Reference · espresso & milk

Coffee drink ratios: espresso and milk drinks compared

From least milk to most: a macchiato is a single espresso marked with 1–2 teaspoons of milk; a cortado is espresso cut with roughly an equal amount of warm milk; a flat white is a double espresso (50 ml) with about 130 ml of steamed milk; a certified Italian cappuccino is 25 ml of espresso plus 100 ml of milk foamed to about 125 ml in a 160 ml cup; and a latte is espresso with steamed milk in a larger glass of about 230 ml.

Those are the most specific published figures, not universal rules. Sizes and shot counts change from country to country and café to café, so each figure below names whose definition it is.

Updated 2026-11-11 · sources listed at the end

Coffee drink ratio chart: espresso, milk, foam and cup

One row per drink. Every cell is the figure a named source gives; "not specified" means none of the sources opened for this page gives one.

Wide table — scroll sideways on a phone.

Drink	Espresso	Milk	Foam	Cup or glass	Milk temperature
Macchiato	1 single shot	5–10 g, about 1–2 teaspoons	Not specified	Not specified	60–66 °C (140–150 °F)
Cortado	Espresso; Gibraltar version 60 ml double	Roughly equal to the espresso; Gibraltar about 75 ml	Steamed, not frothy; Gibraltar uses foamy milk	Gibraltar glass 135 ml (4½ US fl oz)	Not specified
Flat white	Double, 50 ml	About 130 ml steamed	About 5 mm of microfoam	200 ml (Australia), 175 ml (New Zealand)	Not specified
Cappuccino (INEI certified)	25 ml from 7 g of coffee	100 ml cold milk foamed to about 125 ml	Fine, tight foam; traditionally a third of the cup	About 160 ml, filled to the brim	About 55 °C (131 °F)
Latte	One or more shots	Steamed milk; much milkier than a cappuccino	Microfoam, no thick foam layer	230 ml (8 US fl oz) glass or cup	Not specified

Where the chart says "not specified", the general barista range in Wikipedia's Cappuccino article, 55–65 °C (131–149 °F), is the usual reference; see milk temperature.

Espresso-to-milk ratios, worked out

Only three definitions give both volumes, so only three ratios can be calculated (by volume, from the figures above):

cortado (Gibraltar): 60 ml : 75 ml ≈ 1 : 1.25
flat white: 50 ml : 130 ml ≈ 1 : 2.6
cappuccino (INEI): 25 ml : 100 ml cold milk = 1 : 4 (1 : 5 once foamed to 125 ml)

Wikipedia's Cortado article adds that the Portuguese galão uses 1:3 proportions. For the espresso itself — dose in grams, yield and shot time — see the espresso ratio guide.

Macchiato — a single shot, drawn at 30 ml (the WBC's "around 1 fl oz / 30 ml" espresso), plus 5–10 g of milk drawn as about 10 ml. No cup size is given.
Cortado, Gibraltar version — 60 ml double espresso and about 75 ml milk in a 135 ml glass.
Flat white — 50 ml double espresso and about 130 ml steamed milk in a 200 ml Australian cup.
Cappuccino, INEI certified — 25 ml espresso and 100 ml milk foamed to about 125 ml in a cup of about 160 ml.
Latte — one 30 ml shot and milk (dashed fill) up to a 230 ml glass. The sources give no milk volume; the fill is illustrative only.

Drawn by pourxlab.com for this page from the figures in INEI's certification brochure, the 2026 WBC rules and Wikipedia's Caffè macchiato, Cortado, Flat white and Latte articles (sources 1, 3, 8, 9, 10 and 11). Bar heights to scale in ml; drinks are not drawn to their real cup shapes.

The five drinks, one by one

Macchiato

Macchiato means "stained" or "spotted": an espresso marked with a little milk. Wikipedia's Caffè macchiato article puts the milk at 5–10 g (about 1–2 teaspoons) heated to 60–66 °C (140–150 °F), on a single shot. Its "long macchiato" is usually a double shot with a dash of textured milk. The latte macchiato is a different drink: steamed milk in a glass with the espresso added after the milk (Wikipedia, Latte).

Cortado

From Spain: espresso "cut" with a roughly equal amount of warm milk that is steamed but not frothy, with considerable regional variation in the exact ratio. The Gibraltar, named in San Francisco after the Libbey glass it is served in, is a 60 ml double espresso topped with about 75 ml of foamy steamed milk in a 135 ml glass (Wikipedia, Cortado).

Flat white

Wikipedia's Flat white article gives a standard of a double espresso (50 ml) with about 130 ml of steamed milk and a 5 mm layer of microfoam. The cup is about 200 ml in Australia and a smaller 175 ml in New Zealand. It has a higher proportion of espresso to milk than a latte, and less milk and microfoam. Its origin is disputed: the article cites early-1980s evidence from Sydney, claims from Auckland and Wellington, and the historian Ian Bersten's view that it probably began in England in the 1950s.

Cappuccino

The Istituto Nazionale Espresso Italiano (INEI) certifies a cappuccino made of 25 ml of espresso and 100 ml of steam-foamed milk. The milk is fresh cow's milk with at least 3.2% protein and 3.5% fat; it starts cold, at 3–5 °C, and is steamed to about 125 ml and about 55 °C. The foam should have "a tight mesh with very fine or absent eye formation." It is served in a white china cup of about 160 ml, full to the brim. The espresso under it is INEI's certified shot: 7 ± 0.5 g of coffee, 25 ± 2.5 ml in the cup.

The looser traditional description is a third espresso, a third steamed milk and a third milk foam in a 150–180 ml cup (Wikipedia, Cappuccino).

Latte

A caffè latte is espresso and steamed milk, traditionally served in a glass. Wikipedia's Latte article contrasts a 230 ml (8 US fl oz) latte glass with a 140 ml (5 US fl oz) cappuccino cup: the latte has no layer of thick foam, and its milk is steamed into very fine bubbles (microfoam) that can be poured as latte art. Ordered as just "latte" in Italy, it is a glass of milk.

Milk temperature: what the figures and the dairy research say

Source	Milk temperature	Context
INEI certified cappuccino	3–5 °C → about 55 °C	Cold milk in, steamed until about 125 ml
Wikipedia, Cappuccino	55–65 °C (131–149 °F)	Professional barista standards
Wikipedia, Caffè macchiato	60–66 °C (140–150 °F)	The milk for a macchiato
Santini et al. 2023	40–80 °C tested; 60 °C optimum	Steam injection into milk for cappuccino
WBC 2026 rules, §15.2.3	No number	Beverages served "at a temperature that is immediately consumable"

Dairy research explains part of the spread:

Whey proteins start to change in the steaming range. In a 2022 paper in Foods, Čurlej and colleagues write that denaturation of the heat-sensitive whey proteins begins above about 62 °C for α-lactalbumin and about 75 °C for β-lactoglobulin, while casein is relatively stable.
Steaming changes which proteins end up in the foam. Santini and colleagues (University of Camerino, 2023) steamed milk to 40–80 °C for cappuccino. β-lactoglobulin and lactoferrin concentrations fell in the foam samples, which the authors suggest may reflect protein aggregation at the air–liquid interface, and lactoferrin was affected by temperature especially at 80 °C; caseins, which resist heat, were not affected.
Fat and temperature interact. Kamath and colleagues (2008, International Dairy Journal) foamed milk at 5–85 °C. Skim-milk foams were most stable when formed at 45 °C, and milk fat hurt foam formation and stability in whole milk most between 15 and 45 °C; homogenization and UHT treatment reduced that effect.

For how hot a finished cup should be when you drink it, and the burn-risk research behind that, see coffee serving temperature.

Where the sources disagree

Cappuccino size. About 160 ml (INEI); 150–180 ml traditional; 140 ml in Wikipedia's Latte article; 360 ml (12 US fl oz) or larger at US chains, and up to 600 ml for fast-food versions (Wikipedia, Cappuccino).
Cappuccino build. Equal thirds of espresso, milk and foam, against INEI's 25 ml espresso under about 125 ml of foamed milk. Wikipedia's Cappuccino article cites a WBC requirement of at least 1 cm of foam; the 2026 WBC rules (§3.2) define a milk beverage only as at least one single shot plus milk steamed on the competition machine, with no volume or milk quantity.
Single or double shot. INEI builds on one 25 ml shot from 7 g. The heritage SCAA definition quoted in SCA's 25 magazine sets 25–35 ml from 7–9 g, or 14–18 g for a double, but in the 2017 Barista Guild of America survey 93% of baristas said the espresso they pull is a double, with doses mostly 18–20 g and an average output of 36.5 g.
Latte vessel. 230 ml (Latte article), 225 ml (Flat white article), and 200–300 ml of espresso and milk (Cappuccino article).
Flat white cup. 200 ml in Australia, 175 ml in New Zealand.
Milk temperature. About 55 °C (INEI), 60 °C (Santini et al.), 55–65 °C (barista standards) and 60–66 °C (macchiato) — a 55–66 °C span across the sources.

Making these drinks to a spec at home

Choose the definition first — INEI, flat white standard or Gibraltar — and the cup it names; cup size decides how much milk fits.
Weigh the espresso dose and yield on a scale and note whether the drink is built on a single or a double.
Start with cold milk: INEI's certified cappuccino specifies 3–5 °C fresh whole milk with at least 3.2% protein and 3.5% fat.
Measure the milk before steaming (INEI: 100 ml for a 160 ml cup) and check the temperature with a thermometer against your chosen target in the 55–66 °C span.
Write down shot, milk volume, temperature and cup, so the next drink can change one thing at a time; the brew log template has room for notes.