The macchiato is an espresso with a mark on it — a spoon of textured milk, and nothing more. It exists to take the sharpest edge off the shot without burying it. In most cafés it is misread as a small latte. Made properly it sits far closer to a straight espresso, and it will tell you exactly how your coffee and your grinder are doing that morning.
What you need
- 18g of coffee, ground fine
- A 36g double espresso
- 30ml of milk, textured
- A warmed demitasse
The method
- Pull the shot straight into the warmed cup. Twenty-five to thirty seconds.
- Texture the milk in the smallest jug you own. Two seconds of air, no more.
- Swirl the jug until the milk is glossy and carries no visible bubbles.
- Spoon one dessert spoon of foam onto the centre of the crema.
- Drink it now. It is two mouthfuls and it will not wait.
Texturing so little milk
Thirty millilitres is an awkward volume and most jugs are too large for it. Use a 150ml jug, tilt it hard so the wand tip still sits under the surface, and accept that you will make more than you need. Pour the rest away rather than tipping it into the cup.
Marked, not mixed
The whole point is the contrast. The foam sits on the crema, so the first sip is milk and the last is coffee. Stir it and you have made a very small, very strong flat white. That is a good drink, but it is not this one.
Which coffee
With almost nothing between you and the espresso, use a coffee that has something to say. Cerrado, grown on the high plateau of Minas Gerais, carries milk chocolate and roasted almond through the shot, and a spoon of milk rounds out the caramel underneath without covering it.