting: A cortado is a slightly larger cup of coffee than a macchiato.A cortado has a sweeter taste due to the extra milk.A cortado has a smoother, creamier mouth feel since it has more milk.A macchiato tends to have a stronger, bolder coffee taste due it to having less milk.A macchiato is hotter than a cortado due it to having less milk.

To make your decision easier as to which small espresso drink is the best choice for your palatte, here’s the differences that you can use to determine which drink to order. This is also a small espresso drink and it is traditionally served in a small glass instead of a mug.ĭue to the higher milk content, the cortado has a sweeter taste than the macchiato. You see, unlike the foamy milk on the macchiato, the milk in the cortado is not foamy or frothy. And that milk is really the defining feature of this drink. The amount of milk that you get on top of your cortado is definitely more than you have on the macchiato. The name translates into English as cut, meaning that the espresso is cut with the steamed milk.Ī cortado is a single shot of espresso cut with an equal amount of steamed milk. This espresso drink hails from Spain, but it’s also popular in Portugal. Though you can easily find it in London coffee shops. It seems to be a more niche drink that hasn’t yet caught on everywhere. This isn’t a drink that you’ll find on the menus of most coffee shops.

Traditionally, the macchiato has a single shot of espresso, but some baristas serve it up as a double shot of espresso.Īs for serving this one, it will either some out a demitasse cup on a saucer with a spoon, or in a small, clear espresso glass.Ĭool fact: of all the espresso drinks with milk, the macchiato has the highest espresso to milk ratio. The purpose of that foamy milk dollop is to take the edge of that straight espresso shot, which is perfect for people like me who do not enjoy black coffee. So, there’s really not a lot of milk there for you to work with. The amount of foamed milk on top of this drink is usually around one to two tablespoons, and it’s actually put on the coffee with a spoon. And the name translates into English as marked, meaning that the espresso is marked with a wee bit of foamed milk.Ī macchiato is a single shot of espresso topped with a dollop of foamed milk. Don’t worry, in the macchiato vs espresso macchiato war there are no losers because this is the exact same drink – just two different, albeit similar, names.Īs you might expected, this espresso drink hails from Italy, as all good espresso drinks do. In some coffee shops, you may see this one referred to on the menu as an espresso macchiato.

Macchiato vs cortado