Drink This Now: Little Big Shot

Photograph by Chelsea Kyle

While we enjoy the richness of a latte, 12 ounces of whole milk tends to weigh us down halfway in. Which is why we’re enjoying the espresso drink of the moment: the 4-ounce cortado. Popular in Spanish-speaking countries, the cortado (which means “cut”) manages to achieve its bigger cousin’s creamy-roasty balance while offering the same espresso dosage in three swift gulps. But the drink has more than just size in its favor—it also has science. Served at around 120 degrees, the cortado is noticeably cooler than a latte or cappuccino, which enhances the natural sugars in milk. “The sweetness counterbalances the espresso very well,” says Christopher Stetson Wilson, coffee manager of J.P.’s Caffè Aromi. “I rarely have someone who gets a cortado and isn’t super-happy that they got it.”