Spanish Latte: What Is It & How to Make This Latte at Home?

Are you wondering what a Spanish latte is or how to make one at home? That’s great! In this article, I will explain to you exactly what’s inside a Spanish latte, and, in the end, you will find an awesome recipe to make this latte at home!

A Spanish latte is also called a Café con Leche. It’s an espresso-based drink with scalded milk, which Spaniards usually enjoy with their breakfast. All you need to make it at home is water, espresso, and milk. You can use any milk you want, even dairy-free, although Spaniards usually use whole milk for this latte.

But that’s not all; below, you will learn exactly how to make the Spanish latte at home.

Plus, I got the iced version for you as well, in case it’s hot and you still want to enjoy a Spanish latte.

Let’s begin!

What is the Spanish latte, and how is it different than a normal latte?

A Spanish latte, or Café con Leche, is an espresso-based drink with normal milk and condensed milk. It’s slightly sweeter than a normal latte but not as sweet as a latte with flavored syrup.

The Spaniards usually enjoy the Spanish latte with breakfast. It differs from other lattes because it’s made by combining strong coffee (usually espresso) with scalded milk. Other forms of lattes usually use steamed or foamed milk.

Another thing that sets it apart from other lattes is that a Spanish latte is often sweeter than a normal latte by adding some sugar.

What do you need to make a Spanish latte at home?

Before we get started with the Spanish latte recipe, you will need to know what you will need to make this latte at home. I will go over everything below:

• Water. Yes, this might be the most obvious one, but one of the basics of a great-tasting espresso is having great-tasting water.
  
  Do you have tap water with a high concentration of minerals or just a strange taste in general? Then you can use filtered or bottled water for your espresso instead. You can click here to learn how to make the best water for your coffee.
  
  Or you can use something like Third Wave Water to make the process of creating awesome water even simpler.

• Espresso. The next thing you will need is an espresso machine or some way to create espresso, for example, with the Moka pot (a stove-top espresso maker). The best Spanish lattes are, of course, made with Spanish espresso!
  • Or coffee. If you currently don’t have access to espresso, then you can also use normal coffee. It’s best to use a high-quality, freshly and finely ground dark roast or some other type of coffee that gives a strong taste.

• Milk. The Spaniards usually tend to use whole milk for this latte, but you can also use 2% milk. If you want (or need), then you can even make it dairy-free.

To heat your milk. You will need something to heat the milk. Some examples are putting a cup of milk in the microwave, or you can heat it up on the stove. Another easy way to heat the milk is by using a coffee machine with a steam nozzle. Make sure only to scald your milk; don’t let it boil.

• Milk frother. Froth your milk with a frother to give it some texture. (You can learn here how)
  
  I am using a milk frother from my Nespresso machine, which does the job perfectly for this recipe. I frothed the milk for this recipe, which is optional.

If you want to save the recipe for later, check out the infographic below:

How to make an iced Spanish latte at home

After you saw that awesome Spanish latte recipe, you’re probably wondering if you can make an iced version of this as well, right?

Well, don’t worry. You can enjoy your Spanish latte even during the warm summer months!

You will use the same ingredients as the above recipe, but you will do these things differently to make it an iced version:

1. Place ice in your glass, and then pour coffee on top. Note: if you have a really cold glass, make sure you are not pouring the coffee straight into the glass, as it could shatter.
2. Then add the sugar (or condensed milk).
3. After that, simply top it off with milk.

Tip: For more information, you can check out the full recipe for an iced Spanish latte here. Or check out the cold brew Spanish latte version here!

What does the Spanish latte taste like?

The Spanish latte has a really creamy and sweet texture to it. The sweetness comes from the added sugar, so you can dial this down (or use more to your liking).

I made the Spanish latte for this recipe with frothed milk, as I like the texture better than just adding scalded milk. The flavors of the Spanish latte are almost the same as a regular latte, except for the higher doses of added milk.

A regular latte uses less milk for its recipe; the one-to-one ratio of the Spanish latte makes it a bit more accessible for most coffee drinkers out there.

Spanish Latte: Extra information

If you need a bit more information about the Spanish latte, like how many calories are inside or how much caffeine it contains, then don’t worry. I got you covered below:

How many calories does the Spanish latte have?

Normally, a Spanish latte with whole milk and no added sweetener is around 62 calories. The definite number of calories does depend on a few factors:

• Do you use any sweeteners?
• And what kind of milk do you use?

If you know these factors, then you can easily calculate how many calories your Spanish latte has. I have listed the most commonly used milk and milk alternatives in the calorie table below:

Milk or milk alternative used:	Amount of calories:
Whole milk	62 calories
2% fat milk	51 calories
Nonfat milk	38 calories
Oat milk	33 calories
Coconut milk	20 calories
Almond milk	25 calories
Soy milk	46 calories

If you want to add some condensed milk or sugar to your coffee, the number of calories will change:

• Adding one tablespoon (15 ml) of condensed milk will add 62 calories.
• Adding one tablespoon (13 grams) of sugar will add 48 calories to your coffee.

You can easily add this to the number of calories listed in the table above. You now have all the information so that you can enjoy this amazing coffee.

How much caffeine does the Spanish latte have?

You now know that a Spanish latte contains one or two espresso shots. Now you can easily calculate the caffeine inside your Spanish latte.

One ounce (around 30ml) of espresso contains around 63mg of caffeine per shot. (Source)

So now it depends on how many shots of espresso you put into your latte:

• A Spanish latte with one espresso shot: 63mg of caffeine.
• A Spanish latte with two espresso shots: 126mg of caffeine.

Spanish latte FAQs

Do you still have a question about this delicious drink? Check out the FAQs below for more general information:

Conclusion

You probably already knew that the Spanish latte is drunk by Spaniards, but did you also know that they enjoy it with their breakfast?

I hope you see now that you can easily make a Spanish latte at home. It’s a delicious way to start the day!

If you want to try out even more coffee recipes, you can check them out below. Also, let me know if you’re going to try the Spanish latte. And if you do, then enjoy!

More coffee recipes to try

• Café Con Miel Recipe: Make Spanish Coffee With Honey at Home
• White Chocolate Mocha Recipe: A Homemade Chocolate Delight
• Proffee: What Is It and How to Make This Protein Coffee?