Spanish coffee orders have short names and small portions, so it helps to know what you are asking for. This guide covers the standard orders, the regional ones, and a few phrases that make ordering easier.
The basic orders
- Café solo: a short black coffee made on an espresso machine. Ask for a doble if you want two shots.
- Cortado: a solo 'cut' (cortado) with a small amount of steamed milk, usually served in a small glass.
- Café con leche: coffee with a much larger share of hot milk, served in a cup or a glass. This is the standard breakfast coffee.
- Leche manchada: 'stained milk', a glass of hot milk with only a splash of coffee.
- Café americano: a solo lengthened with hot water.
If you only remember one word, make it cortado. It sits between the solo and the con leche.
Coffee with something extra
A carajillo is coffee with a shot of spirit added. Brandy, rum and anise-flavoured spirits are common choices, and some bars let you pick. It is an after-meal drink rather than a breakfast one.
A café bombón is a solo poured over sweetened condensed milk, usually in a small glass so you can see the two layers. You stir it before drinking. It is associated with the Valencia region.
For iced coffee, ask for a café con hielo. You get a hot coffee and a separate glass of ice, add sugar to the hot coffee if you want it, then pour it over the ice yourself. In Valencia the café del tiempo is a similar idea, usually served with a piece of lemon.
Torrefacto and the Spanish blend
Torrefacto is coffee roasted with added sugar, which coats the beans and makes the brew darker and more bitter. It is widely sold in Spain, often in a mezcla (blend) with conventionally roasted natural beans. If a Spanish coffee tastes darker than you expected, the blend may be the reason.
Useful phrases for ordering
- Con leche fría / templada / caliente: with cold, warm or hot milk.
- Descafeinado de máquina: decaf made on the machine. The alternative, de sobre, is instant decaf from a sachet stirred into hot milk.
- En vaso / en taza: in a glass or in a cup.
- Leche de avena / de soja: oat or soy milk, if the bar stocks it.
Where to try it
These listings mention coffee in their own descriptions:
- Casa Diego (Phnom Penh): a tapas bar whose listing includes coffee alongside Spanish wines, beers and cocktails, and which lists opening at 08:00 every day.
- Madrid 1995 (Shanghai, Qiantan Park Lane): its listing describes morning meetings over coffee and churros.
- CalaMillor Gourmet Experience (Miami): a Spanish artisan bakery and coffee shop with pastries made on the premises. Its listing names Alberto García, third generation of a family of Spanish bakers.
- PanWat (Bangkok, Song Wat): an alcohol-free café serving pan tumaca, Spanish cheesecake and coffee, so skip the carajillo here.
