# What Is Café au Lait?

> Brewed coffee and scalded milk in equal parts — not an espresso drink. How it differs from a latte, and the New Orleans chicory version.

Topic: Espresso  
Published: 2026-08-30T09:15:00-04:00  
Updated: 2026-08-30T09:15:00-04:00  
Author: Mical Robert, Editor (https://trysix.online/author/mical-robert)  
Canonical: https://trysix.online/what-is-cafe-au-lait

## The short answer

Brewed coffee mixed with an equal volume of scalded milk — French press or drip, not espresso. That is what separates it from a latte, which is espresso-based and far milkier. In New Orleans it is made with chicory.

## Key takeaways

- Roughly 1:1 brewed coffee to scalded milk. No espresso, no foam, no machine.
- A latte is espresso-based and about 1 part coffee to 6 parts milk — a much milkier drink.
- Scalded means heated to just below simmering, not boiled and not steamed to foam.
- New Orleans café au lait includes chicory root, a wartime substitute that became the local style.

Café au lait gets treated as a fancier way of saying latte, and it is not one. It is an older, simpler drink that needs no machine at all — just a pan, some milk, and coffee brewed a little stronger than you would normally drink it.

## The drink

Café au lait is French for 'coffee with milk', and the recipe is as plain as the name. Strong brewed coffee, an equal volume of hot milk, poured together into a wide bowl or cup. It is a breakfast drink, traditionally taken with something to dip into it.

What matters is what it is not. It is not made with espresso, it has no foam layer, and it does not require any equipment beyond a way to brew coffee and a pan to heat milk. It predates espresso machines by centuries.

> **The ratio** — Equal parts, by volume. 150 ml of strong brewed coffee, 150 ml of scalded milk. If it tastes milky rather than coffee-forward, the coffee was not brewed strongly enough — not that the ratio was wrong.

## How it differs from the drinks it gets confused with

**Café au lait against the espresso drinks it resembles.**

| Drink | Coffee base | Coffee : milk | Foam |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Café au lait | Brewed, strong | 1:1 | None |
| Latte | Espresso, 1–2 shots | About 1:6 | Thin cap |
| Cappuccino | Espresso, 1–2 shots | About 1:2 | Thick, dry |
| Flat white | Espresso, 2 shots | About 1:2 | Thin microfoam |
| Café con leche | Espresso or very strong brew | 1:1 | None |
| Milk coffee (generic) | Brewed | Varies widely | None |

The two comparisons worth holding on to: a latte is much milkier and built on espresso; a café con leche is essentially the Spanish equivalent of café au lait, though it is more often made with espresso in modern cafés. The full espresso menu is in [types of coffee drinks](https://trysix.online/types-of-coffee-drinks).

## Making it

### Café au lait for one

1. **Brew strong coffee** — About 150 ml, brewed stronger than you would drink it black — 1:12 rather than 1:16, so roughly 12 g of coffee. It has to survive being cut in half with milk. A French press or a drip brew both work; see [how to make the perfect cup of coffee](https://trysix.online/how-to-make-a-perfect-cup-of-coffee) for the ratios.
2. **Scald the milk** — 150 ml of whole milk in a small pan over medium heat until it steams and small bubbles form at the edge — around 160°F. Do not let it boil. Boiling makes milk taste cooked and can form a skin.
3. **Pour together** — Traditionally both are poured simultaneously into a wide bowl from either side. In practice, coffee first then milk is fine.
4. **Serve without foam** — There is no foam layer by design. If you want to whisk a little texture into the milk, nobody will object, but it is not part of the drink.

**Figure: The numbers for one serving**

| Item | Value |
| --- | --- |
| Brewed coffee (ml, brewed at about 1:12) | 150 |
| Scalded milk (ml, heated to ~160°F) | 150 |
| Coffee dose (Grams of ground coffee) | 12 |
| Caffeine, approximate (mg, from the coffee alone) | 60 |

_A stronger brew than usual, because the milk halves it._

## The New Orleans version

In New Orleans, café au lait usually means coffee blended with roasted chicory root, served with hot milk. Chicory is not coffee — it is the root of a relative of the dandelion, roasted and ground to look and brew like it — and it contains no caffeine.

The practice arrived via French colonial habit and entrenched during periods of coffee scarcity, particularly the Civil War blockade, when chicory extended a limited supply. It stayed because people came to prefer the taste: chicory adds a woody, faintly chocolatey bitterness and a heavier body.

- A typical New Orleans blend runs from about 10 to 30 percent chicory by weight.
- Because chicory is caffeine-free, a chicory blend has proportionally less caffeine than straight coffee.
- It brews well strong, which suits the 1:1 milk ratio the drink calls for.
- It is traditionally served with beignets, which is a reasonable argument for the whole arrangement.

> **'Café ole' and 'café olay'** — These are phonetic spellings of café au lait, not different drinks. The French is pronounced roughly 'ka-fay oh-LAY'. There is no separate beverage called a café olé — though 'café con leche' is a genuinely different Spanish drink, usually espresso-based today.

## Which coffee to use

A medium or dark roast works better here than a delicate light one. The drink cuts the coffee with an equal volume of milk, and the floral, tea-like qualities of a light roast largely disappear behind dairy — whereas the caramel and cocoa notes of a darker roast come through. [Light vs dark roast](https://trysix.online/light-vs-dark-roast) explains why.

Beyond that, ordinary rules apply: buy by roast date, grind for the brewer you own, and brew stronger than you would for a black cup. If you want the drink cold, brewing [cold brew concentrate](https://trysix.online/how-to-make-cold-brew-concentrate) and cutting it with cold milk gives something close in spirit, if not in name.

**Choosing coffee for café au lait.**

| Choice | Works | Why |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Medium-dark roast | Well | Caramel and cocoa notes survive milk |
| Dark roast | Well | Traditional; stands up to the ratio |
| Light roast single origin | Poorly | Delicate notes disappear behind dairy |
| Chicory blend | Traditionally | The New Orleans style; less caffeine |
| Instant coffee | Passably | Convenient; much less aromatic |

## Frequently asked questions

### Is café au lait the same as a latte?

No. Café au lait is brewed coffee with an equal volume of scalded milk and no foam. A latte is built on espresso and contains roughly six times as much milk as coffee, with a thin foam cap. The café au lait is considerably more coffee-forward.

### What kind of coffee is used in café au lait?

Strong brewed coffee — French press or drip, not espresso — usually a medium or dark roast. Brew it stronger than you would drink it black, around 1:12, because an equal volume of milk will halve its strength.

### Why does New Orleans café au lait have chicory?

Roasted chicory root was used to extend scarce coffee supplies, particularly during Civil War blockades, and the taste stuck. It adds a woody, slightly chocolatey bitterness and more body. Chicory contains no caffeine, so a blend is proportionally lower in it.

### What does scalded milk mean?

Milk heated until it steams and small bubbles form at the edge of the pan — around 160°F — but not boiled. Boiling gives milk a cooked flavour and forms a skin. Scalding is not the same as steaming it to foam, which café au lait does not use.

## Sources

- [What Is Coffee?](https://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/What-is-Coffee) — National Coffee Association USA. Supports the classification of brewed-coffee-with-milk preparations against espresso-based drinks.
- [Coffee Around the World](https://www.ncausa.org/About-Coffee/Coffee-Around-the-World) — National Coffee Association USA. Supports the historical spread of coffee-with-milk drinking customs and regional variations.
- [FoodData Central](https://fdc.nal.usda.gov/) — USDA Agricultural Research Service. Supports the reference composition and caffeine data for brewed coffee used in the serving figures.

## Related articles

- https://trysix.online/types-of-coffee-drinks
- https://trysix.online/what-is-espresso
- https://trysix.online/light-vs-dark-roast
- https://trysix.online/how-to-make-a-perfect-cup-of-coffee

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