Milk coffee

Key takeaways

Milk coffee belongs to science; place it in that map before memorising details.
Learn the definition first, then one example that makes the definition concrete.
Connect Milk coffee to a quantity you can measure, compute or draw — that is where exam questions come from.
Reproduce the core statement of Milk coffee from memory before moving on to harder problems.

Reference excerpt

Milk coffee is a category of coffee-based drinks made with milk. Johan Nieuhof, the Dutch ambassador to China, is credited as the first person to drink coffee with milk when he experimented with it around 1660.

Varieties

Breve Breve (BREH-vay) is an espresso made with a steamed mixture of half milk and half cream (i.e., half and half). Its size can vary. The name relates to the use of cream and milk.

Café au lait

Café au lait is the French way of preparing 'coffee with milk' both at home and in cafés in Europe. Café au lait stems from the same continental tradition as caffè latte in Italy, café con leche in Spain, kawa biała ('white coffee') in Poland, tejeskávé in Hungary, Milchkaffee in Germany, and Wiener Melange in Austria.

Café bombón Café bombón was made popular in Valencia, Spain, and spread gradually to the rest of the country. It might have been re-created and modified to suit European tastebuds as in many parts of Asia such as Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam and Singapore. The same recipe for coffee which is called Kopi Susu Panas (Malaysia), or Gafeh Rorn [lit: hot coffee] (Thailand) has already been around for decades and is very popular in mamak stalls and kopitiams in Malaysia. The iced version is known as cà phê đá in Vietnam. A café bombón, however, uses espresso served with sweetened condensed milk in a 1:1 ratio whereas the Asian version uses ground coffee and sweetened condensed milk at different ratios. On the Canary Islands a variety named café proprio or largo condensada is served using the same amount of condensed milk but with "café largo" or espresso lungo. For café bombón, the condensed milk is added to the espresso. For visual effect, a glass is used, and the condensed milk is added slowly to sink underneath the coffee and create two separate bands of contrasting colour – though these layers are customarily stirred together before consumption. Some establishments merely serve an espresso with a sachet of condensed milk for patrons to make themselves.

Cafe hafuch Cafe hafuch is a popular drink in Israel. Steamed milk is first added to the cup, then espresso is carefully added to give a layered appearance. Milk foam is sometimes spooned on to the top to finish. 'Upside down' refers to this method of adding the ingredients, as in most milk-and-coffee drinks, the coffee is first in the cup, and the milk goes in second.

Egg coffee Egg coffee is a Vietnamese drink which is traditionally prepared with egg yolks, sugar, condensed milk and Robusta coffee in the Central Highlands of Vietnam, where 70% of global Robusta coffee is cultivated.

Flat white

Flat white is an espresso with a similar proportion of coffee to milk as a latte and a cappuccino, the main difference being the texture of the milk and (in some regions) the number of espresso shots. It became popular in New Zealand in the late 1980s and has since spread to the UK, where it was first served at independent cafes in London such as Department of Coffee and Social Affairs and Speak Easy where owners and staff from Australia and New Zealand brought the style of coffee into the UK before being adopted by chains Costa Coffee and Starbucks. Available in the form of a 12 oz. double latte from Starbucks in the US since January 6, 2015, it is rarely found in continental Europe.

Galão Galão is a hot drink from Portugal made with espresso and foamed milk. Similar to caffè latte or café au lait, it comes in a tall glass with plenty of milk. With only half milk, it is known as meia de leite. In Madeira, a large, milky coffee is known as a chinesa (lit. 'Chinese lady').

Kopi susu

Kopi susu ('milk coffee') is found in (at least) Brunei, Indonesia, and is very similar to the Vietnamese cà phê sữa nóng. Served in a glass, kopi susu is made by mixing black coffee (Arabica) with about a quarter to half a glass of sweetened condensed milk, which is then let stand to cool and allow the grounds to sink to the bottom. Another version of kopi susu uses fresh milk. In Indonesia, milk coffee with ice and palm sugar is called es kopi susu gula aren.

Latte Latte is an espresso and steamed milk, generally in a 1:3 to 1:5 ratio of espresso to milk, with a little foam on top.

Caffè macchiato Caffè macchiato is an espresso with a dash of foamed milk. At first sight it resembles a small cappuccino, but even if the ingredients are the same as those used for cappuccino, a macchiato has a much stronger and aromatic taste. The milk is foamed directly into the espresso cup, which is then put under the coffee outlet. The espresso is then drawn into the cup. Cocoa is sometimes sprinkled over the drink.

Wiener melange

Wiener Melange is a coffee drink similar to a cappuccino. The difference is sometimes assumed to be that the Melange is made with milder coffee; however, the Viennese coffee company Julius Meinl describes a Wiener Melange as "One small espresso served in a large cup of coffee. Steam milk and add milk foam to coffee (=small milk coffee)". At Cafe Sperl in Vienna, the Melange is 1/2 cup "black coffee" and 1/2 cup creamy milk, completed by milk foam.

Wiener coffee Wiener coffee (not to be confused with "Vienna roast" coffee), also known as Vienna coffee, is coffee or espresso topped with whipped cream. Milk is sometimes poured into the coffee/espresso before adding the whipped cream. Vanilla, chocolate or cinnamon is sometimes sprinkled on the cream. Melange mit schlag (or schlagobers) is the Austrian term for coffee with whipped cream. Austria has a number of coffees with whipped cream.

Coffee regular A "regular coffee" or "coffee regular" is a popular drink in New England. In much of New England, a "regular coffee" refers to coffee with cream and sugar. The most common amount usually includes three creams and three sugars. A "coffee regular" can be had either hot or as iced coffee.

See also Media related to Coffee with milk at Wikimedia Commons

List of coffee beverages

References

Illustrations

Worked examples

Example 1 — a first encounter with Milk coffee

Start with the simplest possible case. Write down what Milk coffee claims or describes in one sentence, then invent the smallest concrete situation in which that sentence is true. In science, the smallest case is usually a single object, a single equation or a single measurement. Check that every symbol or term in your sentence has a meaning in that case.

Example 2 — changing one variable

Take the situation from Example 1 and change exactly one quantity: double it, halve it, or set it to zero. Predict what should happen to Milk coffee before you calculate. Comparing your prediction with the result is the fastest way to find out whether you understand the idea or only the words.

Example 3 — an exam-style question

Typical questions about Milk coffee ask you to (a) state it precisely, (b) apply it to given data, and (c) explain a limitation. Practise writing all three answers in under five minutes; the third part is what separates a full-mark answer from an average one.

Applications of Milk coffee

In research: Milk coffee appears in science research whenever the underlying quantities have to be modelled precisely. Papers usually cite it as a starting assumption and then explore where it breaks down.
In technology and industry: Engineering practice reuses Milk coffee in design rules, simulations and safety margins. Knowing the idea lets you read a specification sheet and understand why the numbers look the way they do.
In the classroom: Milk coffee is common in secondary-school and first-year university syllabi. It links to neighbouring topics Coffee drinks, Milk-based drinks, so understanding it makes those chapters shorter.
In everyday life: Look for Milk coffee outside the textbook — in sport, cooking, traffic, electronics or the sky above you. An example you found yourself is remembered far longer than one you were given.

How to study Milk coffee in 20 minutes

Read the reference excerpt below once, without taking notes.
Close the page and write down what Milk coffee means in your own words.
Compare your version with the excerpt and mark what you missed.
Work through the three examples above with pen and paper.
Explain Milk coffee out loud to somebody else — or to Teacher Smith in the lgStudy chat.

Frequently asked questions

What is Milk coffee in simple terms?

Milk coffee is a category of coffee-based drinks made with milk. Johan Nieuhof, the Dutch ambassador to China, is credited as the first person to drink coffee with milk when he experimented with it around 1660.

Why does Milk coffee matter?

Because it connects several science ideas at once: it gives you a definition you can apply, a quantity you can calculate, and a way to check whether a result is plausible.

How should I study Milk coffee?

Read the excerpt, restate it from memory, then work through the examples and applications listed on this page. The five-step study plan above takes about twenty minutes.

What does this page cover?

It gives you a compact reference excerpt plus original lgStudy explanations, examples, applications and study material on Milk coffee.