After recently returing from Spain, I need help before i go crazy. After drinking 3 or 4 cafe con leche a day for three weeks. I need to find out how to make them properly. Regular coffee does not do it after my experience with cafe con leche. I brought back some spanish coffee, and am going to purchase an expresso/cappucino machine. So all I need now is the proper way to make. Thank you to those who help me, I will owe my life to you.

Ranman

Oh man,I hear ya. I went five years without one. I swear to GOD there is nothing better than a Spanish cafe con leche. I, on the other hand have not learned how to make them... which I should now that I think about it. where are you located? If nobody on the board has answers maybe there is a local restaurant that would be kind enough to show you (bribery works sometimes! or flattery)...

guys here is what you do. my family is from cuba, so i was raised with cafe con leche in my bottle! i make it at home all the time. this is what you do. It is not "spanish coffee" but it's cuban expresso you buy. It should be at any big market chain, it's a green can call "llave" you buy the little "cafetera" to make the expresso. a cafetera is a silver thing you put water and the expresso in and put it on the stove and it cooks from there. i don't know how to describe it i guess i need to put a picture up of a cafetera to show what i am talking about. then when the expresso is done warm the milk on the stove "use whole milk" and there you go! it is the closest cafe con leche i have ever had in spain, it's alomst identical. you can buy the cafeteras at latin food stores i think. If you can't find it or don't know what they hell i am talking about, i'll send you one, cause there is a store out here that sells the cafeteras. they are like 8.00 for the small ones i think i'll check. if you can't find the coffee i can send that too no big deal. i've been making this stuff all my life, that is the one thing that i MISS so much about my Tia being gone, is drnking cafe con leche with her all the time!! i actually have an original one she brought with her from cuba, and it still kicks butt!!

Hey, I actually have one of those at home. COOL! As for the milk, how do you steam that? Do you just boil it?

My method exactly! I use on of those stovetop espresso silver pots, fill the cups half to 2/3 coffee, the rest WARMED MILK: I fill a coffee cup with milk and pop it in the microwave on HIGh for about 75 seconds. PERFECT!!!!

what kind of coffee do you use? do you use the llave? that is the best or you can use Gavina. boiling the milk is the best, it gives it a much diferent flavor than in a microwave.

Missmadrid: boiling the milk gives it a funny flavor. I think the microwave is the same effect as heating it on the stove to an almost boiled state. They don't boil it in spain, just heat it so it doesn't get too much nasty NATILLA on it, yuck! I use cafe Goya. Probably a sacrilegio, but it is almost as good as the half torrefacto half tueste natural (whatever those things ever meant... what IS torrefacto!)

oh yeah i know they don't boil it in spain, that is just what i always do, that is what my tia always did. after i boil it, i pour it in the cup through a strainer to filter the film on top. it's just all a personal preference.

I am from Canada(Winnipeg to be exact). I appreciate the comments so far. I think i have seen those stovetop expresso makers here in some stores.But i do not know about that particular type of cuban coffee bean, if i could buy them here. How much expresso do you put in those things, and what type of milk is best. Thanks again

Ranman

I'm from Miami so I always use mi "cafetera" expresso. Cafe La Llave is good, but I also use Cafe Pilon or Bustelo very available here in Miami. There are different sizes of cafeteras, from 1 to 6-8 servings.
I also like milk boiled for my cafe con leche, but of course I always use a strainer to eliminate "la Nata" from the milk.
Ranman as far as how much coffee you put in, in depends on the size of the cafetera you have. Each cafetera has its own size of coffee holder so you can't go wrong!!!!!

the coffee i mentioned is already grounded, they are not beans. You fill the little cup inside the cafetera with the expresso, you fill it completely. (tip: put water in the bottom thing first, then put the expresso in the little cup thing.) The 2 brands of expresso i mentioned above may be found in any markets out here, as for Canada i am not sure. The 2 brands, Gavina and Llave are in cans, if they are not in cans, they are in airtight packages. Llave comes in a green can or package, and Gavina comes in a red,white and blue can or package. I use whole milk, for thickness and creamy flavor (that is a personal preference) ask me anymore questions if you still don't understand, i would be glad to help you acheive you cafe con leche!

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Spain Page!! Check it out! http://www.geocities.com/missmadrid98/homepage.html?957296168010

Thanks to all that have replied. I have found a few places that sell the cafetera's. After work today I am going to purchase one. The only type of cuban coffee bean i get can here in Winnipeg, Canada is called Altura. Has anybody heard of this. Also anyother brands would be helpful. I might have to order some through the mail. Hopefully this weekend I will be sipping a cafe con leche and dream of been in spain.


Ranman

One more question. What is the ratio of expresso to milk that you pour into your cup?

I order my coffee from www.tienda.com It is the real deal. It's probably a little more expensive, but cheaper than a flight to Madrid. They are also offering jamon serrano this month in small packages, so you don't have a whole ham hanging in your kitchen, although that might make it feel more like home....

ratio of milk to espresso is a matter of taste. I like mine about half to two-thirds coffee and the rest milk; a lot of people like it much more lechoso (milky). Start by filling your coffee cup with a third of coffee and SLOWLY add the milk and taste at each step until it tastes like SPAIN

I also order my coffee from www.tienda.com and it really is good. I tried everything to recreate cafe con leche - and it wasn't until I ordered the beans from tienda that it REALLY tasted like Espana. More than worth the little extra cost....

Well, I finally had my own homemade cafe con leche this week end. thank you MissMadrid! One of the cuban refugees I worked with before coming out here, gave me a cafetera as a going away present. I had not used it yet though. It was sooo good. It was really comforting somehow..

I will have to try the coffee from "tienda." Is there a specific type you guys buy that you like?

I just wish I could get the milk a little bit foamier. anybody know a trick for that?

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 10-16-2000).]

Don't they sell coffee machines over there in the US/Canada? I mean, you can buy a household version of the kind of thing they make the coffee with in the bars in Spain. You put the (freshly ground) coffee in a kind of round container (with a metal filter inside) with a handle on it, and this is kind of "screwed" into the machine. You press a button and hot water is forced through it. It also steams the milk. We have a Saeco we bought in the Corte Ingles. It the bull's [censored]!

One more thing - I discovered drinking coffee from a glass in Spain. It seems to be the norm in Andalucia (if not in Madrid, or the posher places). Seemed odd at first, but I'm converted. I think it tastes different. Now if it looks like they're going to give me a cup I ask for it en un vaso (I think if the camarero/a notices you're foreign the chances you'll get a cup go up). Anybody else prefer their cafe en un vaso?

If you don't have an espresso machine, or are at work, here's a reasonable copy:

Go to starbucks and get a double espresso;

pour the same amount or maybe a third more of milk (I prefer half and half) into your cup;

Microwave it for about 10 seconds.

Not perfect, but it works when you're gazing out of your office window and dreaming.....

YOu know, that's funny. That is the way they drink it in a lot of South American countries, served with an agua con gas (carbonated water) -maybe there is some connection with the conquistadores being from southern spain - could totally be a coincedence though. Normally I am not fond of carb. water, but something about the comination of that and the coffee just seems so right. I have to admit though, I prefer my coffee in porcelain. It could be my imagination, but the regular glass seems to let too much heat through, too hot for the hands..

ranman!!! just look at what you started - this thread goes on forever. who knew we'd all be so passionate about coffee

[This message has been edited by Nicole (edited 10-16-2000).]

Well just to let everyone know that i had know problem finding a cafeteria here in Winnipeg, Canada. And it actually works great. I had brought some coffee back with me from Spain and used that. And I must say that it was pretty good, the aroma and even the taste were not to far off from those ones in Spain. I think with practise I will get even better, its a matter of getting the right ratio of milk to expresso.Any other tips would still be apreciated. Thank you to all those who helped me.

Ranman

Try this. In one of those stovetop one-cup coffee-makers--instead of putting water in the lower section, use milk. The pot must be superclean. But this might work for you.
Cantabene