With my love for coffee, I have become very familiar with this drink while in Barcelona. The cafe con leche has been my best friend during the rough hours of studying. Cafe con leche essentially translates to coffee with milk. But it’s not simply milk poured into the coffee. The milk is steamed and then infused in the coffee, which creates the nice white foam on the top of the drink. My waiter thought he was really creative when he put a duck design on my drink (See the top picture, can you spot the duck?). If you want to learn how to make the cafe con leche, or even just the cool designs on the top, there are millions of how-to tutorials online.
If you’re not a huge fan of the actual taste of coffee, I don’t really recommend this drink for you. It can be pretty bitter, even after you add sugar. The milk adds more of a creamy consistency to the coffee, which is why I really enjoy it. I also got my mom hooked on it when she came to visit Spain. She started to make her own at our rental with an old french press, which turned out pretty well. After she went home she even ended up buying her own french press for the house. Anyways, the cafe con leche is one of the typical coffee drinks in Spain, along with the simple shot of espresso, which I can barely drink. You can step into any café or restaurant and order either one, but I’ll stick with the cafe con leche. If you want something to pair the coffee with, scones are pretty common, but my favorite is a chocolate frosted donut. The sweetness (in my opinion) pairs well with the creamy bitterness of the coffee.
If you’re ever wondering what I’m doing with my day, you can probably guarantee it’s something to do with coffee, whether it’s sitting down to enjoy one in a local café or taking it para llevar (to go). Hopefully the cafe con leche my mom claims to be making at home is just as good as it is here in Spain.
Passports and Coffee 