Cortado Recipe: Make a Small, Measured Espresso and Milk Drink

Make one small, measured cortado

Start with 40 mL of espresso or capsule coffee and add 20 mL of warm milk. Spoon a little soft milk foam on top if you want it. This is Nespresso's published cortado method, used here as a clear starting recipe. It makes a small coffee-forward drink.

Your machine and cup can change the result, so measure what reaches the cup and adjust the milk on your next try.

The word cortado does not guarantee one fixed serving everywhere. Starbucks at Home publishes a different version with 2 espresso shots and 80 mL of milk before frothing. That gives you another way to make the drink.

It does not give the finished volume of those shots, so its “equal parts” description cannot supply an exact espresso-to-milk calculation. Pick one published method, write it down, and let the cup tell you what to change.

The measured cup you can make today

Nespresso's recipe is the practical resource for this cup. It specifies a 40 mL coffee extraction, 20 mL of hot milk added to the cup, and 2 spoonfuls of milk foam. Its ingredient list names 100 mL of cold milk as input to a frother. That input amount is more than the 20 mL poured into the drink; do not treat it as the finished milk serving.

Use your device's safe minimum fill level, then measure the amount you actually add. The recipe names a capsule, so a different espresso setup may produce a different flavor even when the drink volumes match.

Record for one cup	Nespresso source example	What to check at home
Coffee in the cup	40 mL extraction	Measure the poured coffee; do not infer it from cup size
Warm milk added	20 mL	Measure what enters the cup after heating or frothing
Foam	2 spoonfuls	Add soft foam only if you want its texture
Cold milk placed in frother	100 mL in the source recipe	Follow your frother's minimum and maximum fill marks

This table separates the milk you prepare from the milk you serve. That distinction matters in a small drink. If you pour all 100 mL into the 40 mL coffee, you have made a much milkier cup than the published Nespresso example.

If your frother needs more input milk than the cup uses, follow the device and food-label instructions for any remainder. Do not return steamed milk to its carton.

Use a small heat-safe cup with room for the liquid and foam. A 60 mL liquid base already reaches the rim of a 60 mL cup, so choose a larger cup. The calculation leaves foam volume unknown.

A clear measuring cup or marked shot glass can help you portion the milk before you pour. For a cup you make often, write “40 mL coffee, 20 mL warm milk” on a note. You can change the note after tasting, without needing a new drink name.

Pull the coffee and warm the milk

First prepare the 40 mL coffee base using your machine's instructions. Nespresso's method calls for a 40 mL capsule extraction. If you use a machine with a handled coffee basket, follow its basket, dose, and operating instructions. Measure the coffee that lands in the cup.

Our espresso ratio calculator helps when you work by dose and beverage weight, but its gram-based ratio does not automatically turn into 40 mL. The foam on top of espresso and the coffee's density make a volume mark and a scale reading different measures.

Pull the coffee into the serving cup, then warm the milk in the equipment you have. For the Nespresso example, its frother heats and foams the milk before you add 20 mL of warm liquid milk and spoon foam on top. Starbucks at Home offers another preparation route: use a frother, or heat the milk and whisk gently until small bubbles form.

Keep the milk vessel within its marked fill range. Hot milk, steam, and the wand can burn you. Follow the actual machine or frother manual for setup, shutdown, cleaning, and cooling; these sources do not establish a safe control sequence for every model.

Pour the measured warm milk into the coffee. Then add a little of the foam if you want the Nespresso finish. Stir or sip once before changing anything. A thick, dry cap is not necessary for the small drink that this method describes.

Milk texture changes how the first sip feels, while the measured liquid milk changes how much it softens the espresso. Keep those two choices separate on your next cup.

If you have no frother, warm milk gently in a suitable pan and use the Starbucks whisk method. Do not leave the pan unattended or pour from it while it is boiling. Measure 20 mL for the Nespresso-size version after heating.

The texture may differ from steamed milk, but you still have a complete measured procedure. Wash the pan and utensils according to their instructions after use.

When the first cup needs a change

Taste the drink before you move the coffee recipe. If the espresso flavor feels too exposed, keep the same 40 mL coffee and add a little more warm milk next time. Record the amount that reaches the cup.

If the coffee disappears under the milk, return toward 20 mL or use less than the amount you tried. Adjust the milk for your preference. The measurement tells you which change produced the next cup.

If the coffee itself tastes sharp or bitter even before milk, address the espresso base. How to dial in espresso explains how to keep dose and yield steady while you change one brewing variable. Extra milk may soften a flavor, but it will not tell you which brewing change helped. Taste a little of the plain shot when it is safe to drink, then decide whether to adjust the coffee or the milk.

One moving part at a time is enough for this small cup.

Foam offers a second small experiment. Make the same coffee and liquid-milk amounts twice. Add the source's 2 spoonfuls of foam to one cup and use little or none in the other. Notice the texture of the first sip.

The source gives a method; we have not prepared or tasted either cup for this article. Your own comparison is the evidence for your preference.

The size of the cup can fool you. A wide cup can make a 60 mL base look sparse; a narrow glass can make the same drink look full. Neither changes the recipe.

Measure the liquid once, then choose a cup that is comfortable to hold and leaves room at the top. Our guide to espresso shot ounces explains why the word “shot” does not give one fixed volume across machines and cafés.

Why another cortado recipe may look different

The published examples answer the same drink name with different preparations. Nespresso's small cup uses a specified 40 mL coffee extraction and 20 mL of warm milk added, plus foam. Starbucks at Home uses 2 shots and starts with 80 mL of milk to froth, then pours it into a small glass. Its page does not report a final milk pour amount.

You can make either version, but the input and final serving numbers must stay with their own recipe. Do not combine “2 shots” from one with “20 mL” from the other and call it a sourced formula.

Milk also changes the drink's look. Nespresso's two spoonfuls of milk foam and Starbucks' velvety froth can both sit over a short coffee. Foam can expand during heating, so a cold input volume is not the same as a final liquid pour.

If you want to compare the drinks fairly at home, measure what goes into the serving cup. Write down the coffee volume, the liquid-milk volume, and whether you added foam. The note is more useful than arguing over a name while your coffee cools.

When you order a cortado, ask the café how many shots it uses and about how much milk it adds. That is the quickest way to learn what will arrive. For a choice between two named drinks, cortado versus cappuccino covers how milk and foam change the order. This recipe stays with preparation: one measured cup, then one adjustment you can make after tasting.

Limits of the recipe

Milk is an allergen in the Nespresso source recipe. Check the ingredients and the device guidance if you use another milk. Different dairy and plant drinks can heat and foam differently.

No source here establishes that any substitute will match the photographed drink or the same texture. If you need an exact allergen or nutrition answer, use the label for the product you put in your cup.

We checked the Nespresso cortado recipe and Starbucks at Home cortado recipe on September 24, 2026. We did not test, own, taste, or measure these drinks. The table is a source-labeled example, and the adjustments are instructions for your own comparison.

Start with the 40 mL and 20 mL cup if you want a small measured drink. Keep a note of what you poured, then change the milk amount only if the taste calls for it.