There’s coffee, and then there’s café con leche! And every morning when I order my cup of liquid gold, I thank the coffee Gods that I live in Spain where every single order of ‘café con leche’ returns a wonderfully brewed masterpiece.
There’s a funny anecdote to this coffe story. You see, my parents have travelled abroad since they were in their early twenties. And being from Norway, travelling abroad inevitably means searching for the sun (more about this weird way of travel in this post).
However, they never left home without a glass of instant Nescafé. They simply didn’t trust the gun powdery Greek espresso shots, or the jet black Spanish café solos. Instead they put their trust in Max Morgenthaler who once upon a time created that granulated version of coffee which deprived my parents of the real thing for so many years.
Thankfully, now things have changed. Well into their sixties, my parents have now discovered the beauty of café con leche. In fact, they are now hooked on the stuff. You should see them… as soon as they land in Malaga, they’re off to the nearest cafeteria to get their fix. And every morning they order one, two and sometimes even three cups of coffee at their local caf. That’s what fourty years of drinking Nescafé can do to you!
Yet, there’s one barrier left. This summer I will introduce them to ‘café con leche con hielo‘. (Introducing them to it in this case means teaching them how to pronounce it – we live in an area of Spain where waiters still speak Spanish, not English).
As you can see in the photograph above, iced coffee in Spain comes in its purest – and TASTIEST form. You get two glasses, one with piping hot café con leche and one full of ice cubes.
The procedure goes like this:
Add desired amount of sugar/sweetener to your coffee
Stir
Pour coffee content over the ice
Stir
ENJOY!
