Café on Leche: My Favorite Way to Wake Up in Spain (SPAIN: part 1 of 3)

Greetings from Spain. After a stretch of "mild" Atlantic seas, we finally reached Spain 8 days later, 12 Dramamine pills lighter, 2 yogurt soft-serves heavier (miraculous for nausea) and desperate for some credible food and of course, coffee.

The Spanish follow a belated schedule to our regimental 6AM wake up call. Cafeterías typically won't prop their doors until 9 in the morning, with their first wave of clients holding out until 10:30 or later. Lunch, the bulkiest meal of the day commences around 2 or more frequently 3:30 in the early afternoon, followed by the 6-9pm siesta where all shops literally close up and pull down their corrugated metal garage doors until dinner. By 9:30 or 10 in the evening a light dinner might precede a few bars and the night stretches into early morning. Tapas of course are eaten continuously from 11AM throughout dinner.

To drive their lively, festive lifestyles, most Spaniards begin their day with coffee (café). After thoroughly exhausting my desperation to walk across stationary land, in the city of Seville in Southern Spain, I ducked into a coffee shop for my first face-to-face with café con leche. Spanish coffee is prepared in 6-ounce cups trickled half-filled with espresso. Steamed milk is often added to form the various common drinks. Drip-coffee, America's reference to coffee, is nonexistent in Spain (perhaps in all of Europe), and all Spanish café is espresso. Following a trend, the robust, smooth café bears no resemblance to the often harsh American espresso; it is never bitter. I departed from my first demitasse wired with two giddy, astonished conclusions - I'm in Spain! And the Spaniards know their caffeine.

Before reaching land, our Spain guru, a professor of Spanish literature, language, society, history (all things Spanish) instructed us on the basics of café. Three notables made the honor role from his brief presentation. These are truly not to be missed:

1) Café con leche (coffee with milk / latte) - Out of my three café con leches in two different cities, over the course of four days, I experienced no bad coffee (I sidestepped the three Starbucks that have made their way into the larger town plazas). Rather, differences in the methods of brewing the coffee came through in each cup. Instead of developing into a source of frustration, the lack of standardization across brews was refreshing and interesting. There is no bad cup of Spanish coffee. Café con leche begins with the basic espresso, which is then topped with equal parts or slightly less of steamed milk. The combination is most similar to a latte, however milk is treated almost as a complimentary condiment to the excellent foundation of espresso.
2) Café solo (espresso) - This is the pure, naked presentation of the quality of Spanish coffee. Those who cannot enjoy black coffee may find themselves reaching for another sip from their partner's cup.
3) Café cortado (coffee "cut" with milk) - Akin to the Italian macchiato, which means "marked" or "touched" by milk, the cortado is an afternoon drink. A true Spaniard would never ask for a "café con leche" in the late afternoon. The creamy, caramel crema barely kissed with milk floats above a cup richer than café con leche but equally as palatable and gratifying. With this final cup, I bid farewell to Spain.

FINAL OBSERVATIONS
Sugar, cream, and coffee are a great combination evidenced by the success of coffee ice cream and coffee-cream desserts like Tiramisu and Buche de Noel. Having tasted my first cup of coffee as the traditional Vietnamese coffee, thickened with sweetened condensed milk (an artform of its own - to be explored in March), I have always taken my coffee sweetened. However, I found that the coffee in Spain is best appreciated without sugar. The espresso is so distinct on its own that sugar would only distract from its complexity.

Café is a pleasure and is unembellished in Spain. All three drinks from above price reasonably between 1-1.3 Euros (< $2) for a regular 6 oz portion; the perfect, condensed amount in comparison to its deformed, distant relative, American chain coffee. Incredibly, I may find myself to be an espresso convert.

Less commonly or occasionally in addition to café, the Spanish also enjoy jugo de naranja (fresh pressed orange juice) for breakfast. The mildly sweet juice is extremely light and barely tart. Hot chocolate (which I never sampled but observed from neighboring patrons) is a small glass of steamed milk served with a small packet of chocolate powder to be mixed in on one's own. This is not to be confused with "Chocolate" in Churros con Chocolate which I describe in SPAIN: part 2.