- Coffee
- 18 g
Espresso sweetened with condensed milk, milk infused with a cinnamon stick and a light foam dusted with cinnamon. A cold-afternoon coffee in a glass mug.
By Equipo Cocinoa
What you need
Tap each piece to see its catalogue entry.
- EssentialEspresso coffee makerWater to 9 bars of pressure through fine and pressed coffee. Here are the machine types, from the lever to the double boiler.€150–3500approx.View on Amazon
- RecommendedEspresso grinderElectric grinder with very fine adjustment, designed for espresso. It matters more than the machine itself.€150–700approx.View on Amazon
- RecommendedCazoThe oldest and most simple method: coffee and water in a bowl, rest and decantation. It serves for the puchero coffee, the cowboy coffee and even the Turkish.€10–30approx.View on Amazon
- OptionalMilk spumerMilk spuma without espresso machine: with a hand-to-battery mixer or an electric pitcher that heats and beats at the same time.€10–100approx.View on Amazon
- OptionalThermometerTo know what temperature the water, milk or grain are at. Useful if your kettle does not regulate and almost compulsory to toast.€8–30approx.View on Amazon
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No Espresso coffee maker? This works too
- Italian coffee maker (moka)€20–60The life-long stove coffee maker: the steam pushes the water through the coffee. Intense, with body and very cheap.
- Portable espresso€130–350Hand and compact equipment, type Picopresso or Flair, that reach the pressure of the espresso without electricity. To travel or to begin.
- AeroPress€35–55A plastic cylinder with plunger: immersion and a soft pressure. Versatile, resistant and almost unbreakable. Ideal for travel.
Method
Put 200 ml of milk in a saucepan with one cinnamon stick, and the clove if using, and warm it over a low heat until it steams, without letting it boil.
5 min
Turn off the heat, cover and leave to infuse for 5–10 minutes: the longer, the more cinnamon flavour.
8 min
Put the condensed milk in a glass mug of about 300 ml.
Make a 36–40 ml double espresso (see the ‘Espresso’ recipe) straight onto the condensed milk and stir until it dissolves.
Remove the cinnamon and clove, reheat the milk to 60–65 °C and froth it lightly, just enough for a thin layer of foam.
Pour the milk over the coffee, top with the foam, dust with ground cinnamon and stand the other cinnamon stick in the mug.
Tips and warnings
It doesn't belong to any one country: it is a homely cold-afternoon coffee that brings together two widespread habits, sweetening with condensed milk, as in the ‘Café bombón’, and spicing with cinnamon, as in the ‘Café de olla’.
- Condensed milk is already very sweet: taste before adding any sugar.
- Infuse cinnamon sticks, not ground cinnamon: the powder doesn't dissolve and leaves the milk gritty. Save it for dusting on top.
- Ceylon cinnamon is milder and more floral; cassia is stronger, so shorten the infusion if you use it.
- If the milk boils, a skin forms on top and it is harder to froth.
- No machine? A short coffee from a moka pot works very well.
One last thing
Cinnamon, condensed milk and a mug that warms your hands. If it has comforted you, wrap Cocinoa up warm with a ko‑fi too.