A café au lait is brewed coffee (drip or pour-over coffee) mixed with hot milk in a 1:1 ratio. This drink traces its origins back to 17th-century France, and it’s a more traditional cousin of the latte, made with drip coffee instead of espresso and served with a different ratio of milk.
Key Takeaways
- Café au lait uses brewed coffee instead of espresso, which gives it a smoother coffee flavor than drinks like lattes, cappuccinos, or flat whites.
- The traditional café au lait is prepared from equal parts hot coffee and hot milk with little to no foam.
- New Orleans café au lait uses chicory-blended coffee and scalded milk, and has earthier and slightly nutty flavor.
- Around the world, café au lait appears under different names like café con leche, caffè latte, milchkaffee, and café com leite, each with small local variations.
How to Pronounce “Café au Lait”?
Café au lait is pronounced kaf-ay oh LAY, with light emphasis on the last syllable. The full pronunciation in IPA is /ˌkæfeɪ oʊ ˈleɪ/.
A simple way to remember it is:
- “coffee + oh + lay”
So the full phrase sounds like:
- “kah-FAY oh LAY”
The accent in “café” is usually silent in everyday English pronunciation, so most people naturally say it without trying to sound overly French. And if your pronunciation is slightly off, nobody at a coffee shop is going to judge you for it.
What’s in a Café au Lait?
A café au lait is a mix of brewed coffee and hot milk. The coffee is usually made with drip coffee, French press, or pour-over coffee. It’s a drink that sits between plain black coffee and a classic latte, which is made with espresso.
Traditionally, café au lait is made with whole milk. But unlike a latte, the milk is not heavily frothed, so you don’t get that thick layer of foam on top. It’s simply hot milk. While traditional café au lait recipes use whole milk, you can also use non-fat milk, half-and-half, or milk alternatives like oat, almond, macadamia, or coconut milk
The traditional café au lait ratio is 1:1. In a standard 12-ounce cup, that means 6 ounces of coffee and 6 ounces of hot milk. When it comes to café au lait caffeine, a 12-ounce café au lait usually contains between 56 and 123 mg of caffeine, depending on how strong the coffee is brewed.
Traditional French café au lait is usually served without sugar, but many coffee shops in America offer sweetened versions or flavored syrups that you can add to customize the taste.
Where Café au Lait Comes From?
Café au lait originates from 17th-century France, when coffee culture exploded in Paris and locals began mixing the brew with hot milk at breakfast.
One of the earliest written references comes from the letters of Marie de Sévigné, a French aristocrat who mentioned drinking coffee mixed with milk during the late 1600s.
Over time, café au lait became part of the traditional French breakfast. It was often served in a wide bowl instead of a mug, which makes sense since it is easier to dip croissants, brioche, or pieces of baguette into the coffee.
As French culture spread overseas, café au lait traveled with it. The drink became especially popular in former French colonies, including New Orleans, where it later developed its own local identity.
The New Orleans Café au Lait
In New Orleans, a café au lait is made with coffee blended with chicory and scalded milk, a tradition that traces back to the Civil War, when Union blockades cut off the city’s coffee supply. To stretch limited coffee reserves, locals began mixing roasted chicory root into their brew, and the flavor eventually became part of the city’s coffee identity.
When it comes to the flavor difference, chicory gives the coffee an earthier flavor. It tastes slightly bitter, roasty, and a little nutty, with a fuller body than regular drip coffee.
Two of the most famous places to try it are Café du Monde and Morning Call, both known for serving café au lait alongside hot beignets covered in powdered sugar.
Traditional New Orleans café au lait is made with scalded milk, which is heated on the stove just below boiling. Modern coffee shops sometimes use steamed milk from an espresso wand, but the older stovetop method gives the drink a richer texture.
Café au Lait vs. Latte
The main difference between café au lait and latte is the type of coffee used. Latte is made with espresso, while café au lait uses brewed coffee.
For a detailed breakdown, check out our Cafe au Lait vs Latte comparison.
Café au Lait vs. Cappuccino
The main difference between café au lait and cappuccino is that they use two completely different types of coffee as a base. Café au lait is prepared with brewed (black coffee) coffee, while cappuccino is made with espresso.
Espresso gives the drink a more concentrated and intense coffee taste. While brewed coffee feels softer and less sharp.
Alongside the coffee, the big difference is also in the foam. Cappuccinos have an airy foam that sits above the espresso and milk. Café au lait has a much smoother surface because the milk is simply heated, not heavily frothed.
Café au Lait vs. White Coffee
Café au lait and white coffee both combine coffee and dairy, but the temperature and texture make them feel like different drinks.
- Café au lait uses hot milk mixed with brewed coffee
- White coffee uses cold milk or cream added to black coffee
- Café au lait has a smoother, softer texture because of the warm milk
- White coffee keeps more of the sharpness and body of regular brewed coffee
Around the World – Café au Lait by Another Name
Most countries with a coffee culture have their own version of café au lait. The drinks are not identical, but they share the same idea.
| Country | Name | Notable Difference |
| France | Café au lait | Traditionally served in a bowl with a 1:1 coffee-to-milk ratio |
| Spain / Latin America | Café con leche | Similar style, but often made with moka pot coffee instead of brewed coffee |
| Italy | Caffè latte | Espresso-based with more steamed milk and light foam |
| Germany | Milchkaffee | Usually served in a large cup with mild foam on top |
| Netherlands | Koffie verkeerd | Literally means “wrong coffee,” typically made with more milk than coffee |
| Hungary | Tejeskávé | Common breakfast coffee made with hot milk and brewed coffee |
| Brazil / Portugal | Café com leite | Popular morning drink, often served with bread or pastries |
| Poland | Kawa biała | Literally “white coffee,” usually brewed coffee with hot milk or cream |
How to Order a Café au Lait at a Coffee Shop
If you want to try café au lait, you can get one at any of Canal Coffee’s drive-thru locations. Simply drive by or order online.
If you’re at a coffee shop that doesn’t list it on the menu, ask for “drip coffee with steamed milk.” Most baristas will immediately understand what you mean, even if the drink is not officially listed.
Can You Make a Café au Lait Iced?
Yes, you can make an iced café au lait, but the result feels closer to white coffee than the traditional French version of the drink.
Warm milk changes the body of the coffee. Once you switch to cold milk and ice, the texture becomes sharper and lighter, more like regular iced coffee with milk.
That doesn’t mean it tastes bad. It’s still a simple and refreshing combination of coffee and milk, especially in warmer weather. It just loses some of the cozy character that makes a traditional café au lait distinct.
FAQ
Café au lait vs. cortado, what’s the difference?
A cortado is a Spanish coffee drink made with a shot of espresso and an equal amount of warm, lightly textured milk, usually served in a small 4-ounce glass. A café au lait is much larger, typically 8 to 12 ounces, and uses brewed coffee instead of espresso. Cortados taste stronger and more concentrated.
Café au lait vs. flat white, aren’t they the same?
No, they are different drinks despite looking somewhat similar. A flat white is made with espresso and steamed milk with a thin layer of microfoam. A café au lait uses brewed coffee instead of espresso and has little to no foam.
How many calories are in a café au lait?
A 12-ounce café au lait made with whole milk usually contains around 90 to 100 calories, with most of those calories coming from the milk. Using 2% milk lowers that number to about 70 calories, while oat or almond milk can range between 50 and 100 calories depending on the brand.
