Café au lait

The French cup of coffee in the range of coffees: the café au lait. Coffee with milk. And yet this cup of coffee is slightly different from a latte or caffè latte. 

French coffee for breakfast

The café au lait is a cup of coffee with lots of hot milk. A real café au lait is made from filter coffee and consists of approximately 60% warm milk and 40% coffee. Originally, this was a French breakfast coffee. In France it is served for breakfast in a large bowl without ears with a piece of French bread or a croissant next to it. The bun is then dipped in the coffee. 

Café au lait or latte?

A coffee with a lot of milk may sound like a latte, and café au lait is often confused with that. Yet that is not the same. The latte consists of half coffee and the other half hot milk. A small difference, but the café au lait with a little more milk therefore tastes slightly creamier than a latte.

Other than the caffè latte

A caffè latte is also often confused with the café au lait. While these are also two different types of coffee. The caffè latte is made with espresso and also consists partly of milk foam. The brother of the cappuccino so to speak. But really very different from the café au lait, which does not contain any milk foam and which is not made with espresso either.

How to make your own café au lait

Making a good café au lait yourself is not very complicated. You start by making filter coffee and at the same time you heat the milk. Make sure that the milk does not boil and make sure you keep the correct proportions. For example, do you take 80 ml filter coffee? Then you need 120 ml of warm milk. Any other amount is also possible, as long as you keep the ratio 60:40; 60% warm milk on 40% filter coffee. First pour the coffee into a bowl or large cup and then pour the hot milk on top.

Vegan cafe

Do you like such a creamy type of coffee, but don't drink cow milk? No problem. A café au lait can also be made in a vegan variant. Instead of milk, take oat milk, soy milk or another milk substitute and heat it. Keep the same proportions and pour the milk substitute over the filter coffee. Et voilá, you made your own vegan cafe!

Whole or semi-skimmed milk?

You can make the café au lait with whole , semi - skimmed or skimmed milk. After all, no foam layer needs to be whipped, so which type of milk you choose does not matter that much. For a good foam layer, it helps if there are some more fats in the milk; it is more difficult to make a solid layer of milk foam from skimmed milk. But whether you heat skimmed milk or whole milk, it doesn't matter at a café au lait. You can only taste the difference in the creaminess of the coffee. So just choose what you like, it's all possible!

Coffee machines with café au lait 

Do you like a café au lait once in a while, but don't feel like making it yourself? Or do you like to alternate it with other tasty coffees? Then a coffee machine is a godsend! Most also have the café au lait as an option. From a small bean machine to a large espresso machine, we have different coffee machines for every work situation with a choice of several types of coffee. Are you curious which coffee machine is most suitable for you? And which types of coffee can you choose from? Check our coffee marketplace for more information. We are happy to tell you more about it.